Uptown Theatre
- Architect
- Rapp and Rapp
- Style
- Tudor Revival
- City
- Chicago, IL
- Collection
- movie palaces
The Uptown Theatre, designed by Rapp and Rapp and built by Paschen Bros. contractors, was one of many movie palaces raised for the Balaban & Katz chain, run by A. J. Balaban, his brother Barney Balaban, and their partner Sam Katz. Standing at Lawrence Avenue and Broadway in Chicago's Uptown Entertainment District, it holds 4,381 seats across more than 46,000 square feet, and its interior volume is said to be larger than that of any other movie palace in the United States, including Radio City Music Hall in New York. It has been closed since 1981.
the building
The entrance lobby. The theater's entrance lobby rises five stories, part of a facade that was originally eight stories tall, an approach scaled to announce the largest movie palace still standing in Chicago.
A shrine to democracy. Architect George Rapp framed the theater's opulent decor as a democratic gesture rather than mere extravagance, designing a house meant to seat wealthy and working-class patrons side by side in the same grand room.
the style
The Uptown was built in the Tudor Revival style, giving its exterior and entrance a grand, castle-like presence at Lawrence and Broadway that set it apart within the Balaban & Katz chain of movie palaces.
More on Tudor Revivalthe architect
Rapp and Rapp, the firm behind the Uptown, designed many of the movie palaces built for the Balaban & Katz chain, making them among the most prolific theater architects of their era; the Uptown, with its 4,381 seats, was among their largest commissions.
significance
The Uptown Theatre is a Chicago Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the largest movie palace still standing in Chicago, though it has been closed since 1981.
nearby
- Aragon Ballroom
- Epworth United Methodist Church
- Mutual Insurance Building
- Myron Bachman House
- Graeme Stewart Public School Building
- Getty Tomb