"Mr. Chicago Theater" Dead

[Unknown User]

"Mr. Chicago Theater" Dead#1

Posted: 6/7/07 at 10:57am

Tony Desantis, probably best known in this crowd for re-opening his lengendarily gaudy "Drury Lane Water Tower" theater which now hosts the CHicago Sit-Down of Spelling Bee, died yesterday. Take a minute to read the Chicago Tribune Obit, or the BWW posted in the news section. He really was a character and at one time owned 5 theaters in Chicago while bragging he knew nothing at all about running a theater. He was most associated with a sort of "Year 'Round Summer Stock" esthetic, luring has beens to Chicago to walk through a big musical, much to the delight of the fans.

Despite his low-brow aspirations without him we probably wouldn't have the thriving theatre scene in Chicago- a lot of big names got their start here in his productions of "Music Man" or "Hello Dolly."

Chicago Tribune Updated On: 6/7/07 at 10:57 AM

[brdlwyr]

re: 'Mr. Chicago Theater' Dead#2

Posted: 6/7/07 at 11:47am

He was a funny and quirky man who employed thousands of actors over the years.