Originally designed for live theater, the saddle-shaped theater building was constructed with space frames, arched beams, and sprayed concrete – and covered in lead sheathing which acted as a sound deadening material. Goldberg compared the theater’s design to the physical structure of an arm. “Where the exterior concrete frame of the theatre touches the ground, we have the elbow. At the extreme cantilevered reaching end, we have the hand. And high up, we have the shoulder. The roof is slung by means of catenary (curved) cables between the hand and the shoulder. The seats, the gallery, is supported along the concrete arm itself.”

There was an entrance to the theater building on the west side, near the Dearborn Street bridge. It led to an exhibition space named McFetridge Hall.

According to Ben Honda, who worked for Bertrand Goldberg, the Marina City architect was a patron of the arts. He would sometimes fly to New York for an opening night and then fly back to Chicago. Honda believed that Goldberg was hoping the Goodman Theatre (a prominent regional theater company in Chicago) could be lured to the theater building at Marina City. But since 1925, the Goodman has been located a few blocks away on North Dearborn Street.

(Left) Theater building shortly after completion.