Seating 4300
The Uptown Theatre, also known as the Balaban and Katz Uptown Theatre, is a massive, ornate movie palace in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.
Designed by Rapp and Rapp, it was constructed in 1925 for the Balaban and Katz theater chain.
The largest in Chicago, it boasts 4,381 seats and its interior volume is said to be larger than any other movie palace in the United States, including Radio City Music Hall in New York. It occupies over 46,000 square feet (4,300 m2) of land at the corner of Lawrence Avenue and Broadway in Chicago's Uptown Entertainment District. The mammoth theater has an ornate five story entrance lobby with an eight story façade.
When the Uptown opened in August 18, 1925, the phrase "an acre of seats in a magic city" was coined to describe the wonders of over 4,300 seats in a theater that covered 46,000 square feet of land. At the time, it was the third largest in terms of seating. But it was the largest, by far, in land area and cubic volume, due in part to the three vast lobby areas. The Grand Opening of the Uptown Theatre was accompanied by a "Central
Uptown Parade" of over 200 floats and a grand ball at Harmon's Arcadia
in Uptown. Over 12,000 people stood in line to be ticketholders in the
very first audience. Several women collapsed because of exhaustion.
Literature encouraged patrons to "come for the most awe-inspiring sight of your life." The Grand Opening of the Uptown Theatre was accompanied by a "Central Uptown Parade" of over 200 floats and a grand ball at Harmon's Arcadia in Uptown. Over 12,000 people stood in line to be ticketholders in the very first audience. Several women collapsed because of exhaustion.
Uptown Theatre staff and stage shows
The theater opened with a staff of over 130 people, including a full time 34 piece orchestra, a nurse, firemen and others. Elaborate stage show productions would accompany each movie, unique in that the elaborate stage shows would follow the theme of the movie.
Many of the details we associate with a movie palace had not been codified by the time the Uptown opened. The stage shows were planned in consideration of the feature. Music was customized for the large orchestra, as well as for the Uptown's Wurlitzer organ, the second largest one in operation. Stars of national fame played regularly. Even the posters in the display cases were custom artwork with new items every week.
By the end of the 1920s, after more than 20 million people had already attended the Uptown. Some of the greatest theaters, such as Radio City Music Hall in New York, were not even on the drawing boards yet.
Initially, sound film and depression economics did not affect the Uptown, because of the uniqueness and quality of the entertainment, and the competition that had been eliminated through the policies of Balaban and Katz. Eventually, with the availability of 1930s musicals and the like, film became the mainstay. The stage was used only on rare occasions through the 1940s. By the end of the decade, Balaban and Katz reinstituted their traveling shows, booking first the Chicago and then traveling weekly to the Uptown in the north, the Marbro in the west, and the Tivoli in the south. This system proved unsuccessful. Competing distractions such as radio and television, and an increase in the number of working housewives limited both evening and matinee audiences.
Thereafter, through the 1950s and early 1960s, film fare became the mainstay again with occasional use of the stage for rentals.
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| 1951 Nuns at the Uptown. |
The most notable rented use of the stage was for the television show "Queen for a Day," which televised one week every year in the theater. The Uptown was also used as a large hall, especially for corporate meetings, such as those held here by Standard Oil of New Jersey. These uses created revenue. But later, with declining film revenue, furnishings were sold on occasion, starting with the organ in 1962. Soon, because of high insurance costs and vandalism, all extraneous artwork was sold, including more than 90 major oil paintings and 18 major marble groups. These sales yielded several million dollars.
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Born Harry Broughton, Harry Blackstone (September 27, 1885 November 16,
1965) was a famed stage magician and illusionist of the 20th century.
He began his career as a magician in his teens and was popular through
World War II as a USO entertainer. He was often billed as The Great
Blackstone.
$42,000 week December 26th to January 1st
121,833 people witnessed his performance.
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Harry Blackstone was in the mode of courtly elegant predecessor magicians like
Howard Thurston and
Harry Kellar.
He often wore white tie and tails when performing, and he traveled with
large illusions and a sizable cast of uniformed male and female
assistants. For a number of years he toured in the Midwest, often
performing throughout the day between film showings.
Blackstone remained silent during much of his big stage show, which
was presented to the accompaniment of a pit orchestra and such lively
tunes of the time as "Who", "I Know That You Know", and "Chinatown."
Among his especially effective illusions was one in which a woman
lying on a couch and covered with a gossamer shroud appeared to float
high in the air and then vanish, as Blackstone pulled off the covering.
