the rescue of anxious patrons when the lights went out accidentally. In the dark auditorium she began singing "You're In Virginia Sure As You're Born", calming frazzled nerves. Frank Cambria's design for Balaban's Thanksgiving-themed presentation, featuring a giant pumpkin and dancers representing a waif, a chicken and scarecrow, was a big hit, bringing a newspaper notice that read, "We see production in the motion picture shows." And for the run of Humoresque, the story of a young violinist, Cambria broke the picture by injecting the appearance on stage of a young man playing the violin to bring drama to the entire theatrical experience. A columnist tagged "Observer" in the Chicago Herald-Examiner wrote, "it would be well indeed if only as a matter of civic pride to bring New York to town to let it see how Balaban & Katz put pictures on." Another Balaban innovation was to provide free tickets to orphans, the aged, and the handicapped, particularly during slow periods before the Christmas holidays. And he provided a club room for the ushers, a recreation room for the musicians, and the start of First Aid Rooms in all future B&K theatres with a trained attendant. Additionally there was a playroom for children—again with a trained attendant, a sand box, slide, and toys—and a free checking service for suitcases and parcels. The success of Balaban & Katz brought challenges. A ten-week musicians' strike in 1919 called on Balaban's encyclopedic knowledge of vaudeville acts with their own pianists, in order to substitute for large orchestras. And he and his family "lived under constant fear of hoodlums", requiring a nightly police escort home. The Tivoli The first of Balaban & Katz's "big three" Chicago theatres, The Tivoli opened at 6:30 p.m. on February 16, 1921, on Chicago's South Side. The opening night in the city's first 4,000-seat motion picture theatre reportedly was a mob scene, with some people who had no intention of going to the theatre swept in off the streets by the crushing crowds. The Chicago Health Commissioner declared that the air-conditioned air in The Tivoli "was better than that on Pike's Peak". The Tivoli also boasted military-style drilling of the ushers, who were uniformed college boys strictly coached in their duties and service to the patrons. When the young men went off duty at evening's end, their "maneuvers" were enjoyed by patrons. The type of usher desired was later