The Grand Theatre is a historic

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

located in Wheaton,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. It opened on May 25, 1925, with 1,000 seats, and hosted live drama,

silent films A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, whe ...

, and

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

performances. The theater changed hands many times in the 20th century, and at various times was known as the Paramount Theatre and The Wheaton Theatre. In the late 1990s, the theater was used for second-run films, and more recently, as a small concert hall for

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

bands. The theater was donated to the non-profit Grand Theater Corporation in October 2001. In the fall of 2005, the building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. It was closed in 2006 for a full renovation of the property and the Grand Theater Corporation was anticipating to re-open it as a single screen theater in late 2011. However, Wheaton rejected a plan to allocate $19.3 million to finance the renovation and the theater's debts. Wheaton Park District is currently considering a $10 million plan that would reopen the theater with 860 seats. The theater will feature a donated

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton H ...

organ from the 1920s, originally from one of the

Loew's Wonder Theatres The Loew's Wonder Theatres were movie palaces of the Loew's Theatres chain in and near New York City. These five lavishly designed theaters were built by Loew's to establish its preeminence in film exhibition in the metropolitan New York City ar ...

References

Grand Theatre: Timeline
* Daily Herald: Rare 1920s Organ to Make Home in Wheaton Theater* Daily Herald: Wheaton Park Board's $19.3 Million Grand Theater Plan Gets the Hook National Register of Historic Places in DuPage County, Illinois Buildings and structures in Wheaton, Illinois Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois {{DuPageCountyIL-NRHP-stub