In another illusion, a woman stepped into a cabinet in front of many
bright, clear, tubular incandescent light bulbs. When the magician
suddenly pushed the perforated front of the cabinet backward the light
bulbs protruded through the holes in the front of the box (to the
accompaniment of the lady's blood-curdling scream). The cabinet was then
revolved so that the audience seemed to see the lady impaled by the
blinding filaments.
His "
Sawing a woman in half"
involved an electric circular saw some three to four feet in diameter
mounted on a swing-down arm. Blackstone demonstrated the efficacy of the
device by sawing noisily through a piece of lumber. Then a female
assistant was placed on the saw table in full view, as wide metal
restraints were clamped upon her mid-section. The blade whirred and
appeared to pass through her body, as ripping sounds were heard, the
woman shrieked, and particles were scattered by the whirring blade. When
the blade stopped she, of course, rose unharmed.
[3]
Blackstone spent the last years of his life performing at
The Magic Castle, a magical attraction in
Hollywood, California. He died in November 1965 at the age of 80.
In 1985, on the 100th anniversary of his father's birth, Harry Blackstone, Jr. donated to the
Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. the original floating light bulb -
Thomas Edison
designed and built it - and the original Casadega Cabinet, used in the
"Dancing Handkerchief" illusion. This was the first ever donation
accepted by the Smithsonian in the field of magic.
[5]
In the early 1970
's, a campaign of interested volunteers petitioned the corporate successor to Balaban and Katz to investigate other uses for the theater beyond just movies. This was an attempt to ensure sufficient revenue and interest was generated to maintain the viability of the structure. At this time, various rock concert promoters were booked occasionally to great success and profit. Bands such as ELO and the Grateful Dead performed at the theater.
However, with deferred maintenance in the 1960s and 1970s, when revenues were failing, the building at more than 50 years had reached a point of much-needed repairs. Rather than manage the building, it was marketed, sold, and reverted back to the successor, Plitt Theatres. With no ability to manage such a complex facility, Plitt boarded up the building and awaited further ideas.
Most of the damage to the building occurred in the early 1980s, making it unusable without restoration.
The Uptown Theatre has been closed to regular events since the winter of 1981 when, due to the owner having turned off the heat, a frozen water pipe burst and caused extensive damage to the interior. In subsequent years, deferred maintenance and vandalism have led to further debilitation of the structure and ornament, both inside and out. Subsequently, even with the assistance primarily of volunteers, the building remained in the hands of a notorious tax-sale buyer and continued to deteriorate. During this time volunteers managed to have the theater designated a Chicago Landmark and recorded on the National Register of Historic Places.
Because of yet another tax sale and further mismanagement, the building now has reached the hands of a management company very aware of how much of a jewel the building is. The owner is interested in renovation and possible restoration of the theatre so it can serve again some large entertainment use.
Rehabilitation efforts are needed to restore and reopen this historic Chicago landmark,[2] which has been closed to regular audiences since 1981.
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| Photo by Jay Blakesburg |
In 2006, the exterior was extensively secured and terra cotta pieces were cataloged and stored for future restoration efforts.
A May 21, 2007 article in
Crain's Chicago Business described the
Uptown Theatre as "suddenly a hot property," as three national
entertainment companies were in competition to purchase, restore and
reopen the Uptown Theatre.
[2]
On July 29, 2008, Chicago-based Jam Productions bought the historic Uptown Theatre at a forced judicial sale, but it says tens of millions of dollars are needed to reopen the venerable entertainment venue.
Jam said after the sale that the long-suffering theater won't reopen without a major infusion of public money.
"Buying the Uptown is one thing, rehabbing it is another," said Jam principal Jerry Mickelson, whose UTII entity paid $3.2 million for the theater, at 4814 N. Broadway. "This will have to be a partnership between the city, the state and ourselves."
Mickelson said he expects restoration to cost between $30 million and $40 million. "No private entity could afford to put that amount of money into a theater," he said. "The Uptown can only reopen with the necessary funding from the city."
By Mark Caro Tribune reporter
The
front doors are boarded up in shades of gray and beige, while the
weathered marquee, propped up by four poles anchored near the street,
displays empty light-bulb sockets and the rusty white letters out front
spelling “UPTOWN.” Stragglers in this diverse, ever-struggling
neighborhood might lean against the boards for a smoke or cellphone
chat, but nothing's going on here. Hasn't been, really, for almost 30
years.
Here's a classic photo of urban blight.
Here's the crumpled paper wrapping around a diamond.
