Saying Goodbye to Michael Loewenstein, Set Designer for Siskel & Ebert at the Movies

If Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert were the two stars of “Siskel & Ebert at the Movies,” the intimate movie theater set on which they shared their takes on film releases new and old was the third. You can thank set designer Mickey Loewenstein for that, a legendary scenic designer at Chicago’s WTTW-Channel 11 for 40 years who shaped the look of television’s most iconic film review show. On August 20th, 2024, he passed from natural causes in his Florida home at the age of 90.

Loewenstein began working at WTTW in 1959 as a set designer, benefiting from the large budgets and creative freedom that came from the golden age of television. There, he designed sets for everything from the live-music powerhouse “Soundstage” to the kid’s puppet show “Kikla, Fran, and Ollie” to the Peabody-award-winning 1983 ballet production of “The Merry Widow. “

But arguably, his most famous creation was the set for “Siskel & Ebert and the Movies” (fashioned, of course, in 1975 when the show was initially called “Opening Soon … at a Theater Near You”), affecting the look of a sprawling movie house that belong only to Roger & Gene. It was their playhouse, and it looked like they had the whole house all to themselves.

The kicker, and part of Loewenstein’s production magic, was that the set was much smaller than it appeared on screen. Modeled after the Highland Park movie theater Loewenstein frequented growing up, the “Siskel & Ebert” set was actually a tiny television studio set. He used forced perspective to make everything look bigger: Screens, back rows, exit signs, all of it was built to one-third scale. In real life, Roger & Gene looked like giants. On TV, they were lost in the din of the theater.

It’s a design that would linger through the entirety of the show’s run, as hosts and sensibilities and broadcast affiliates changed. Through all that tumult, Loewenstein’s set loomed large, even if it seemed small.

Born in 1933 to a father who worked in real estate and a bookstore-owner mother, Loewenstein built his bona fides early with a theater major at the University of Colorado and a two-year stint designing sets for the entertainment branch of the military, Special Services.

Loewenstein is survived by sons Dave and Tim Loewenstein, as well as three grandchildren.

Those who want to honor his memory can attend a service October 19th at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Evanston. Or, they can just head to the Chicago History Museum, where a collection of his drawings and sketches are displayed.

Or, in the grand tradition of Siskel & Ebert, you can go to the movies.