Ford Center for Performing Arts

Category: Theater-Opera

As one of the first motion picture palaces whose décor was inspired by the Far East, Chicago's Oriental Theatre opened to much fanfare on May 8, 1926. Among the many stars that played the theatre are Paul Ash (billed as "the Rajah of Jazz"), The Three Stooges, Judy Garland, Al Jolson, Stepin Fetchit, Sophie Tucker, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Fanny Brice, Danny Kaye and Alice Faye, and later Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and the Pips and Little Richard.

Over the years, the Theater became is such disrepair that there was talk of replacing it with a shopping mall. However, in 1996, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley announced that the Oriental would be restored to its original grandeur for the presentation of live stage musicals. In 1997 it was renamed the Ford Center for the Performing Arts and the restoration was completed in October 1998.

Check the Broadway in Chicago website for upcoming performances. Box Office: 312-902-1400 Group Sales: 312-977-1710