A. J. Balaban

Who was A. J. Balaban?

Abraham Joseph Balaban, known as A. J. Balaban or Abe Balaban, was a Chicago-based showman whose particular influence on popular entertainment in the early 20th century led to enormous innovations in the American movie-going experience.

Following the leasing and operation of a modest nickelodeon house in 1909, Balaban oversaw the commission and design of Chicago's great movie palaces for the Balaban & Katz exhibition chain, integrated live performers into themed stage extravaganzas with full orchestras and forever changing vaudeville, and inspired numerous and novel ideas for theatre management.

A. J. Balaban's most productive period of achievement was from 1909 to 1929. It was a measure of his success and respect that in 1929, the February 27 issue of Variety was dedicated to him, and the following August a massive Citizens' Dinner in Chicago was organized to bid him farewell upon his move to New York to assume a creative position with Paramount/Publix, with which B&K had merged in 1926.

The artistic and managerial genius of the Balaban & Katz team, A. J. Balaban—from his earliest years as a young man singing in small theatres to illustrated glass slides, to the mastery of "presentations" that featured singers, dancers, and musicians in a variety of turns culminating into lavish tableaux—had as an overarching inspiration the comfort and satisfaction of the audience.