Genesee Theatre

History

The Genesee Theatre at 203 N. Genesee Street in Waukegan was built for A.L. Brumund, H.C. Burnett, and D.T. Webb by architect Edward P. Steinberg and contractor Alva Weeks, on land bought from the YMCA. It opened on Christmas 1927 with four sold-out shows of The Valley of the Giants, and in 1928 it screened Waukegan’s first talkie. The last first-run film played in 1982 and the house closed in 1989; the city bought it in 1999 and reopened the renovated theatre on December 3, 2004. The roughly 2,400-seat room books concerts, comedy, and Broadway.