Pushing for an Opening: Iroquois Theater Management Overlook Basic Fire Safety Precautions

The opening of the new, state-of-the-art Iroquois Theater had originally been slated for the spring of 1904. However, two factors were at play to push the Grand Opening to late 1903 instead. First was the quintessential problem of business owners everywhere... the longer it takes to build, the more money that's being spent without generating any kind of an income. Anxious theater owners hoped to take advantage of Christmas spenders, especially those who came to the big city from outlying areas. Many visitors enjoyed taking an early train into Chicago for a morning of shopping and capping it off with an afternoon at a nearby theater.

The second reason had to do with the politics of theater in general. A merging of three major theatrical booking companies led to one new super-company: The Theatrical Syndicate. This merger meant that the three partners could combine their routes and attract the best productions, since production companies would be guaranteed a full run of showings. It also meant less travelling time between locations for travelling production companies, thus more profits for owners rather than overhead for travel costs.

Eventually, the syndicate began producing its own shows: a lucrative deal since they could collect both the producer's and the booking agent's fee portions of ticket sales. The Theatrical Syndicate became a powerful player in the theatrical entertainment industry, which was becoming more and more competitive. It began producing more elaborate shows with large, complicated sets that required spacious venues. Thus evolved the plans for the Iroquois Theater, which would be the biggest and best in Chicago. It also "guaranteed the syndicate a presence in Chicago."[1]

The syndicate's latest production, Mr. Bluebeard had begun to tour during the construction of the Iroquois. Mr. Bluebeard had a company of over 100 actors and actresses and numerous backdrops, set changes and props. The Iroqouis Theater was the perfect venue to host the show, particularly during the Christmas rush. The trouble was: the Iroquois wasn't going to be finished until the following spring.

The need for a large venue combined with the desire to turn a profit caused syndicate owners to put pressure on Iroquois owners to rush through the last stages of building. And so it was that the Iroquois Theater opened on November 23, 1903, several months ahead of schedule, and just in time to entertain all of those Christmas shoppers.

Some deemed it miraculous that the Iroquois' owners were able to pull it off. However, many basic safety precautions were either overlooked or deliberately ignored in order to open by the end of November, 1903. It was these "oversights," corruption in the city inspectors offices, and poor building design that directly contributed to the Iroquois Theater tragedy.

[1] Brandt, Nat. Chicago Death Trap: The Iroquois Theater Fire of 1903. Southern Illinois University, 2003.