Paradise Theater- Shreveport/Bossier City,La????

[yogi]

Just heard an advertisement on 98.1(Rocks) in Shreveport that Eddie Money will be playing at 'The Paradise Theater' in one of the casinos in Shreveport/Bossier City. I guess one of the casinos named their concert venue " The Paradise Theater'. I wonder if Styx or Dennis have the naming rights for that term. Sounds like this could be lawyer worthy??

[Boomchild]

I'm sure if JY is aware of this, he already has his team of lawyers looking into it.

[masque]

didnt styx name the PT album after a real "paradise theater" that had closed decades before their album?

point being that you cannot copyright a name.....you can trademark some names......but i dont think that PT the album as a name would have any legal protection.

[FormerDJMike]

Here is the original. It was not the Paraidse but the Granada Theater in Chicago. I believe it was eventually torn down in the late 80's or early 90's. When I was a teen in the 80's there were several "StyxCons" held in Chicago from the mailing list (snail mail) and I believe one of the get togethers had a tour of the Granada.

Notice how much it looks like the cover for Paradise Theatre.

[gr8dane]

Wow.Looks amazing.What's there now ? Hopefully not a mall.
I wish they could have saved the facade and incorporated it into the new structure.

[FormerDJMike]

I have no idea what's there now. Probably a parking lot. Who knows. Now that I think about it I attended the last StyxCon in the summer of 1991. All of us met from all over the US and attended two shows. One at the World Music Theater where John got married on stage and the following night in Milwaukee. I remember mentioning the Granada and wanting to see it and was told it had been demolished so sometime in 89 or 90 I guess and that is so unfortuanate. Wha a beautiful building.

[FormerDJMike]

I found this from the original artist while searching the web. I have been to his website and I could not find the images so he may have taken them down. He really didnt seem to see what all the fuss was about that art because he feels he has done much better since then. His name is Chris Hopkins. Google him and you can visit his site and see his outstanding paintings. Here's what I lifted from another forum:

Since I have a little "Too Much Times On My Hands" (LOL), I dug this up from a Theater forum from the artist (Chris Hopkins) that drew the album. He was answering a question regarding the album.

Oh and to add, the drawing is actually from the old Granada Theatre that was located in Chicago and torn down.

I am truly amazed at this inquiry. It seems that I painted the Styx
Paradise Theater album cover art an eternity ago. I was 25 years old
and fresh out of art school. Paradise Theater was one of my first jobs.
I was working as an illustrator for an illustration/design firm called
Willardson and White. At that time A and M records was a steady client.
My self and another illustrator (Mick McGinty) would do all of the
illustration work and almost all of the design work. While a movie
poster campaign for Flash Gordon went to Mick, the entire campaign for
Styx Paradise Theater came to me. The project involved not only album
cover art front and back, but also inside art, 45 sleeve art, the
record label art, the round art in the middle of the LP ( which would
subsequently be used as a lazer etching on the LP vinyl). The
lettering and boarder front and back had to be designed and painted as
well as designs and paintings for the outdoor boards. I designed the
cover art in a way that could be altered and used as a 36"x48" poster
as well as a 12"x12" album sleeve (there is much more of the building
in the original art and printed posters) . I painted this project back
in 1980 ( or 81) I apologize as this was so long ago and so very many
paintings ago. I vaguely remember getting a stack of reference on how
the band wanted the feeling of the concept to proceed. I was working
with Chuch Beeson who was art director at A and M at the time, I was
also working with Derek Sutton who was managing Styx. I am sorry and
embarrassed to admit that I am not familiar with Robert Addison nor do
I know anything of the Granada Theater. I was a young man from the
pacific northwest working in Los Angeles with absolutely no reference
to the Chicago area. I was simply given a stack of reference and told
of the attitude of the concept and proceeded accordingly. If samples of
Mr. Addison's work or photos of the old Paradise theater, as well as
other classic theaters were included in that stack... well I just do
not remember as it was 26 or 27 years ago. It is also important to
remember that the band was seeking a feeling or an artistic statement
rather than an exact architectural rendering of a specific structure in
which case I would have been the wrong person for the job. I remember
having fun designing a building facade( based on reference) and all the
gargoyles and the one sheet marquees on the front of the theater. I
remember the band requesting that I put a number 10 above the ticket
window (I think It may have been their 10th album however I'm not
entirely sure of it's significance). They also asked me to design a
one sheet poster marquee for the dilapidated back cover art, "Sparky
The Flying Dog". I was never really aware it's significance. I had my
friend Ted Witus design a black and white solution of the Paradise
Theater marquee which I incorporated and translated to color and
dimension. Ted was one of the leading title designers in Hollywood at
the time designing movie titles for:" Raiders of the Lost Arc", "The
Natural" and a great many others. It was my decision to paint the
figures and vehicles on the front art in a deco style as I felt it
would contribute to the feel and period of the concept. It seems that
the art went over well as A and M printed the art as a limited edition
print minus the title lettering on high quality paper ( an addition of
500 I think, I assume those must be worth something I know that I must
have a few artist's proofs stashed away some where for a rainy day) The
art was also a finalist for a grammy award in the category of "Album
Packaging Design".
I have been intending to delete the Paradise Theater art from my web
site as it was created so long ago and I believe that my painting
skills have improved drastically. But as it turns out yours is not the
only inquiry as of late. I suppose I'll delay it's removal for a little
while longer.

