The main reason this theater is important to me is that it was the
home of the WLS
National Barn Dance. Back in the good old days, WLS
was a farm station with shows that appealed to
rural folks. One of those shows was the National Barn Dance. (The show
first aired in 1924. After WLS became a rock station in the early
sixties, the Barn Dance switched for awhile to WGN TV, but eventually died
out completely). The Barn Dance was Chicago's answer to The Grand Ol' Opry
(the Barn Dance first aired one year before the debut of the Opry, but the
Opry obviously lasted longer). As a youngster before the days of TV, I
faithfully listened on the radio every Saturday night to the singing of
Rex Allen (later a cowboy movie star), Homer and Jethro, Lulabelle and
Scotty, and others. (Although before my time, Pat Butram and many other
stars of the day got their start on the Barn Dance.) Since we lived not
too far from Chicago, on occasion my parents would take me to the Eighth
Street Theater to see the gig live. My Mother used to tell the story of
how at the age of five, I woke up crying one night. She rushed in to
comfort me, and I said, "You and Daddy won't take me to the Barn Dance."
(I had had a dream that I had begged and begged to no avail.) We went the
next Saturday.
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Date last modified: 4/30/97
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