 Exterior view of the Ramova TheaterPhoto courtesy of Bryan Krefft
Like the smaller Music Box, which seats about half as many as the 1500-seat Ramova, both were designed in atmospheric style inside, their auditoriums built to resemble Spanish-courtyards. On the deep blue ceiling of the Ramova, "stars" glittered before each movie, and through the archways along the side walls were scenes of the Spanish countryside. Like the Music Box's lobby, the blue sky with stars motif also continued into the ceiling. Faux-marble and gilded plasterwork were also in abundance, even more so than at the Music Box.
The highlight of the Ramova's life came in 1940, when Charlie Chaplin had the Chicago premiere of his "The Great Dictator" at the Ramova and Music Box theaters, since the Loop palaces which would normally host such events were uncomfortable with the sensitive subject matter of the film and wouldn't play it on their screens.
By the 1950s, the Ramova was no longer a first run house, but began to show second-run features. In its last years, it was showing Spanish-language films, as the Bridgeport neighborhood had gone from solidly Irish and Lithuanian, when the Ramova opened, to mostly Hispanic today.
The theater was closed around the mid-1980s, and has since sat vacant, but very much intact; a reminder of the neighborhood's past and a viable and eminently restorable venue for Bridgeport's future.
Contributed by Bryan Krefft
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