A significant local landmark, the Uptown Theatre is a familiar sight to anyone who has wandered the lively intersection of Broadway and Lawrence Avenue. While the faded posters of silent films decorating its exterior hint at a magnificent past, the glories of its history would probably surprise even the most imaginative mind.
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the former movie and concert emporium’s opening, co-authors and local history enthusiasts Robert Loerzel and James A. Pierce wrote The Uptown: Chicago’s Endangered Movie Palace, published this past August by CityFiles Press. The book highlights the institution’s glamourous velvet strewn past, highlighted by an amazing array of photographs, while also chronicling the unfortunate circumstances that led to its current shuttered state.
On the eve of a multitude of celebratory events for the book’s publication, Pierce gave Windy City Times an overview of the things he finds most fascinating about the theatre. He is joined throughout by Brad Suster, the current president of Preservation Chicago, who married his husband in the iconic space in 1999.
Windy City Times: When did your interest with the Uptown Theatre first start?
James A. Pierce: I moved to 915 W. Carmen Ave. in March of 1995. I counted pennies early one morning to buy breakfast and walked a circuitous, southwesterly path through the neighborhood out to Broadway to see where that might be possible. I ended up at the Uptown Snack Shop at Broadway and Leland. After eating…I walked back outside and saw the big red and white marquee to the north. … As I got closer to it, I could see it was obviously distressed. There were so many posters and handbills on the board-up job covering the lobby doors and box office that it looked like Hollywood set designers had made a vacant theatre.
From that moment on, I had the same adventure of discovery that most have—passing by on the “L” and figuring out that the monumental terra cotta facade isn’t where the theatre is. That’s just the first of three lobbies. The theatre (or auditorium) is under the giant rooftop behind it, with its massive walls and stage house.
Brad Suster: I walked in the Uptown for the first time in January of 1992 when I saw people going into the usually boarded up space on a dreary, grey, and snowy day on my drive into the city of Chicago from Evanston–where I was living at the time. Sneaking through the interior ticket area I opened the door to the grand lobby and was shocked to discover they were in the midst of filming Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
WCT: James, what was the impetus for the book and how long did the process, as a whole, take?
JP: This is the book I thought would be on the shelf when I first became interested. What was available at that time was a booklet or magazine from Theatre Historical Society of America, which was reprinted from their quarterly publication in 1977. One of my mentors made me join THSA and buy the booklet before he would invest time in talking with me about the Uptown. I surmise he didn’t want to waste time on anyone who wasn’t willing to do that! And it was a great primer. I had been talking about “writing a book” for more than 20 years. … This is volume number one, and the book that the building needs now. It asks: Can we spark a movement to save the Uptown?
WCT: Can you describe more of that first encounter with the Uptown, Brad?
BS: The huge ornate lobby was decorated as the interior of a giant toy store and not only was it filled with so much historic detail but also so much action with kids running around and so much color with all sorts of packages and displays. To this day it was the probably the most incredible visual experience in my life–truly like the iconic scene in The Wizard of Oz where the screen went from black and white to dazzling technicolor. I would never forget this. So, when I needed to find a place to hold our commitment ceremony, it was the only place that I was hoping to use.
WCT: I think Chicago residents, who are used to the boarded-up theater, would be surprised at the opulence and glamour associated with it in its heyday. The refined job descriptions for the staff members alone are heady. Do you have a favorite tidbit about the gorgeous excessiveness of those bygone days?
JP: There are so many fun stories and fun ways to look at it. One thing I think about is that, at its peak, they would have to use the air-conditioning at times even in the winter because of the heat of so many people. Humidity control from people aspirating moisture is also a big deal with large-scale HVAC. On the flip side, even if you ran all three original boilers, it would not be enough to heat the Uptown, because it did indeed depend on the heat of thousands of people using the building.
WCT: Brad, how did you manage to arrange for your commitment ceremony in the space? It must have taken some doing as it was basically closed for operation.
BS: With my contacts in the Preservation community, I was able to secure the space for our ceremony almost 7 years later on October 2, 1999. With the help of my extended family and many Uptown volunteers we were able to get the space cleaned and safely electrified over a three-month time period. Guests were able to access all the historic spaces, and we had over 200 guests celebrate with us. Until this day anyone who attended our ceremony says it was the most magical wedding space they have ever attended. I couldn’t agree more.
WCT: I seem to remember the lobby of the Uptown being used for White Parties for the gay community in the ’90s. Did you find much information on those events as you wrote?
JP: I’ve heard them called Circuit Parties, Hearts Parties or Fireball, but I haven’t heard the term White Parties. I worked a few of them and took photos, which I still have. Maybe the rest of entertainment has caught up with the high quality of lights and sound that were used for those events. I’m not sure. It pretty much spoiled me on all other spectacles for a long time. … My last memory of a Hearts Party is from after I fell asleep next to the boiler with it running and 2,000 men dancing upstairs. I could hear and feel the beat all the way down there in the basement, about a block away. I woke up, the boiler was off, and everything was quiet. I ran upstairs to see if everything was OK. What I saw was bleak daylight streaming in the front doors, and the place was entirely empty—not a soul left standing. There was nothing left to say there had been a party there except for the water bottles and the equipment.
WCT: One of the more interesting stories covered in the book was Rod Stewart’s demand to have the stage painted red. Are there any other quirky tales that you especially love about the theater and the amazing artists who performed there?
JP: It was said that Bruce Springsteen stayed on Magnolia Avenue into the wee hours of the morning to sign each and every autograph that fans wanted. I wonder if anyone has one of those to show us. Also Rene Rabiela, whose family ran the building from 1975 to 1981…hid a rack of Prince’s Frederick’s of Hollywood-type clothes, such that the Purple One ended up leaving without them. Rene said that rack supplied their Halloween costumes for a few years.
WCT: Do you think the theater will ever truly reopen—and if so, what programs would you like to see produced there?
JP: I do. This generation of leaders is excited about it and seems more eager and creative than their predecessors. I’d like to see everyone connected with it meet more often and start chipping away and what needs to be done. Any work on the building would be good work—to add what was done to stabilize it in 2005. I feel it will be a wide variety of entertainment…
BS: Since the Uptown has both interior and exterior land marking and has so much love I think it will be renovated. The current owner is a good steward and is keeping the place heated and dry–the money just needs to become available. I see the space as perfect for comedians and concerts.
(Note: This conversation was edited for clarity and length.)
More information on the book can be discovered at https://www.cityfilespress.com. Pierce and Loerzel will be hosting a chat/signing at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 15 at the Chicago Public Library – Edgewater Branch, 6000 N. Broadway. Further winter signings can be found at https://www.robertloerzel.com/events.