Book Board Chat

Greatest night of my life? (pun intended)......2-28-81. Fifteen years old, clutching a fake ID, stoned out of my gourd, I was sitting in the very first row of the upper pavilion of Chicago's breath taking Uptown Theater, watching Jerry Garcia pick out "Big Railroad Blues". It seemed he was only 10 feet away, and oh my, what a performance. I think it later became a track on one of the those 'Dick's Picks' albums.

And......what a place! Built in 1925 at the zenith of the public theater craze, it was (still is) an edifice of shimmering Italian marble, gold leaf, and art deco statues, all of it staring down with us throughout the show. Absolute opulence. I don't think I was the only Dead Head who wandered in with our $5 tickets that night and literally gasped out loud......"Oh wow.....uuuhm...golly gee.....are we in the right place??"

Little did we know, that was the last night in 46 years our local Sistine Chapel of the arts would hold a public event. :o(

What inspired this post?.....a brief blurb on the local news. 46 years later and 40+ million repair dollars -- the Uptown theater has been refurbished! It survived. Opening soon to performances again.

I feel the urge to just wander in there, sit again in the first row of the upper deck, close my eyes and ponder deeply......what the heck happen to all my glorious hair!! Its been a rough 1/2 century folks . :o(

Interesting aside. The Uptown Theater had its final demolition orders signed three times. Then a pair of plucky little birds, Peregrine falcons, decided to nest on the upper reaches of the treacherous fire escape to raise their babies (much to the horror of Chicago's pigeon population). At the time, there were only something like 10-12 mated pairs of those left in the entire world, so the EPA nixed the demo plans. God...... might just be a bird watcher....or quite possibly a Dead Head. :o)

Betcha didn't see this post coming. File it with the eclectic nature of the old BB.

Nite all!