Remove
the padlocks from the makeshift wooden doors, step through the entryway
into Uptown Theatre's main lobby, however, and you're in gasp city.
What you see makes the Chicago Theatre's grand entrance look like a
guesthouse foyer.
"Your jaw drops," said Mayor Rahm Emanuel, whose
support for this crumbling, 86-year-old theater has triggered renewed
hopes for a revitalized Uptown neighborhood. "It's stunning."
The space is big enough for
Chicago Bears
scrimmages and elegant enough for a royal ball. The almost pristine
gray and black marble floor leads to a pair of curved, majestic,
red-carpeted staircases and is flanked by ornate pillars, figurines,
grates, gargoyles, carvings, frescoes and other ornamentations so
intricate and beautifully rendered that it would take weeks to admire
them all. One floor-to-ceiling slice of column and wall shines brighter
than the others, its 24-carat gold and silver leaf designs restored 20
years ago to show how this jewel used to gleam.
That's just the
main lobby. Pass through numerous other spaces, all designed
contrastingly and painstakingly, and eventually you reach the Uptown
Theatre's sprawling, gracefully raked, dramatically domed auditorium,
which boasts what was billed on the theater's 1925 opening-night marquee
as "an acre of seats in a magic city."
Jerry Mickelson said he
has been in awe of this place since he first passed through its doors in
1974. On Oct. 31, 1975, his company, Jam Productions, produced its
first concert there: the Tubes. On Dec. 19, 1981, it produced the
Uptown's last show: the J. Geils Band.
"There was no heat," the
60-year-old promoter recalled. "The bathrooms were barely functioning.
Things were starting to deteriorate then, and that's when I said to the
owner, 'You can't open this anymore.' Because he hadn't put money in it.
So we said, 'We're out. You've got to close it.'"
Almost 30 years
later, the Uptown Theatre remains shuttered, an oversized symbol of the
teasing promise and ongoing dilapidation of the Uptown neighborhood.
Every few years there's a flurry of talk about restoring the theater and
giving the neighborhood back its long-ago bustle — all while those
wooden planks outside keep serving as a barrier between the public and
its magnificent lobby.
Yet despite a continued economic downturn
that has dried up public and private funding sources, a newfound sense
of optimism is gathering around the prospect of eventually reopening
Uptown Theatre as an anchor to an Uptown entertainment district.
Mickelson has been pushing for such a development since he and his Jam
partner Arny Granat (and their spinoff company, UTA II) bought the
theater out of bankruptcy in 2008 for a reported $3.2 million, but
Emanuel has moved the issue to the front burner with his recent
declarations of support for a music hub in the neighborhood.
"It
can happen now because people are finally seeing the intertwined
connection between culture and economic development," the mayor said in
an interview Monday.
The two new aldermen who represent the
quirkily divided neighborhood — Harry Osterman of the 48th Ward (which
includes the Uptown Theatre and Green Mill Jazz Club a few doors south)
and James Cappleman of the 46th (which includes the nearby Riviera
Theatre and Aragon Ballroom) — are encouraging the effort, as are
various city departments. Mickelson also recently signed on Phil Tagami,
an Oakland-based developer who spearheaded the pricey but
neighborhood-transforming restoration of that city's historic Fox
Theater, as a consultant. Tagami is in town this week for meetings with
Mickelson, the aldermen, city officials and community representatives.
"It's like the stars are all in alignment," said Michelle Boone, the city's Cultural Affairs and Special Events commissioner.
Of
course, the stars are one thing. Money is another. Mickelson's
estimated price tag for restoring the Uptown to its former glory?
$70 million.
"There's
going to be some problems with that," said Danny Bell, a retired
Chicago History Museum security guard waiting for the bus at Lawrence
Avenue and Broadway last week, laughing upon hearing the figure. "I
don't think there's $70 million in cash in the whole country."
But,
Mickelson likes to point out, the Uptown's architects created it "not
for today but for all time," and he intends to renew that promise.
"Just
look at this building," Mickelson said as he stood in the balcony
inside the arching front window with a panoramic view of the lobby and a
city block's worth of theater. "We can't lose this thing. You'll never
see something like this again."
Decline of a true original
The
Balaban & Katz company already was operating such movie palaces as
the Loop's Chicago Theatre, the South Side's Tivoli, the West Side's
Central Park and the North Side's Riviera when it set out to build its
most lavish theater yet. The Uptown, like those other venues, was
designed by the renowned architecture firm Rapp and Rapp, which aimed to
top itself in designing a theater that, at 46,000 square feet was
thought to be the country's largest-ever traditional movie palace.
