Ford Center for the Performing Arts

Description:

• Inspired by a style called "Opium Dream," this theater has a quasi-Arabian theme, from the statues that peer down on the audience to the intricate wrought-iron work on the staircase. This was the premier place to see movies in the Loop, and it later housed such live acts as Fred Astaire and Jimmy Durante. However, it fell into grave disrepair in the 1970s and was shuttered for good in the early 1980s. In the mid-1990s, it was purchased by Canada's Livent Theater Group and painstakingly refurbished with money from the Ford Endowment for the Performing Arts, giving it an expanded name. Today it is one of Chicago's premier showcases for musicals such as Ragtime and Cats.
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