It was a measure of his success and respect that in 1929, the February 27 issue of Variety[4] was dedicated to him, and the following August a massive Citizens' Dinner in Chicago was organized to bid him farewell upon his move to New York to assume a creative position with Paramount/Publix, with which B&K had merged in 1926.

[5] The artistic and managerial genius of the Balaban & Katz team (brother Barney was known for his financial and real estate acumen, while Katz was a lawyer),[6] A. J. Balaban—from his earliest years as a young man singing in small theatres to illustrated glass slides, to the mastery of "presentations" that featured singers, dancers, and musicians in a variety of turns culminating into lavish tableaux—had as an overarching inspiration the comfort and satisfaction of the audience.

According to Abel Green, editor of Variety, the venerable show business trade newspaper, Balaban "did more than any individual to glorify the cinema setting",[7] and his theatre management established a successful model for other national exhibitors.

As for performers and the production of effective shows and pacing, William Morris Senior, the talent manager, wrote in an open letter in Variety to Balaban, "You have done more for [vaudeville's] proper presentation than any other man ever connected with it.

During this time, Balaban installed an ice rink on the Roxy stage, and instigated the first-ever "four-a-day" by the New York Philharmonic for two weeks in September 1950.

Although the "presentation style" mix of movies and elaborate stage shows is no longer in popular or economic favor, it was Balaban's pioneering success in Chicago with this combination that today is often associated with Radio City Music Hall in New York.

[21][22] Barney, the financial mainstay of the family, was the first born and in young adulthood would come to work for the Western Cold Storage Company,[23] earning $25 a week.

[28] After a variety of odd jobs,[29] Balaban found steady employment as an errand boy for local clothiers, hauling woolens and delivering suits.

[42] At once he eliminated two of Donian's promotions—a "circus-spieler" urging audiences to step inside, and a large gramophone blasting tunes to the street—intuitively choosing a more restful and less honky-tonk image.

[24] After a day's work, he would go to the theatre, where the doors would open at 7 p.m.[24] The house had 103 camp chairs, some of which were broken and therefore not revenue-producers, and there were difficulties with electricity and attendance during severe winter storms.

And he began to consider how to routine the Circle's shows, alternating between short films like "Aesop's Fables" and "Pathe Weeklies" and live acts, creating terms like "openers", "fillers" and "chasers".

[52] A scant two months after its opening, the show business trade paper Variety called The Circle "a neat little house" that for an admission of 10 cents provided "four vaudeville acts and several reels of pictures.

"[55] The other remedy was a responsibility Balaban felt toward the audience, "for making these people happy and gay; to release them even for a moment from the depression of their drab homes and usually burdened lives.

"[59] Other innovations attributed to A. J. Balaban include themed holiday presentations; shoppers' bargain matinees; reduced prices for week-day and non-peak hours, and midnight shows; giant illuminated theatre signs; and on-site nursery playrooms and hospital facilities.

By 1915, Balaban suggested that his brother Barney resign his position as chief clerk at Western Cold Storage and take advantage of Chicago's real estate opportunities, created by the city's rapidly expanding middle-class.

Balaban engaged the brothers Cornelius W. and George L. Rapp as the architects for the new theatre,[68] which—due to strides in steel construction—boasted a column-free auditorium and a grand horseshoe mezzanine of boxes, with a full balcony above.

"[70][71][72] Thanks to Barney Balaban's experience with cold storage, the theatre had a washed air system and was air-cooled, allowing for refuge from summer heat—and year-round patronage.

The gently changing colors traveled from wall to ceiling, melting from soft rose to blue, lavender and yellow as they touched the velour of seats, crystal of chandeliers and the beautifully painted murals.

"[73] Balaban also believed that "a central figure in the orchestra pit seemed essential", identifying a young Viennese, S. Leopold Kohls, whose continental manners made him an ideal host and "good theatre. ...

[74] With business booming only a few months after the opening of the Central Park, Balaban & Katz received an opportunity to take over an unfinished vaudeville house.

[77] The stage bill consisted of semi-classics performed by vocalists including Gladys Swarthout[78] and Tess Gardell (sic; generally known as Gardella), also known as "Aunt Jemima", who once came to the rescue of anxious patrons when the lights went out accidentally.

[79] Frank Cambria's design for Balaban's Thanksgiving-themed presentation, featuring a giant pumpkin and dancers representing a waif, a chicken and scarecrow, was a big hit, bringing a newspaper notice that read, "We see production in the motion picture shows."

A columnist tagged "Observer" in the Chicago Herald-Examiner wrote, "it would be well indeed if only as a matter of civic pride to bring New York to town to let it see how Balaban & Katz put pictures on.

A ten-week musicians' strike in 1919 called on Balaban's encyclopedic knowledge of vaudeville acts with their own pianists, in order to substitute for large orchestras.

[100][104] During the active years of preparing the stage productions, Balaban's right hand was Morris Silver, who made trips to New York to secure talent.

Short recordings of top vaudeville acts began to replace the high priced live talent in a strategy to lower costs and raise profits.

[71] Three significant articles were written about him—the largest by Sime Silverman, the founder and publisher of Variety, citing Balaban as "a pioneer years ago in the development of the present day picture theatre. ...

)[107] By August 1929, when Balaban and family were ready to depart for Manhattan, the City of Chicago threw a Citizen's Dinner in his honor that befitted the showman's impressive career, as well as the high regard and affection held for him personally.

The head of the Balaban brothers, who is in large measure responsible for the entrance of the family in the picture business, and whose affiliation with Sam Katz so many years ago resulted in establishing an entertainment epoch, will go to New York to be placed in complete charge of all Publix stage presentations and the production of all Paramount talkie shorts.

"[116] Balaban's success as a Paramount executive, he recalled, "nearly defeated me in another field of life which I deemed equally precious"—time with his family and his eagerness to travel.