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Two of Chicago’s movie palaces open for Saturday tours
posted by
CSWalczak
on
February 17, 2011 at 7:45 am
CHICAGO, IL — Every Saturday, guided tours are offered of two of Chicago’s few surviving grand downtown movie palaces, the Ford Center for the Performing Arts – Oriental Theatre and the Cadillac Palace. Both are Rapp & Rapp masterpieces but are in very different architectural styles; both have been restored as performing arts theaters, especially for Broadway touring shows. (Occasionally, a tour of the Bank of America Theatre (once the Shubert/Majestic) is substituted, if either of the two is unavailable).
Our guide, Richard, noted that the columns and walls resembling antique marble were done in scagliola, a plasterwork technique using pigmented gypsum. Some of the lighting fixtures are original, but others were added in the $28 million renovation.
There is an article about the tourshere and there is ticketing information here.
