If you were casually perusing this blog, you’d be hard-pressed to decide if my focus was on Godzilla or Svengoolie. I’d argue that, like a Reesus Peanut Butter Cup, they’re also “two great tastes that go great together” which was recently proven when they harmoniously merged like peanut butter and chocolate at Music Box Theater . This historic Chicago site caters to independent, cult, and classic movies as well as the occasional film festival such as Noir City Chicago – something I’ve always wanted to attend. This month they featured a marathon of Godzilla flicks which they affectionately referred to as “Godzilla vs Music Box” and on Monday, June 10th, MeTV‘s national TV horror host, Svengoole, arrived to present Destroy All Monsters (1968) in addition to signing for fans.
Music Box was built in 1929 and is currently owned by the Southport Music Box Corporation. Even a suburbanite like myself has heard of it though, before this event, had never ventured inside. That’s because I live about forty minutes south and the drive into that part of Chicago, for lack of better words, sucks. It’s a 45-minute commute on a good day but, thanks to rush hour traffic, took me well over an hour and a half. I was also disappointed that there was no parking lot and you had to do paid street parking instead (did I mention I’m from the suburbs?). That cost me an extra ten minutes circling the venue before finally finding an open space a couple of blocks down.
Despite it being a Monday, Svengoolie had no trouble drawing an enormous crowd. I walked to the theater and found my place in an already formidable line and, ten minutes later, looked behind me and couldn’t see the end of it.
While I was waiting, I noticed super-fan Warner Todd Huston selling rubber chickens. Apparently, the only way to get a good rubber chicken these days is to order them in bulk which Warner did before shrewdly looking to recoup some of that cash by selling the extras here. Those were some lucky customers, too, since Warner’s high-quality fowl were basically the rubberized equivalent of Purdue chickens. These days, all you can find are those hard-to-sign, “bumpy” chickens that drive Sven nuts!
When I finally got near the main entrance, it was like getting a snapshot of Chicago 100 years ago. It was beautifully preserved and even had its original ticket booth.
By the time I made it inside, Warner had already seen Svengoolie and he and Chris Connolly from the Mr. C Dives-In YouTube Channel said “hello.” Warner shared a unique item he’d just gotten signed – a screen-accurate Ed the Bat! Back in the ’90s, Sven’s ill-fated, plush mail assistant was ordered off the show by Neal Saban a.k.a. the Grand Poobah of Weigel Broadcasting. Saban found Ed’s voice “irritating” and, in a hilarious bit, unceremoniously “fires” Ed on the show. After threatening the furry bat with a baseball bat, Ed flies off swearing vengeance. He may never have gotten his revenge but, thanks to Warner, has made a return of sorts.
I had my own fanboy agenda and handed a (already signed) Svengoolie poster to Producer, Jim Roche, for a prearranged purpose (more on that in a future post). So when it was my turn, we just chatted for a bit; but not for too long as he had a LOT of people to greet, and, as you can probably guess from my blog, I see Svengoolie more than I do some of my relatives.
Chris stayed nearby and gave me a little tour of Music Box. Inside the lounge was a collection of posters and VHS tapes with a TV/VCR playing Cloverfield (2008). They also had an authentic poster of the US release of the first Godzilla movie. It’s hard to believe this theater pre-dates that film by fifteen years!
Chris also showed me the theater’s “Garden” where they do smaller, outdoor viewing and events. Earlier they set up fake brick buildings for young, Godzilla fans to tear down.
My eldest son lives near the theater and met up with me there. We grabbed some before entering the theater.
Photo courtesy of Chris Connolly
Photo courtesy of Chris Connolly
The theater was jam Packed which made me wonder how big the turnout is going to be for the upcoming G-FEST (Godzilla Festival). Podcaster, Nick Digilio, took the stage and had the audience yell “Happy Anniversary!” in honor of Svengoolie’s 45th year while Jim Roche recorded from his iPad.
Svengoolie thanked everyone before delving into some fun film facts regarding the night’s feature, Destroy All Monsters. Ironically, he’d just presented this film on his own show less than a month before.
Courtesy of Chris Connolly
It was pretty cool seeing the movie on the big screen and subtitled which I much prefer over dubbing. It also kept the viewing experience fresh despite having just seen it on TV. All in all, it was a fun night and great seeing so many familiar faces. It was also the perfect precursor for G-FEST which is just around the corner. And just a couple weeks after that, it’s Flashback Weekend with Svengoolie. Like I said, this is a Svengoolie/Godzilla kind of year.
Dave~