Others,
such as Radio City Music Hall, surpassed Uptown's 4,381 seats, but the
Uptown building is like a little city. The multiple lobbies could hold
the auditorium's entire capacity, so, current Uptown caretaker Dave
Syfczak said, the theater could completely turn over the house between
shows in a mere 16 minutes.
Part of the building — Spanish Baroque
with other influences incorporated in different spaces — was
constructed on what had been the outdoor gardens of the Green Mill,
which opened in 1907. At the time, silent movie presentations often were
accompanied by live stage shows, and Balaban & Katz was seeking to
elevate the theater experience beyond vaudeville, through the lobbies'
luxurious details and fine-art displays, as well as the vast auditorium
and stage.
"The Chicago Theatre downtown has a proscenium opening
that's 70 feet wide," said Syfczak, a Chicago police officer who has
been voluntarily caring for the Uptown since 1996. "When they built this
building, they wanted their ad copy to say 'the widest stage in
Chicago,' so they had Rapp and Rapp design the stage proscenium opening
70 feet and 1 inch."
For decades the theater and neighborhood
thrived, with the Uptown presenting movies and shows and hosting such
events as Standard Oil of New Jersey shareholder meetings and live
broadcasts of the TV game show "Queen for a Day."
"This
intersection was like Times Square," Syfczak said. "You had the Aragon
Ballroom across the street, the Riviera Theatre, this place operating, a
lot of (other) clubs; there was a lot of activity in this neighborhood.
But when the neighborhood declined in the late '60s and early '70s, it
of course contributed to the decline of the theater also."
The
Uptown had been showing second-run movies when Jam began booking rock
shows there. The list of performers is impressive: The Grateful Dead for
six three-night stands between 1978 and 1981; Bruce Springsteen and the
E Street Band for three shows in 1978 and 1980; Bob Marley and the
Wailers for dates in 1976, 1978 and 1979; Frank Zappa for four visits
(and five shows) between 1977 and 1981; Cheap Trick opening for the
Kinks in 1977; Genesis and Peter Gabriel playing six days apart in
October 1978; and Prince opening for Rick James in early 1980 and
headlining later that year.
Even now, one of the well-worn seat
backs in the dusty auditorium boasts a Grateful Dead bumper sticker that
reads, "Warning, I Brake for Hallucinations." In the oval ladies
lounge, these words remain scrawled: "Springsteen is God."
But the
rock bookings and movie screenings couldn't keep the theater — owned by
the Plitt movie theater chain and, for much of Jam's time there, a
local theater operator named Rene Rabiela — from falling into disrepair
and eventual insolvency. The heat was shut off, and in winter 1982 the
pipes burst, flooding the basement and causing extensive damage to
ceilings, walls and staircases that has yet to be repaired.
"There
was a glacier of ice coming down this grand staircase that was about
14-18 inches thick," said Jimmy Wiggins, Jam's venue operations manager
overseeing the Riviera, Vic and Uptown. In the lower-level men's lounge,
with its Knights of the Round Table feel, Wiggins pointed to a
waist-level line on the wall. "This is how much water sat in this
building for over a year."
Since that final 1981 concert, the
Uptown has passed through a multitude of owners, some more savory than
others, who couldn't get it running again, all while volunteer groups
such as Friends of the Uptown fought to stave off the wrecking ball.
Parts of Ron Howard's 1991 firefighter movie "Backdraft" and the 1994
Julia Roberts/Nick Nolte comedy "I Love Trouble" were filmed there, and
the main lobby doubled as the FAO Schwarz-like toy store in the John
Hughes/Chris Columbus sequel "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" (1992).
Syfczak said a wedding took place in the lobby years ago as well, though
the building no longer is fit for such events.
Wiggins
said when he checked in on the building during the winter of 1993-1994,
he came upon a startling sight: "There were homeless people building
fires on the grand floor there, on the marble floor, and they had broken
these grates up with sledgehammers and were carting them off for scrap
money."
At
another point, Syfczak discovered that a tower of pigeon dung had
accumulated inside the broken front window, and as he jammed his shovel
into the pile, mice scattered from within. The since-repaired window now
is covered by a large curtain taken from the stage.
Steps
have been taken to stem the deterioration and to preserve what's there.
Several years ago chunks of the glazed terra cotta facade were removed,
cataloged and stored inside the building, and Mickelson said he and
Granat have been putting six figures (he wouldn't say high or low) into
the place annually to keep it repaired, heated, cooled and at proper
moisture levels.
