Bijou Theater (Chicago)

Last updated
Bijou Theater
Bijou Theater sign. .jpg
Bijou Theater (Chicago)
General information
Type Adult Theater, Sex Club
Address1349 N Wells Street, Chicago, Illinois
Opened1970
Closed2015
Owner Steven Toushin

The Bijou Theater (also referred to as The Bijou) was an adult theater and sex club for gay men located at 1349 N Wells Street in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood. [1] Opened in 1970 by Steven Toushin, the Bijou Theater was the longest-running gay adult theater and sex club in the United States. [2] [ as of? ] The Bijou Theater featured the "Bijou Classics"—adult films produced by Bijou Video in the 1970s and 1980s—every Monday. The theater also hosted live shows featuring adult entertainers, a non-sexual cabaret show written and directed by drag entertainer Miss Tiger and special appearances by gay porn stars. The theater permanently closed its door on September 30, 2015. [1]

Contents

History

Theater

The Bijou Theater featured a 15-by-18-foot silver screen and seated 77 people in anchored, theater-style cushioned seating. The theater's lobby hosted a DVD counter to purchase gay adult films. A desk and computer were set up for patrons who would like to peruse the Bijou's website listing over 14,000 titles. Titles found on the website were then available for purchase at the DVD counter.

Sex club

The Bijou Theater was widely recognized[ weasel words ] for its second-floor sex club. Travel magazines implored readers to explore the "gay man's fantasy playground" replete with glory holes, dark corners, and a BDSM dungeon with slings, crosses, and other fetish objects. Guests were invited to rent a locker to store their street clothes and change into their "play clothing". In warm weather, the club opened the Bijou Gardens, an outdoor playground. [3]

Bijou Video

Bijou Theater (2011) Bijou-Theater-Chicago.jpg
Bijou Theater (2011)

Toushin opened Bijou Video as a mail order pornographic film company in 1978. [4] Bijou Video produced hundreds of gay pornographic films, [5] many of which featured famous porn stars such as Al Parker [6] (e.g. Turned On [7] ), Bruno (e.g. Pleasures in the Sun), [8] and Richard Locke. [9] Directors included Toby Ross, among others. [10] Some of Bijou Video's films are notable for their BDSM and fetish content, such as fisting (e.g. Erotic Hands [11] and Drive [12] ), food play (e.g. Food Sex), [13] and bondage (e.g. Argos: The Sessions). [14] Film production ended in the late 1990s. [4] In 1999, Bijou Video began remastering and digitizing its film library of 16mm film, 1-inch masters, and 3/4 inch tapes. [4]

Bijou Boys Erotic Cabaret

The Bijou Boys Erotic Cabaret featured solo performances by local and national male dancers. Performances featured full nudity and there were typically three to four dancers a show. Showtimes were select afternoons and nightly. The cabaret began to shift from typical go-go boy show to an avant-garde, high production value venue under the direction of Miss Tiger. Eventually, these more explicit shows were separated from a newly formed venue known as Miss Tiger's Cabaret.

Miss Tiger's Cabaret

Miss Tiger's Cabaret featured live singing, original music and original plays. The cabaret shows were written and directed by Miss Tiger and were the first of their kind to be performed at Bijou Theater. New shows were introduced about every eight weeks; with productions taking place Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:30 pm and 10:30 pm each night. This cabaret was unlike the former Bijou cabaret, due to its including both a male and female cast and featured very little nudity. Cast members included a few of the dancers from the erotic cabaret but were mostly singers and actors from Chicago's thriving community theater scene. Original music was created by Chicago music producer, DJ Christian, who often accompanied Miss Tiger in music bookings outside of the theater. Each production featured theatrical lighting, original costumes and set design. Many shows were photographed and reviewed by St. Sukie de la Croix of the Windy City Times. Sukie was quoted as saying, "Miss Tiger is a star! Nobody else is doing this kind of thing." Miss Tiger would later write a popular advice column for Nightspots, a weekly Chicago LGBTQIA entertainment magazine.

Miss Tiger's Cabaret was irreverent, camp, sometimes political and thought provoking all in one. Miss Tiger's comedic timing and ability to involve the audience into the show was legendary. The diversity and inclusiveness featured in these productions garnered a following of show goers, that often included heterosexual men, women and couples, who would have otherwise never visited Bijou Theater.

