Briar Street Theater


The Briar Street Theater is located in Chicago, Illinois, and is home to the long-running Blue Man Group. It originally was the carriage house for the Marshall Field and Company horses and was then bought by Walter Topel and reconstructed into the theatre it is today. Since this reconstruction, the theater has put on many different shows and performances yet the Blue Man Group remains the most recognized.

History

Built in 1901, this space was used as the stables where the horses used and owned by Marshall Field's would stay. These horses were used for the company's delivery service. As time passed, the lot became useless and in 1970, Walt Topel, founder of Topel and Associated, Ltd., bought the building from Werner Kennelly Moving and Storage Company and redesigned it into a sound stage and office where his film production company would thrive from. From 1977 to 1985, this building also housed Walt Topel's post-production company, Cinetronics, Ltd. This business was later renamed Swell and moved downtown in 1984. In 1985, the theater was reopened and became a part of the culture of Chicago. Today, the Topel family is still the owner of the venue and the original second floor actually hangs from the ceiling by large turnbuckles that can still be seen.

Notable performers

The Briar Street Theater has hosted many performers such as:
The venue also possesses some valuable art within the lobby created by artists such as Van Gogh, Brancusi, Stanton, Picasso, and even art created by the Blue Man Group, themselves.

Current productions

Blue Man Group
The Blue Man Group is a group of three bald men dressed black clothing and the remaining showing skin is painted blue. During the performance, they incorporate the audience through theater, persuasive music, art, science, and vaudeville in a way that has not been experienced in any other form. They were formed in the late 1980s and have performed in Chicago, which was one of the earliest production spots, Boston, New York, Las Vegas, Berlin, Toronto, and London. Inside, the lobby is filled with an art form unique to the group. PVC pipes cover the walls and ceilings as well as digital screens that play unique messages. In the actual theater, there are elements such as paint, PVC based instruments, new L.E.D. visuals, a human paint project, and Cap'n Crunch cereal, among other elements. The first 5 rows are labeled the "Poncho Seats" that provide ponchos to protect the audience members from the elements coming from the stage. There is also an element known as the "late alarm" that will be set off when an audience member walks in late and they leave the venue at the end of the night sufficiently embarrassed. The theater has a bar that is open before the show, they also have a coat check for 1 dollar. They've recently updated their production in Chicago, incorporating lots of new elements. Including the Gary Balls, Trigger Vibes, Spinulum, and a PVC pipe horn. But even after all these years and updates, they still include the famous PVC Pipes. The theater has limited parking, but if you arrive early enough you should you be able to find parking easily.

Past productions

Since the opening of the Briar Street Theater, singers have not been the only performances held. Other noteworthy productions hosted at the theater have been run by Fox Theatricals and have included the following:
The theater has 625 seats, all of which are designed to be in perfect view of the stage. It is said that the layout is extremely flexible in terms of patron seating as well as the conversion to film and television production, going back to the original intent of the theater. The dimensions of the Briar Street Theater's stage is a proscenium of 38'w x 20', a width of 36'4", a depth of 32', and a height of 23' to grid. The theater is also wheelchair accessible and offers closed-circuit headsets.