The Uptown is the largest surviving movie theater in the United States, larger even than New York’s Radio City Music Hall in square footage, although its seating capacity is a little less. Designed by the renowned architects Rapp and Rapp and built in 1925 at a cost of $4 million, it opened on August 18 to throngs of people winding around the corner of Broadway and Lawrence. The crowd, which at one point grew to more than 12,000, waited to see a show including two live orchestras, newsreels, a stage show called “Under Spanish Skies,” and the silent feature The Lady Who Lied–all for a ticket price of 50 cents.
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All of the extravagant descriptions that are overused in discussions of movie palaces are perfectly reasonable in the case of the Uptown. It is filled with magic, sentiment, and history. I can only hope some of its magic will help reopen its doors and return it to the masses who once loved it. –L.R.
