Get to Know the Uptown Theatre Through This Documentary

Uptown: Portrait of a Palace (2006) from John Pappas on Vimeo.

The Uptown Theatre has had a long, bumpy history, but now that the city is discussing a Landmark District for the neighborhood, the iconic movie palace may finally have the secure future it so desperately seeks. As recently as last year, lawmakers had offered the theater $10 million in renovation cash, but with the city's and state's budget crisis gaining ever more momentum, the theater may never see that money. The documentary Uptown: Portrait of a Palace offers a detailed history of the neighborhood landmark and its bumpy past. Designed by architects Rapp & Rapp, the theater was like a crown jewel for the neighborhood when it opened in 1925. However, in the following decades it faced bankruptcy, a flood and eventually thirty years of sitting vacant. Perhaps it will one day reopen to the great fanfare it witnessed when it originally opened, but that day may still be some time out.
·Uptown: Portrait of a Palace (2006) [Vimeo]
·City to Discuss Uptown Landmark District Plan on Wednesday [Curbed Chicago]
·Video Interlude archives [Curbed Chicago]