Wisconsin Historical Society —
The theater’s massive sign hasn’t been seen since the 1970s.
While the huge replica Orpheum sign has been wowing passersby, just across State Street, another refurbishment is underway.
The exterior renovation of the Overture Center’s Capitol Theater renews a mystery: Whatever happened to the Capitol’s own massive vertical sign? It’s out there somewhere, and Overture officials would love to find it.
The Capitol Theater was one of the last created by prestigious Chicago theater architects C.W. and George Rapp. More than 6,000 people attended festivities when it opened on Jan. 21, 1928. The Orpheum, designed by the same team, had opened about 10 months earlier, on March 31, 1927.
Capping the faux-Moorish vaudeville and movie palace was a “surprise jewel tower,” which, when illuminated by “several thousands of lamps [could] be seen for several miles,” according to the Wisconsin State Journal at the time. Much of the renovation work has focused on that tower.
The theater, formerly part of the Madison Civic Center, was threatened with demolition when the old Civic Center was expanded and converted to Overture in 2004. Public outcry saved it. Overture completed a minor renovation at the time but delayed further work until the organization could find bricks to match the originals. Termed “old Chicago pink,” they haven’t been produced for decades. Finally, Overture contractor J.H. Findorff and & Son Inc. scavenged enough brick from demolition sites — more than enough, in fact. Overture will retain all the extra in case future work is ever needed.
Even the color of the original mortar has been matched. “I’m very particular about my building,” says Glenn Weihert, Overture facility operations director. He’s not joking; his relationship with the theater began in 1983, when he worked as second-shift custodian.
A trip up the scaffolding affords new perspective on exquisite details not entirely visible from the ground level, including gargoyles set at each tower corner. Decorations inside turquoise coves are bas-relief, portraying stylized dragons and flowers sprouting from an urn. Framing arches consist of enameled cement tiles, rich with scalloped blossoms and scrollwork.
Some of the new brickwork covers attachment points for the theater’s missing vertical sign, which rivaled the Orpheum’s in terms of size and ornamentation.
“It was put in storage somewhere,” probably in the 1970s, Weihert says. He’s sure of that much, but “it got lost somewhere. We hope it didn’t go to the scrap pile.” Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Isthmus.
Overture officials estimate the cost of renovation will approach $100,000. Says Weihert, “We’re trying to do a full restoration so it will stand for decades to come.”
