History:
The Uptown Theatre was built by architects Rapp and Rapp for the Balaban and Katz Corp. This amazing corporation started as a family business in the late nickelodeon era and by the early 1920s had control of most film markets in Chicago. The flagship of Balaban and Katz, the Chicago Theatre, opened downtown on State Street in 1921. The Tivoli, which they also built that year, was similar in size and located on the far south side. Their first theater, the Central Park on the west side, was surrounded by competition, as was their second, the Riviera, on the north side. All were designed by Rapp and Rapp. A financial analysis Balaban and Katz completed in 1923 suggested that their best interests were served by building a theater as large and lavish as they could manage near Broadway and Lawrence. And so, the Uptown was planned.
According to the press of the time, all of these buildings were built for substantial cost and quality in order to be "for all time." When the Uptown opened in August 1925, the phrase "an acre of seats in a magic city" was coined to describe the wonders of over 4,300 seats in a theater that covered 46,000 square feet of land. At the time, it was the third largest in terms of seating. But it was the largest, by far, in land area and cubic volume, due in part to the three vast lobby areas.
Many of the details we associate with a movie palace had not been codified by the time the Uptown opened. The stage shows were planned in consideration of the feature. Music was customized for the large orchestra, as well as for the Uptown's Wurlitzer organ, the second largest one in operation. Stars of national fame played regularly. Even the posters in the display cases were custom artwork with new items every week.
By the end of the 1920s, after more than 20 million people had already attended the Uptown. Some of the greatest theaters, such as Radio City Music Hall in New York, were not even on the drawing boards yet.
