Uptown Theatre (Chicago)
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The Uptown Theatre is an extraordinary movie palace in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. This 1925 movie palace was built by Balaban & Katz and designed by Rapp and Rapp. The largest in Chicago, it boasts almost 4,500 seats and the size (volume) of which is said to be larger than any other movie palace in the United States, including Radio City Music Hall in New York. The mammoth theater has an ornate five story entrance waiting area with an eight story facade. The theater, at one time, had a full time 30 piece orchestra and elaborate stage show productions would accompany the movie. The Uptown Theatre is on several landmark and historic registers.
In the 1970's, the theatre was a major concert venue, hosting Genesis, Bruce Springsteen, ELO, Prince, and others.
The Uptown Theatre has been closed since the winter of 1981 when a burst water pipe caused extensive damage to the interior (due to the heat having been turned off by the owner).
Since then, it has been used to film scenes in movies such as the Academy Award Nominated Ron Howard Movie, Backdraft, the Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte movie, I Love Trouble and as Duncan's Toy Store in Home Alone II. A diverse advocacy group of friends, neighbors, historians, and theatre enthusiasts, Friends of the Uptown, supports restoring the venue to its position as an entertainment and economic asset for the Uptown neighborhood.
In the 1990's, the theatre lobby was host to the "Hearts Party" (a gay "circuit" party), which raised money for charity.
An award-winning 2006 documentary by filmmakers John Pappas and Michael Bisberg, Uptown Portrait of a Palace, published by Compass Rose, chronicles the history of the theatre and the current preservation efforts surrounding it. The Uptown Theatre is featured on the cover of a new book entitled "The Chicago Movie Palaces of Balaban and Katz" by David Balaban, published by Arcadia Publishing.
