Morse Theater
1328 W. Morse Avenue, (between Wayne Avenue and Glenwood Avenue)
Chicago, IL 60626
The Morse Theater was built in 1912 as a nickelodeon and vaudeville venue.
After closing as a 600-seat nickelodeon in the 1930s, it morphed into the Co-Ed Theater, a neighborhood movie theater. A new sheet steel sign paid homage to the pre-1950s marquee.
The Congregation Beth Israel synagogue operated there from the 1950s until 1977. Then the building housed Cobblers Mall.
Plans to reopen the Morse were announced in 2008. It opened in late 2008 only to survive for one season before this latest incarnation closed in 2009.
In the spring of 2010, the theater reopened as the Mayne Stage.
Photos
RPWRHS photo R044-0109 shows the exterior of the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue circa 1960. The building located at 1328-30 W. Morse Avenue was erected in 1912, opened as the Morse Theater in 1913 and then as the Co-Ed Theater on March 19, 1938. It housed Congregation Beth Israel from the early 1950s to 1977. A shoe store followed. Later on it became the Morse Theater (once again), and is now the Mayne Stage Theater. Photo taken September 1992.
RPWRHS photo R044-0146 shows the Morse Theater, 1328 W. Morse Avenue, circa 1920.
RPWRHS photo S013-0259 shows Morse Theater, 1328 W. Morse Avenue, July 1989.
