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New Orleans when Dillinger was gunned down. Call The owners, a public foundation,
RKO Orpheum/Orpheum this exercise Chicago Melodrama. transferred the deed to the filmmaker on
Every New Orlean’s venue for Paramount Theater, Aurora condition that the theatre operates for a
opera, symphony and theatre was minimum number of days each year.
Renovations timed for the 75th
closed by Hurricane Katrina. None Moore has given that assurance. The
anniversary have moved a classic
have reopened. policy will be to bring in films that would
theatre into the new millennium. The
The Orpheum is a jewel-box of a theatre seats 1,800 people. not get a run at the city multiplexes.
theatre with acoustics that some say are Improvements in the $6.2 million NON-PROFIT VISION
better than those of Carnegie Hall. renovation include: South Dakota
Built in 1924 in the Beaux-Arts style, it State Theater, Sioux Falls
A Grand Gallery on the lower level,
began as a vaudeville house that once
with a full-service bar; family Vacant for more than a decade, a
featured the Marx Brothers. It became a
emergency room; VIP room for pre- new group hopes to raise $5 million to
movie house then reopened in 1989 as
show parties; an elevator to the restore the State and turn it into a first-
home to the Louisiana Philharmonic
balcony; an art gallery and restoration run and classic movie house. Their
Orchestra. Now it is a mess with a
of a building directly behind the theatre effort is the latest in a series of many
warped stage and buckled floors.
and now home to the Paramount attempts to save the State. This time
A Dallas investor who bought the Theater School of Performing Arts. around, in addition to an extensive plan,
building in June 2006, hopes to organizers have some celebrity
complete reconstruction in December Uptown endorsement, business backing and a
2007. The Orpheum is listed on the chance for grant money.
National Register of Historic Places “Good organization with a clear
and is designated a New Orleans vision”, is the word about the new
Landmark. committee. “You can't discount that
Texas kind of passion”.
The Texas Theater, San Angelo Milwaukee
The auditorium imitates a Spanish Rivoli, Cedarburg
courtyard, featuring a ceiling of clouds
and stars. The new owner, a theatrical
producer, plans to fund the restoration
himself. He says he bought the theatre The giant Uptown (1925), which
because of the lack of control that come has had more suitors, more false starts
with renting one. and broken more hearts over failed
redevelopment attempts than probably
Chicago
The Biograph (1914) any other theatre in the USA, is
suddenly a hot property.
A concert promoter in league with a
developer is battling a real estate The new owners of the 70-year old
investor for control of the landmark. Rivoli, plan to return it to its original
The new team wants to restore the 1930s appearance. “The Rivoli will
4,500-seat theatre as a concert venue. remain a very important anchor and
Renovation would cost about $40 reminder of the history and lifestyle of
million. downtown Cedarburg,” said a
spokesman for The Cedarburg
The fight reflects the neighborhood’s
Landmark Preservation Society Inc.
improving fortunes. The revival of other
buildings would gain momentum from a Virginia
By some accounts it is the most
redevelopment of the theatre. “Everyone Pulaski Theater
famous theatre in Chicago, possibly
in the business has looked at this The theatre (1911) closed as a
America; the place where Public Enemy
theater,” says a city official. “The movie house in 1991. It was donated to
No. 1 John Dillinger was shot dead by
community is hoping somebody will the Friends of the Pulaski Theatre, who
FBI agents in 1934, as he tried to slip
step up to the plate.” have been running working bees ever
away after watching Clark Gable and
Myrna Loy in Manhattan Melodrama. Michigan since. The community must raise about
Only a suburban theatre, its State Theater, Traverse $100,000 to match a $50,000 state
marquee is etched in memories by the Controversial documentary appropriation.
lurid newspaper photos of the time. filmmaker Michael Moore (Bowling
The theatre is getting a makeover to For Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11) will
a smaller performing arts space. What reopen the State as home to the
has aroused most interest is the Traverse City Film Festival, as well as
uncovering of the original marquee. for regular screenings.
The theatre façade and marquee are to
be restored to look exactly as they did

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