Uptown Theatre
2906 Hennepin Avenue,
Minneapolis,
MN
55408
2906 Hennepin Avenue,
Minneapolis,
MN
55408
8 people favorited this theater
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Look inside the theatre from KARE tv 11
https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/first-look-inside-the-newly-renovated-uptown-theater/89-cad50d4b-5e0f-4b9a-9e9c-7db3775d9f1f
This has been reopened as a live theatre.
Performances begin with a kickoff on June 10. Uptown
Do any Twin Cities residents remember when the Uptown ran a 70mm double feature of Kubrick’s “2001” and Spielberg’s “Close Encounters”? I wish to confirm the playdate(s) of this booking. I’ve seen an un-dated photo of the marquee and have been unsuccessful in locating any newspaper advertising for such a screening.
Plans are to reopen as an entertainment venue in May. Story here: Uptown
February 2020 video tour of the Uptown.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrbM9GX4bBY
When I drove by the Uptown in August the doors were open and construction trucks were parked in front of the theater. Obviously some work is being done on the interior.
Address in 2906 Hennepin Avenue, confirmed via Google Street View & Wiki. Opened as Lagoon Theatre on Saturday June 3, 1916, not 1913. Also confirmed. Grand Opening print ad added to gallery. Below is a January 2022 article about a potential restoration with blue prints and planned seating for 2500. Not sure if the plan went forward.
https://www.kare11.com/article/entertainment/major-overhaul-in-the-works-for-uptown-theater-in-mpls/89-eb720e31-fd8c-4f1c-bf2d-e2eca82e4bce
April 25th, 1929, November 16th, 1939 and September 14th, 2012 grand opening ads in the photo section.
Updated website: https://www.landmarktheatres.com/minneapolis/uptown-theatre
A slideshow showing the recent renovations is here.
The Uptown will reopen on September 14, 2012; it now features all-digital projection and a larger screen. Seating has been reduced to 350, and new carpeting has been laid. The balcony was retained with love seats installed. The theater now serves alcohol. An article about the renovations can be read here.
The Uptown is closing at the end of January, 2012 for renovation. When it reopens, the balcony will not really be a balcony anymore. Go now while you still can.
Here is a 1938 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/2jnfea
Here is another photo, circa 1980:
http://tinyurl.com/2npgls
There has been a recent effort (during the month of December 2006) to re-light the marquee of this wonderful cinema. The underside and front surfaces of the lower section looks sooo much better and the whole street seems brighter. This is a major improvement and I thank the Landmark people for making this beginning. More is to be done but this is very gratifying and beautiful. Now, to restore the Rainbow Cafe down a few doors down the block. <chuckle>
I wish the current owners would put in an effort to restore the lights and street appearance of the Uptown. They did such a great job on the Edina Theater. It sometimes seems as if it is a kind of neglect that precedes closing and demolition. I think that they should even restore the beacon that once topped the mast. The anti “light polution' crowd would go nuts I am sure. There seems to have been a minor attempt to light some of the bulbs recently. We passed it by assuming it was closed. Darkness comes on fast here in the Great White North and we need lights to welcome us in. The same people who admire the French and Paris sometimes hate lights in their own neighborhood and, I thought that some radical element may have burrowed in to influence the run down look the Uptown was beginning to take on.
So many dates with my wife ended up there. She nearly papered a closet with the wonderful weekly handbills of the wide ranging film program there. I especially loved the Italian fims there…from “Bread and Chocolate” to “Salo” to “Down and Dirty” to all of those Samurai Nights… Mifune and Kurosawa every night.. fun. This place along with the Suburban World down the block was the art house Vatican of Minneapolis. I saw all of the Astaire/Rogers films there…. a wonderful mix. The Rainbow cafe was always nearly next door for Onion Rings after 9:00 PM. You NEVER went down the block withouth reaching into the wooden box to pull out the playbill showing the dozens of films to be shown that month…marking the ones you intended to see. I miss that. ahhhh senile rapture.
The Uptown Theater seats 900, not 800. Also, it might be worth mentioning that we are the only movie theater left in the state of Minnesota that has a balcony. Yours Truly, an Uptown Theater employee.
I’m thrilled to hear that the Uptown is still in business. I went there often during grad school in the early 1980s to see foreign films as well as old classics that somehow look better on the big screen than on your tv at home.
From the “Twin Cities” file, I would assume that this is a photo of the Minneapolis Uptown:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amyart/35745980/
During my college years (1979-1983) it showed double features of classic, foreign and cult movies. Quite a fun place for a college crowd.
Long Live
ROCKY HORROR!!
The theater before the fire:
View link
In this shot, the Granada or Suburban World is visible down the street just before the trees:
View link
And Now:
http://www.phototour.minneapolis.mn.us/881
This is also a Liebenberg and Kaplan theater. It is the only remaining movie theater with a balcony in Minneapolis. It originally had a searchlight on at the top of the vertical neon sign that was a becon for the neighbrhood.
You should have something about the Terrace Theatre in suburban Minneapolis. In the 50s and 60s it was a lavish venue—maybe it sill is.