Overview

The 1,500-seat Patio Theatre was built by three brothers – William, John, and George Mitchell – and opened on Chicago’s Northside in the Fall of 1927, with the movie The Blonde Saint  starring Lewis Stone and Doris Kenyon, in addition to some stage acts plus a news reel.

Reports indicate that, from the theatre’s opening, Portage Park locals called it the “PAY-sho”  or “PAY-shee-oh” . City of Chicago cultural historian Tim Samuelson guesses that pronunciation began to change in the 1950s, “when everybody would have their modern ranch house and a pah-TEE-oh.”

The theatre was designed in the Atmospheric style with a Neo-Pompeiian theme, including Spanish and Italian architectural influences.

A Barton theatre pipe organ was installed for the theatre’s opening, the original staff organist being John Devine. Originally a 3-manual, 17-rank instrument, the organ was later upgraded with an additional rank.

The theatre was shuttered by long-time owner Alexander Kouvalis in 2001 due to failure of air conditioning chillers and licensing issues. Renovations began in 2010 under Kouvalis’ son, Demetri, and the theatre reopened on 3rd June 2011 with the movie Thor .

The theatre installed a 2k digital cinema projector in late 2012 after a Kickstarter campaign, however it retains its dual 35mm film projectors.

After a period of showing "intermediate run" new releases, the theatre transitioned to a rental-based business model in June 2013. The nonprofit Chicago Film Society was in residence there until the theatre closed again in April 2014 due to further problems with heating and cooling equipment.

In late 2015 the theatre was sold to local developer Eddie Carranza for $2.5 million. The theatre reopened on 7th May 2016 under its new ownership with a screening of Jaws .

In 2019, Chris Bauman, then president of Zenith Music Group  and operator of the Avondale Music Hall , purchased the building and has led renovation efforts since then.