Shows ran from 2000 through 2004.

Ownership

The Bijou Theater was owned and operated by American pornographer Steven Toushin. Toushin was put in charge of the Bijou in 1970 with the venue eventually showing gay films exclusively in 1978. [15] He has had several legal bouts and disputes with law enforcement over the years, including a conviction for tax evasion in the late 1980's and a number of obscenity indictments. In 1989, at the Adult Video Awards show in Las Vegas Toushin received (while he was in prison) the Reuben Sturman Award "For Legal Battles on Behalf of the Adult Industry". In 2007, at the GayVN award show in San Francisco, Toushin was awarded the "Life Time Achievement Award" from the Gay Adult Industry. He is the 3rd person to ever receive this honor. In the June 2008 AVN (Adult Video News) magazine's 25th anniversary edition Toushin was acknowledged as one of the 25 pioneers who developed the Gay/bi Adult Film Industry. Toushin was inducted into the Founders Branch of the Adult Video News Hall of Fame at the 2009 AVN Award Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Other Founders include Phil Harvey and Larry Flynt.

Controversy

Jeffrey Dahmer frequented the Bijou Theater and Jeremiah Weinberger, a theater customer service representative, was one of his murder victims. [16] During the Dahmer trials, many gay establishments, such as bathhouses and gay clubs, were left vacant or less busy than usual due to the gruesome details of these murders and fears from the community of falling victim.[ citation needed ]

In January and February 1975, the theater showed the controversial[ to whom? ][ how? ] gay pornographic feature film, Him by Ed D. Louie, which focused on a young man with a sexual fixation on Jesus Christ. As of 2023, no copy of the film has been found and it is now[ when? ] classified[ by whom? ] as a lost film, with some[ weasel words ] claiming that it was a hoax. [17]

On September 21, 1976, co-owner Paul Gonsky was murdered by Frank Schweihs, a criminal who often robbed pornography stores in the Old Town neighborhood. [16]

Involvement with Queer Politics

As with many other Gay and Lesbian Theater during the 1960's, the presence of these communities allowed others to express themselves freely and spread ideas of acceptable and identity in a safe place. [18] Specifically, sex theaters, such as the Bijou, pushed boundaries between theater and pornography films, and it played a significant role in the development of the gay pornography industry, which became an important cultural and economic force for the LGBT community. It allowed the conversation to open up about sexual health and safety in LGBT spaces, exhibiting how pornography should not be strictly heteronormative.

Gay erotic theater thrived due to the confluences of gay activism and a push for visibility, the deteriorating obscenity laws that often targeted queer communities, demands of a gay consumer base, and a broad spirit of self expression. [18] Before its opening in 1970, the Stonewall riots in 1969 created a political push for the visibility and acceptance of LGBT individuals.

The Bijou Theater also played a role in the development of HIV/AIDs activism in the 1980's and 1990's. The theater received criticism for unsafe sex practices during the early years of the pandemic, but it also became a site for HIV/AIDs education and outreach, providing a space for activists to distribute condoms and material on safe homosexual sex practices. In 1985, the theater published a booklet of safe sex guidelines called "Safe Sex: It Can Save Your Life" and started exclusively using condoms in all pornographic films by 1987. [19]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nina Hartley</span> American pornographic actress (born 1959)

Marie Louise Hartman, known professionally as Nina Hartley, is an American pornographic film actress and sex educator. By 2017 she had appeared in more than one thousand adult films. She has been described by Las Vegas Weekly as an "outspoken feminist" and "advocate for sexual freedom", and by CNBC as "a legend in the adult world".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Wrangler</span> American actor, director and producer

John Robert Stillman, billed professionally as Jack Wrangler, was an American gay pornographic film actor, theatrical producer, director, and writer. He performed in both gay and straight films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peep show</span> Erotic entertainment viewed through a viewing slot

A peep show or peepshow is a presentation of a live sex show or pornographic film which is viewed through a viewing slot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Parker</span> American pornographic actor

Al Parker was a gay American porn star, producer, and director. He died from complications of AIDS at the age of 40.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesbian erotica</span> Visual art depiction of female-female sexuality

Lesbian erotica deals with depictions in the visual arts of lesbianism, which is the expression of female-on-female sexuality. Lesbianism has been a theme in erotic art since at least the time of ancient Rome, and many regard depictions of lesbianism to be erotic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AVN Awards</span> Adult entertainment industry award

The AVN Awards are film awards sponsored and presented by the American adult video industry trade magazine AVN to recognize achievement in various aspects of the creation and marketing of American pornographic films. They are often called the "Oscars of porn".

