Iroquois Theatre fire 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, as some of the bodies were removed from the scene. The Iroquois Theatre was at 24–28 West Randolph Street, between State Street and Dearborn Street, in Chicago. The syndicate that bankrolled its construction chose the location specifically to attract women on day trips from out of town who, it was thought, would
Chicago Shakespeare Theater of America (STAA) and National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Chicago Shakespeare Theater was founded as the Chicago Shakespeare Workshop by current Artistic Director Barbara Gaines in 1986, a name which was changed a year later to the Chicago Shakespeare Repertory and finally in 1999 to Chicago Shakespeare Theater. It performed its first twelve seasons in residency at the Ruth Page Theater, where it performed titles ranging from better-known Shakespeare plays such as "Hamlet" and "King Lear" as well as lesser-known titles such as "Troilus and Cressida" and "Timon of Athens".