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The Coronado Theatre, located at 314 North Main Street in Rockford, Illinois
Rockford, Illinois

Rockford is a mid-sized city located on both banks of the Rock River in far northern Illinois. Rockford is often referred to as "The Forest City" and is the county seat of Winnebago County, Illinois, United States....
, is a 2,400 seat theater designed by architect Frederick J. Klein. The theater cost $1.5 million to build, and opened on October 9, 1927.

elaborate auditorium of the theater is designed according to the atmospheric style which was popular in movie houses built in the 1920s. This style simulates an outdoor theater-going experience.






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The Coronado Theatre, located at 314 North Main Street in Rockford, Illinois
Rockford, Illinois

Rockford is a mid-sized city located on both banks of the Rock River in far northern Illinois. Rockford is often referred to as "The Forest City" and is the county seat of Winnebago County, Illinois, United States....
, is a 2,400 seat theater designed by architect Frederick J. Klein. The theater cost $1.5 million to build, and opened on October 9, 1927.

Interior

The elaborate auditorium of the theater is designed according to the atmospheric style which was popular in movie houses built in the 1920s. This style simulates an outdoor theater-going experience. The Coronado's auditorium walls are decorated with the facades of gilded Spanish and Italian-style buildings, and the ceiling looks like a deep blue sky filled with twinkling stars and floating clouds. The auditorium
Auditorium

An auditorium is where the audience is located in order to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens....
 is full of gilded detail. Green stained-glass lamps with fluted bulbs adorn the walls. Japanese dragons and glowing lanterns cover the organ screens on either side of the stage. Seating is located on two levels, the main floor and a sizeable balcony. At the front of the theater, in front and below the stage is an orchestra pit. Incorporated into the guilded sides of the interior of the theatre hall are several alcoves that resemble box seats along the sides, which can be accessed from the balcony level but usually do not have seats. Al of the seats are covered with plush red velvet.

The lobby and mezzanine level are as elaborately designed as the auditorium. One of the grand mezzanine's focal points is a statue of Venus
Venus (mythology)

Venus was a major Roman mythology goddess principally associated with love, beauty and sexual reproduction, the equivalent of the Greek mythology Aphrodite....
 standing in front of a golden seashell. Because of its breathtaking interior design, the Coronado is sentimentally referred to as "Rockford's Wonder Theater."

Events

During its early years, the Coronado played host to both movies and live stage shows. Its opening show was a silent film called "Swim Girl Swim." Nearly 9,000 people flocked to the three opening-day showings.

During the theater's hey-day which lasted from its opening until the 1960s, such famous stage acts as Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an United States singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became a solo artist with great success in the early to mid-1940s, being the idol of the "bobby soxers"....
, Judy Garland
Judy Garland

Judy Garland was an American actress and alto singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage....
, Bob Hope
Bob Hope

Bob Hope, Order of the British Empire, Order of St. Gregory the Great , was an British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway theatre, and in radio, television and movies....
, Sammy Davis Jr., and Milton Berle
Milton Berle

Milton Berle, born Milton Berlinger was an Emmy-winning United States comedian and actor. As the manic host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater , he was the first major star of television and as such became known as Uncle Miltie and Mr....
 appeared at the Coronado. During his 1960 Presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States, serving from 1961 until John F....
 made a stop there. In 1984, the Coronado ceased showing movies because of a decline in revenue.

National landmark

In 1979, the Coronado was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation....
. At the dedication ceremony, it was referred to as one of the premiere theaters of its kind in the nation. In 1980, the City of Rockford made the Coronado an historical landmark of the state of Illinois.

Restoration project

Kerasotes Theater Organization, owner of the Coronado Theatre since 1970, donated the property to the City of Rockford in 1997. Plans to preserve and renovate the theater followed immediately. The Friends of the Coronado, founded in 1998, began an $18.5 million restoration project a year later. Rockford community members supported the restoration by donating nearly half of the required funds. The project's goals were both to restore the theater's deteriorating interior and bring the building structure up-to-date. The restoration project not only preserved the existing features of the theater, it also provided the theater with more usable space. Additionally, the Coronado is now a fully handicapped accessible building. After 18 months of construction, the Coronado re-opened in 2001 with a black-tie celebration.

Today

The Coronado has always been a source of pride for Rockford citizens. Today, the Coronado combines completely modern amenities with its original 1920s decor. With more backstage area and added dressing-rooms, the Coronado now plays host to large traveling theater companies and famous headlining acts. The expanded lobby space accommodates the increased number of theater-goers that attend concerts and events held on a regular basis.

See also

  • List of concert halls
    List of concert halls

    A concert hall is a cultural building, which serves as performance venue, chiefly for European classical music instrumental music. Many concert halls exist as one of several halls or performance spaces within a larger performing arts center and, where appropriate, the name of the arts centre is included....


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