What's The History Of Ford Center For The Performing Arts?

Ford Center for the Performing Arts has screened great movies and showed live performances by the big names of that era from music industry. During the period of its greatest popularity, stars like Judy Garland, Bob Hope, Jackie Gleason, and 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 honored its stage. In 1930, almost 124,985 people visited the Oriental to see the hit film "Flight." That was marked as a record-breaking week.

The theater fell into poor condition because of some circumstances and was closed to the public in 1981, and there was talk of restoring it as a shopping mall. Fortunately in 1996, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley declared that this theater would be returned to its original greatness for the presentation of live stage musicals and other performing arts. In 1997 it was renamed as the "Ford Center for the Performing Arts." Much of the original design was preserved when the theatre was remodeled and reopened.

And now it is a large center for performing arts in Chicago with state-of-the-art facilities, serving the city's performing arts requirements and its commitment to cultural enrichment and outreach service. It provides ideal conditions for a variety of performances. The theatrical lighting and dimming system, the crystal-clear sound system, and a stage that has been enlarged to fit a big cast are perfect to support musical , theater and road show performances.