<i>Blue Movie</i> 1969 film by Andy Warhol

Blue Movie is a 1969 American erotic film written, produced and directed by Andy Warhol. It is the first adult erotic film depicting explicit sex to receive wide theatrical release in the United States, and is regarded as a seminal film in the Golden Age of Porn (1969–1984). The film stars Warhol superstars Viva and Louis Waldon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Age of Porn</span> Era of mainstream success for sexually explicit films (1969–1984)

The term "Golden Age of Porn", or "porno chic", refers to a 15-year period (1969–1984) in commercial American pornography, in which sexually explicit films experienced positive attention from mainstream cinemas, movie critics, and the general public. This American period, which subsequently spread internationally, and that began before the legalization of pornography in Denmark on July 1, 1969, started on June 12, 1969, with the theatrical release of the film Blue Movie directed by Andy Warhol, and, somewhat later, with the release of the 1970 film Mona produced by Bill Osco. These films were the first adult erotic films depicting explicit sex to receive wide theatrical release in the United States. Both influenced the making of films such as 1972's Deep Throat starring Linda Lovelace and directed by Gerard Damiano, Behind the Green Door starring Marilyn Chambers and directed by the Mitchell brothers, 1973's The Devil in Miss Jones also by Damiano, and 1976's The Opening of Misty Beethoven by Radley Metzger, the "crown jewel" of the Golden Age, according to award-winning author Toni Bentley. According to Andy Warhol, his Blue Movie film was a major influence in the making of Last Tango in Paris, an internationally controversial erotic drama film, starring Marlon Brando, and released in 1972, three years after Blue Movie was shown in theaters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adult movie theater</span> Movie theater designed for the exhibition of pornographic films

An adult movie theater is a euphemistic term for a movie theater dedicated to the exhibition of pornographic films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's erotica</span> Erotic material that caters specifically to women

Women's erotica is any erotic material that caters specifically to women target-demographic of various sexual preferences. When erotica is specifically directed at lesbians, it is referred to as lesbian erotica. Women's erotica is available from a variety of media including video games, websites, books, comics, short stories, films, photography, magazines, hentai and audio. The content may cover many aspects of sexuality, from relationships to fetishes; the main idea being to convey sex-positivism from a woman's perspective, or to feature female empowerment and sexual fantasies.

Toby Ross is an American film director who made straight and gay pornographic films in the 1970s and 1980s and later on went to produce nonsexual and cult films with a strong sense of comedic flare. Many film aficionados consider Ross the only missing link between adult films and commercial independent films, as Ross calls it The Antarctica of the film business. He was born in Landsberg am Lech, Germany, to a Jewish mother and a Catholic father. At the age of eight, his mother having remarried an Austrian Jew, he moved with his mother and stepfather to Israel. He served two years in the Israeli army. After studies in Los Angeles, attracted by stories of the freedom in San Francisco, he moved there in the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HUMP!</span> Annual presentation of amateur pornography

HUMP! is an annual film festival founded by Dan Savage in 2005. HUMP! describes itself as "the world's best amateur porn film festival." The festival—which premiered in Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon—showcases home-movie erotica, amateur sex cinema, and locally produced pornography, all of which must be five minutes or less. Films are rated by the audience, and awards are given.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pornographic film actor</span> Person who performs in pornography

A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts on video that is usually characterized as a pornographic film. Such videos tend to be made in a number of distinct pornographic subgenres and attempt to present a sexual fantasy; the actors selected for a particular role are primarily selected on their ability to create or fit that fantasy. Pornographic videos are characterized as either softcore, which does not contain depictions of sexual penetration or extreme fetishism, and hardcore, which can contain depictions of penetration or extreme fetishism, or both. The genres and sexual intensity of videos is mainly determined by demand. Depending on the genre of the film, the on-screen appearance, age, and physical features of the actors and their ability to create the sexual mood of the video is of critical importance. Most actors specialize in certain genres, such as straight, bisexual, gay, lesbian, bondage, strap-on, anal, double penetration, semen swallowing, teenage, orgy, age roleplay, fauxcest, interracial or MILFs and more.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Toushin</span> American pornographer, author, and businessman

