Iroquois Theatre fire the "Chicago Tribune", one of the "Top Five Funniest Shows of 2011" by WBEZ Radio and one of the "Twelve Outstanding Ensembles of 2011" by "Time Out Chicago"'s Kris Vire. The Ruffians theater company has remounted the production during the Christmas holiday period each year since 2013, mostly with the original cast. Iroquois Theatre fire The Iroquois Theatre fire happened on December 30, 1903, in Chicago, Illinois. It was the deadliest theater fire and the deadliest single-building fire in United States history. At least 602 people died as a result of the fire, but not all the deaths were reported,
Theater in Chicago by the fire eater and ventriloquist, Mr. Brown. In 1837, the first resident theater company, the short-lived Chicago Theater opened in the Sauganash Hotel. One of the players was then a boy named Joseph Jefferson, who grew to become a very successful comedic actor. Chicago's main theater prize, the Joseph Jefferson award is named after this pioneer. New theaters, including Rice's Theater, owned by an empresario and future mayor, and McVicker's Theater began booking nationally prominent acts beginning in the late 1840s. After the devastation of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Scottish-American producer, David Henderson, gave Chicago a national