The 1921 Movie Palace Marquee Spelling Out Chicago
Concerts, comedy, and film screenings fill a 1921 State Street movie palace crowned by its six-story CHICAGO marquee in the Loop.
🎭 Behind the marquee
The Chicago Theatre is a 1921 movie palace on State Street in the Loop, marked by the six-story vertical sign and marquee that spell out the city's name in lights. Designed by the architects Rapp and Rapp in a French Baroque style, the lobby rises five stories with a grand staircase modeled on the Paris Opera House.
Once a silent-film and vaudeville house, the theater now books touring concerts, comedians, and live tapings under a restored, muraled ceiling. The marquee itself is a protected Chicago landmark and a common backdrop for photos on State Street. It stands a block from Millennium Park and the Riverwalk, inside the Loop's theater district and steps from the CTA.