Steven Toushin is an American producer and distributor of gay pornographic and BDSM films who has operated adult theaters and sex clubs since 1970. Toushin owned and managed the Bijou Theater in Chicago, the oldest gay adult theater and sex club in the United States. Toushin has produced multiple underground and classic pornographic films through his studio Bijou Video and published several books on the matter. He and his businesses have been the subject of twenty-one obscenity cases, including two federal trials, and he has suffered thirty-five personal arrests and over 200 busts to his businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AEBN</span> Internet pornography company

AEBN, short for Adult Entertainment Broadcast Network, is an Internet pornography company that specializes in delivering material through streaming video in a video on demand format. Subsidiaries include PornoTube.

The U.S. state of Illinois has an active LGBT history, centered on its largest city Chicago, where by the 1920s a gay village had emerged in the Old Town district. Chicago was also the base for the short-lived Society for Human Rights, an early LGBT rights advocacy organization (1924).

Fred Charles Halsted was an American gay pornographic film director, actor, escort, publisher, and sex club owner. His films Sex Garage and L.A. Plays Itself are the only gay pornographic movies in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, where they were screened before a capacity audience on April 23, 1974. A screening of L.A. Plays Itself was sponsored by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art on February 28, 2013, and another took place on December 16, 2011, at the Los Angeles art gallery Human Resources. His films have also been shown the Netherlands Film Museum and in competition at The Deauville Film Festival.

George Payne is an American actor and retired pornographic film actor. He found early success as a swimsuit model and was featured in Physique Pictorial. Payne began work in the adult film industry in The Back Row in 1973 opposite actor Casey Donovan. He was featured on the cover of the LGBT magazine The Advocate the same year. He later starred with Jack Wrangler in Navy Blue in 1979, and in Centurians of Rome in 1981. Payne later transitioned to straight roles in the adult industry; his work is considered part of the Golden Age of Porn. He was inducted into the X-Rated Critics Organization Hall of Fame in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brent Everett</span> Canadian gay pornographic actor (born 1984)

Brent Everett is a Canadian gay pornographic film actor and director.

References

  1. 1 2 Simonette, Matt (2015-09-11). "Chicago's Bijou Theater to close Sept. 30". Windy City Times . Retrieved 2015-10-17.
  2. U.S. v. Toushin, 714 F.Supp. 1452 at 1454 (M.D.Tenn. April 21, 1989).
  3. Mathrani, Matt (July 2008), Chicago: Big, brawny, friendly, The Guide Retrieved on March 9, 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 "About". Bijou World. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  5. "Studio Bijou Gay Classics". AEBN . Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  6. "Videos Directed By Steve Scott". AEBN . Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  7. "Turned On". AEBN . Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  8. "Pleasures In The Sun". AEBN . Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  9. "The Best Of Richard Locke". AEBN . Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  10. Dowling, Bryan (2011). "40 Years of Bijou". IMDb . Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  11. "Erotic Hands". AEBN . Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  12. "Drive". AEBN . Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  13. "Food Sex". AEBN . Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  14. "Argos: The Sessions". AEBN . Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  15. "Chicago's Bijou Theater to close Sept. 30 - Windy City Times News". Windy City Times. 2015-09-11. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  16. 1 2 Hogan, Stephen (2011-05-22), Bijou Theater, Jeffrey Dahmer Hangout , retrieved 2023-05-01
  17. "bijouworld.com - Bijou Theater History - BijouBlog". bijouworld.com. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  18. 1 2 Mambrol, Nasrullah (2021-04-14). "Gay and Lesbian Theater". Literary Theory and Criticism. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  19. "Bijou Video | Classic Gay Porn | Gay Adult Films | Gay Dvds". bijouworld.com. Retrieved 2023-05-01.

41°54′26″N87°38′04″W / 41.907169°N 87.634319°W / 41.907169; -87.634319