The Catlow Theater is a historic single-screen movie theater located in downtown

Barrington, Illinois Barrington is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and Lake County, Illinois, Lake counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 10,722 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A northwest suburb of Chicago, the area featu ...

, United States.

History

Wright Catlow was a businessman in Barrington whose father had commissioned The Auditorium in 1914, a gathering place for dances and community meetings. Seeking to follow his father's legacy and build a community building, Catlow commissioned the theater in May 1927. Betts & Holcomb served as the architects and the interiors were designed by

Prairie School Prairie School is a late 19th and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped i ...

sculptor and designer

Alfonso Iannelli Alfonso Iannelli (February 17, 1888 – March 23, 1965) was an Italian-American sculptor, artist, and industrial designer. Based in Chicago for most of his life, Iannelli was born in Andretta, Italy on February 17, 1888. He came to America in ...

. The theater was primarily designed in the

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture, also known as mock Tudor in the UK, first manifested in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in rea ...

style ornamented to portray a medieval English hall. In large part due to Iannelli's involvement, the Catlow is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Iannelli's Catlow design includes the stenciling on the Catlow's ceiling, walls and beams along with the sculpted gargoyle-like heads that border each ceiling truss and the "Fountain Idyll" sculpture in the inner lobby. Other highlights include three coat-of-arms wall murals, iron wall sconces, the detailed woodwork on both of the organ lofts and the original hand painted stage curtain. Catlow's brother Chester played the theater organ. The theater originally showed

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

s and featured vaudeville performances on Sundays. These performances attracted talent such as

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a Crooner ...

and

Sally Rand Sally Rand (born Helen Gould Beck; April 3, 1904 – August 31, 1979) was an American burlesque dancer, stripper, vedette, and actress, famous for her ostrich-feather fan dance and balloon bubble dance. She also performed under the name B ...

. In 1934, the theater began to show only movies. Catlow sold the theater to film booker Ed Skehan in 1964. On August 21, 1989, the theater was recognized by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

with a listing on the

. The Catlow Theater was purchased by long-time Barrington residents Brian and Julianne Long in the fall of 2023. The newly-formed Catlow1927 Foundation is dedicated to restoring the theater in time for the upcoming 100-year anniversary in 2027.

References

External links

{{commonscat, Catlow Theater (Barrington, Illinois)
Official Catlow Theatre website

Catlow 1927 Foundation website
Cinemas and movie theaters in Chicago National Register of Historic Places in Lake County, Illinois Buildings and structures in Barrington, Illinois 1927 establishments in Illinois Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois