Chicago History Museum
Chicago will get its first look at a new documentary about the famed Rush Street nightclub Mister Kelly’s this week on WTTW-Channel 11.
The film will air as a one-hour special at 8 p.m. Thursday, followed by a rerun at 10 p.m. Sunday. The full version, clocking in at 80 minutes, premieres nationally this fall.
The film includes live footage of performances from the club, where such greats as Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Herbie Hancock and Lenny Bruce got their acts together during their up-and-coming years. Big names including Billie Holiday, Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Woody Allen and the Smothers Brothers chose the venue as the site of their live albums.
“Live at Mister Kelly’s" will air soon on WTTW-Ch. 11 and take some Chicagoans back to a forgotten Rush Street era, and introduce others to the empire of Chicago nightspots that launched many a famous career. Barbra Streisand included.
Don Bronstein
I never stepped foot in Mister Kelly’s. But many a day, my parents, aunts and uncle took me there as they related dewy-eyed tales.
Dick Gregory cracked the place up, they said. Richard Pryor brought the house down. Ella Fitzgerald’s scats hit the ceiling. Sassy Sarah Vaughan’s succulent notes made you swoon.
Most if all, it was a place “we” could go. It was always happening at Mr. Kelly’s on North Rush Street, and at the London House, at North Michigan and East Wacker Drive.
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The Mister Kelly's archive has Lenny Bruce's bar tab, posters, dinner plates and photos of Barbra Streisand from before she was Barbra. It's soon to all be searchable at the Newberry. From one Chicago institution to another.
Mister Kelly's is back in the limelight chicagoreader.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chicagoreader.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.