Skokie Theater To Reopen in April 2012

By Soyoung Kwak in News on Feb 25, 2012 5:00PM

Yesterday, Gorilla Tango Theater CEO Dan Abbate agreed to purchase the 100-year-old Skokie Theater for $420,000. Although the Skokie Theater closed within the first few days of the new year due to financial problems, it has a history of instability: the theater closed for a brief period of time in 2004 but raised enough money to go through a million-dollar renovation in 2006.

It's one thing to revive historically significant buildings, but it's another to make a profit out of something that just didn't work. Keeping in mind the Skokie Theater's past struggles, how does Abbate plan to run things differently?

"The trick with live performance is a focus on volume — and marketable shows," Abbate said. "I don't assume I know what's right creatively. I want people from all walks of life bringing new ideas, with the concept of 'this is sellable.'

"We want to really focus on our kids and family programming (and) in Skokie we feel that's a real opportunity," [Abbate] added.

Although we are excited about the theater reopening in the spring, we hope that Abbate is able to draw crowds in with his playful ideas and fresh programming.

Skokie Theater is located at 7924 Lincoln Avenue, Skokie, IL 60077