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Chicago theatres featured on public tv
posted by
Andy Pierce
on
October 8, 2009 at 9:46 am
CHICAGO, IL — Chicago’s WTTW Channel 11 took a look back at the heyday of Chicago’s “movie palaces.” This “Hidden Chicago” segment hosted by Geoffrey Baer aired recently on the Chicago public television news program Chicago Tonight.
Dramatic footage provided by filmmakers John Pappas and Mike Bisberg takes viewers into Chicago’s shuttered Uptown Theatre. You may recall their work from the “Portrait of a Palace” documentary dvd.
With an eye to the large venues built for silent films, the program also looks into the Portage Theatre, home to the Silent Film Society of Chicago. The Portage sat dark for years but has been lucky to be undivided and renovated for film and special event use.
Also, Theatre Historical Society Executive Richard Sklenar appears in the feature. Mr. Sklenar was interviewed at the Chicago Theatre. Also filmed were the Chicago’s Wurlitzer theatre organ (with organista Lee Maloney playing) and the whimsical interior of the Oriental. Theatre Historical Society’s archive photos of the Uptown and other Chicago theatres are used in the feature to illustrate Chicago’s history of creative theatre design.
Watch it here: WTTW Link
Comments (2)
It is really nice to hear about this.
i loved the video———i had gone to many of the theaters in the video——the avalon(now the new regal) ——-looked great——and my heart cried to see the uptown——-thanks for posting the wttw spot.