CBA Record May-June 2024

homes over the years, including the Conrad Hilton Theater, the Merle Reskin Theatre, and most recently, the Studebaker The

In 1930, George Packard, serving as a critic for the CBA Record, noted: “The perpetra tion of Christmas Spirits as a yearly event seems assured.” In 1973, Joe Stone propheti cally wrote: “They say the first 100 years are the hardest. We’ll let you know at the 100 th Anniversary production.” Joe, we are pleased to report that the Bar Show is stronger than ever. We have no doubt that the tradition – which is a trea sure to the legal community and beyond – will endure for another 100 years. The photographs accompanying this article capture 10 decades of Bar Show magic!

ater. Today’s production incor porates the latest in modern tech as evidenced by the tweets that appeared, seemingly in real time, on a giant screen behind the per formers. The costumes and set designs are always top-notch. Recently, the show had a cast of approximately 50 lawyers and ran for about two hours. The show has persisted through trying times. It even ran during World War II. The assassination of President Kennedy led the show to cancel its 39 th produc

tion in December 1963, but the show proceeded in February 1964. In 2021, the pandemic forced all theatres to go dark, but there was still an “Online Bar Show” consisting of a few paro dies. In 2022, after the writers, cast, and crew had the show back up and running, the Merle Reskin Theatre was unable to accom modate it, and it was impossible to find a new home given the influx of other theatrical productions in Chicago at the time. A truncated version of the show still ran as a “road show” in 2023. The full show resumed with a bang in 2024 with the most recent production, “It’s AI Wonderful Life.”

Adam Sheppard is a partner at Sheppard Law Firm PC, which concentrates in criminal defense, and is a member of the CBA Record Editorial Board. He has attended over 25 Bar Shows.

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