Oriental Theatre (Chicago)

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For other places with the same name, see Oriental Theatre.

New Masonic Building and Oriental Theater
(U.S. National Register of Historic Places)
Location:	Chicago, Illinois
Coordinates:	41°53′3.88″N, 87°37′41.45″W
Built/Founded:	1926
Architect:	Rapp and Rapp
Architectural style(s):	Late Gothic Revival, Art Deco
Added to NRHP:	September 26, 1978
Reference #:	78003401 ^[1]
Governing body:	Private

The Oriental Theatre is located in Chicago, Illinois on Randolph Street. It opened in 1926, one of many ornate movie palaces built Chicago during the 1920s by the firm Rapp and Rapp. The Oriental features decor inspired by the architecture of India. The 3250 seat theatre was operated by the city's dominant theatre chain, Balaban and Katz.[1] Both movies and vaudeville] acts were presented during its early years, but by the 1930s it had become predominantly a movie house, though it continued to presnet live performances and concerts. Duke Ellington and his orchestra made frequent appearances at the Oriental.

The Oriental continued to be a vital part of Chicago's theatre district into the 1960s, but patronage declined the 1970s along with the fortunes of the Chicago Loop in general. Late in the decade, the theatre was showing exploitation films. It was closed in 1981 and sat vacant for more than a decade.[2]

In the late 1990s, the Oriental was renovated and restored, and it was reopened on October 18, 1998. The restored house now hosts the visiting companies of Broadway shows. The theatre's full name is The Ford Center for the Performing Arts Oriental Theatre, however to locals it is usually referred to as the Oriental Theatre. Currently, the musical Wicked is playing an open-ended, sit-down production here since June of 2005. The theatre re-opened in 1999 with the Chicago premiere of the musical Ragtime.

The Oriental is one of several houses now operating in Chicago's revitalized Loop Theatre District. The district is also home to the Cadillac Palace Theatre, LaSalle Bank Theatre (formerly The Shubert Theatre), the Goodman Theatre, and the famous Chicago Theatre. Randolph Street was traditionally the center of downtown Chicago's entertainment district until the 1960s when the area began to decline. The now demolished United Artists Theatre, Woods Theatre, and Roosevelt Theatre were located on or near Randolph Street.

The Oriental Theatre is referenced at the beginning of the 1958 film Auntie Mame.

[edit] References

^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2006-03-15).

Balaban, David, The Chicago Movie Palaces of Balaban and Katz, Arcadia Publishing 2006

[edit] External links

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