The Avalon Regal (originally the Avalon Theater, and later the New Regal Theater) lies just off the I-90 Skyway, at 1641 East 79th Street, in Chicago, Illinois' South Chicago community. The theater opened as the Avalon Theater in 1927, when the community was known as Avalon Park, a then predominantly German, Swedish and Irish neighborhood. During the 1960s, more African Americans began to move into the area, transforming local culture while taking advantage of this historic gem for their unique musical and artistic ends. Architecturally, the Avalon Regal's atmospheric Moorish Revivalist theme was conceived by Austrian-born architect John Eberson, who was nationally known for his exotic motifs. Legend has it that Eberson was inspired by an ornate Persian incense burner he found in an antiqu