By DIMITRIOS KALANTZIS
Contributing Writer
Nearly one year after long-time Chicago music promoter Jerry Mickelson, along with UTA II, purchased the abandoned Uptown Theatre, with much fanfare and assurances of good intentions, the future of the 46,000-square-foot movie palace turned rock venue, remains as elusive as the Target Corporation’s commitment to open a store in Wilson Yard.
If you attended Wednesday’s screening of the “Portrait of a Palace” John Pappas ad Michael Bisberg’s documentary/Northwestern University class project, a clean, 45-minute tour through the water-damaged, pigeon-poop-invested Chicago landmark, looking for answers, you were disappointed. But only slightly.
After all, the film’s vintage shots and first-hand exploration of its remaining majesty were worth the trip downtown to the Chicago Architecture Foundation in the Sante Fe building located at 224 S. Michigan Ave.
Co-hosted by Jerry Mickelson and Friends of the Uptown’s Andy Pierce, who is ever-present in the film, the noon-screening, part of a lunchtime-lecture series, drew a heavy crowd of Uptown natives, cultural enthusiasts, tourists and journalists, who occupied each of the nearly 120 chairs and lined the walls in the back.
Speaking to the crowd afterwards, Mickelson credited Friends of the Uptown and Ald. Mary Ann Smith (48th) for ensuring that the 84-year-old theater, almost entirely abandoned since December 19, 1981, remains standing today.
Read more...
If you attended Wednesday’s screening of the “Portrait of a Palace” John Pappas ad Michael Bisberg’s documentary/Northwestern University class project, a clean, 45-minute tour through the water-damaged, pigeon-poop-invested Chicago landmark, looking for answers, you were disappointed. But only slightly.
After all, the film’s vintage shots and first-hand exploration of its remaining majesty were worth the trip downtown to the Chicago Architecture Foundation in the Sante Fe building located at 224 S. Michigan Ave.
Co-hosted by Jerry Mickelson and Friends of the Uptown’s Andy Pierce, who is ever-present in the film, the noon-screening, part of a lunchtime-lecture series, drew a heavy crowd of Uptown natives, cultural enthusiasts, tourists and journalists, who occupied each of the nearly 120 chairs and lined the walls in the back.
Speaking to the crowd afterwards, Mickelson credited Friends of the Uptown and Ald. Mary Ann Smith (48th) for ensuring that the 84-year-old theater, almost entirely abandoned since December 19, 1981, remains standing today.
Read more...
Watch a nice video here...
Unfortunately, that cannot be said for the Ald. of the 49th Ward, who condoned the destruction of a great theater building on Clark Street (the Adelphi Theater) and left us with this, a now-foreclosed-upon-for-over-a-year DANGEROUS HOLE IN THE GROUND...
...that used to look like this...
Stories are nice to read, but in the 49th Ward of Ald. Joe Moore, the Uptown Theater would have been destroyed years ago, as was the Adelphi.
Unfortunately, that cannot be said for the Ald. of the 49th Ward, who condoned the destruction of a great theater building on Clark Street (the Adelphi Theater) and left us with this, a now-foreclosed-upon-for-over-a-year DANGEROUS HOLE IN THE GROUND...
...that used to look like this...
Stories are nice to read, but in the 49th Ward of Ald. Joe Moore, the Uptown Theater would have been destroyed years ago, as was the Adelphi.
1 comment:
The Quest Parlor (Quest Network Services 7301 N. Sheridan Rd.) will be showing "Portrait of a Palace" the uptown theatre documentry on Friday, July 10th at 7:00pm. If you didn't make the showing at Northwestern, come to Quest to see what a wonderful theatre the Uptown can be.
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