But that's all just maintenance. Mickelson's plans go far beyond that.
2 needs: Time and money
In
2000, the Urban Land Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit
research and education organization, issued a 48-page advisory report on
how to transform the Uptown Entertainment District. The recommendations
are as specific as what new street lamps should look like, but the
broader stroke is that Uptown Theatre is the area's "crown jewel" and
"one of the most outstanding theaters in the United States … a major
historic and aesthetic treasure that must be maintained."
The
economic picture has changed since the institute's report, but an Uptown
neighborhood flush with new development and activities remains the
vision being chased by Mickelson and the city.
"This could make
the Uptown area a great entertainment district that could drive the
economy of that area with more restaurants and more other types of
retail and commercial life that would really take off," Emanuel said,
citing the Old Town School of Folk Music's impact on Lincoln Square.
Mickelson and Granat hired the local architecture firm Booth Hansen, which restored the Loop's
Bank
of America Theatre (formerly known as the LaSalle Bank Theatre, the
Shubert and the Majestic), to draw up a feasibility study, which was
issued in fall 2009. The firm presented three options, ranging from a
plan that would make the building merely operational again (about $55
million) to one that would restore the theater completely ($70.8
million).
"You can go in and fix the structural problems — make
the exiting work, put in more bathrooms — and it will be functional,"
Booth Hansen principal/director George Halik said. "I think the real
challenge is to get enough support and money to make it a real jewel,
which it is, and not just a big space."
Due largely to the water
damage, Halik said, the Uptown is in worse shape than the much smaller
Shubert/Bank of America Theatre building was before its reported $14
million
renovation.
But Tagami, the Oakland-based developer, said he was surprised to see
how well-preserved the Uptown was when he first visited. Tagami had told
Mickelson he wouldn't take on this project unless he fell in love with
the building.
"It's an amazing building with a great history and a
great story, and quite frankly it's in a wonderful community," Tagami
said. "You can't spend enough time there. I'm used to seeing historic
structures that are in far worse condition. The building has very good
bones."
Boone said when she recently set foot inside the building for the
first time, she was blown away by how misleading that shabby exterior
is.
"When you walk into the lobby, it's so majestic," she said.
"It's a beautiful, beautiful space, and I can't wait to go to the first
concert when they reopen the doors."
She added: "It'll happen."(1)
1/30/78 Grateful Dead
1/31/78 Grateful Dead
2/1/78 Grateful Dead
5/16/78 Grateful Dead
5/17/78 Grateful Dead
5/18/78 Grateful Dead
11/16/78 Grateful Dead
11/17/78 Grateful Dead
11/18/78 Grateful Dead
5/13/79 Grateful Dead
12/3/79 Grateful Dead
12/4/79 Grateful Dead
12/5/79 Grateful Dead
5/11/80 Grateful Dead
8/19/80 Grateful Dead
8/20/80 Grateful Dead
8/21/80 Grateful Dead
2/26/81 Grateful Dead
2/27/81 Grateful Dead
2/28/81 Grateful Dead
11/17/81 Jerry Garcia Band (Uptown's last show was the J. Geils Band on Dec. 19, 1981)
9/17/82 Grateful Dead
10/18/83 Grateful Dead
3/31/85 Grateful Dead
4/1/85 Grateful Dead
3/27/86 Grateful Dead
3/28/86 Grateful Dead
1.)^Griffin, Mary (April 25, 2002). "Civic Center Opens In 1977 And Has Never Looked Bad". Bangor Daily News.
1.)^Caro, Mark, Uptown Theatre: Polishing an old jewel, 2011-10-11, Chicago Tribune, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-10-11/entertainment/ct-ent-1012-focus-uptown-rehab-20111011_1_uptown-theatre-uptown-neighborhood-jewel/4
2.)^Baeb, Eddie (2008-05-21). "Uptown Theatre draws crowd of suitors". Crain's Chicago Business, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uptown_Theatre_%28Chicago%29
3.)^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdeGOBkJoMM&feature=youtu.be Harry Blackstone, Sr. performing the sawing a woman in half illusion in 1934, film from Youtube
4.)^Weatherford, Mike. "Award too late to help magician Hans Klok". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
5.)^Harry Blackstone Jr. donates Harry Blackstone Sr. illusions to Smithsonian, http://www.amdest.com/stars/harryb.html
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ReplyDeleteMy Grandfather Jean Anthony was a organist there, in the 1920s. #JeanAnthongGreif
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