[gr8dane]

I found this from the original artist while searching the web. I have been to his website and I could not find the images so he may have taken them down. He really didnt seem to see what all the fuss was about that art because he feels he has done much better since then. His name is Chris Hopkins. Google him and you can visit his site and see his outstanding paintings. Here's what I lifted from another forum:

Since I have a little "Too Much Times On My Hands" (LOL), I dug this up from a Theater forum from the artist (Chris Hopkins) that drew the album. He was answering a question regarding the album.

Oh and to add, the drawing is actually from the old Granada Theatre that was located in Chicago and torn down.

I am truly amazed at this inquiry. It seems that I painted the Styx
Paradise Theater album cover art an eternity ago. I was 25 years old
and fresh out of art school. Paradise Theater was one of my first jobs.
I was working as an illustrator for an illustration/design firm called
Willardson and White. At that time A and M records was a steady client.
My self and another illustrator (Mick McGinty) would do all of the
illustration work and almost all of the design work. While a movie
poster campaign for Flash Gordon went to Mick, the entire campaign for
Styx Paradise Theater came to me. The project involved not only album
cover art front and back, but also inside art, 45 sleeve art, the
record label art, the round art in the middle of the LP ( which would
subsequently be used as a lazer etching on the LP vinyl). The
lettering and boarder front and back had to be designed and painted as
well as designs and paintings for the outdoor boards. I designed the
cover art in a way that could be altered and used as a 36"x48" poster
as well as a 12"x12" album sleeve (there is much more of the building
in the original art and printed posters) . I painted this project back
in 1980 ( or 81) I apologize as this was so long ago and so very many
paintings ago. I vaguely remember getting a stack of reference on how
the band wanted the feeling of the concept to proceed. I was working
with Chuch Beeson who was art director at A and M at the time, I was
also working with Derek Sutton who was managing Styx. I am sorry and
embarrassed to admit that I am not familiar with Robert Addison nor do
I know anything of the Granada Theater. I was a young man from the
pacific northwest working in Los Angeles with absolutely no reference
to the Chicago area. I was simply given a stack of reference and told
of the attitude of the concept and proceeded accordingly. If samples of
Mr. Addison's work or photos of the old Paradise theater, as well as
other classic theaters were included in that stack... well I just do
not remember as it was 26 or 27 years ago. It is also important to
remember that the band was seeking a feeling or an artistic statement
rather than an exact architectural rendering of a specific structure in
which case I would have been the wrong person for the job. I remember
having fun designing a building facade( based on reference) and all the
gargoyles and the one sheet marquees on the front of the theater. I
remember the band requesting that I put a number 10 above the ticket
window (I think It may have been their 10th album however I'm not
entirely sure of it's significance). They also asked me to design a
one sheet poster marquee for the dilapidated back cover art, "Sparky
The Flying Dog". I was never really aware it's significance. I had my
friend Ted Witus design a black and white solution of the Paradise
Theater marquee which I incorporated and translated to color and
dimension. Ted was one of the leading title designers in Hollywood at
the time designing movie titles for:" Raiders of the Lost Arc", "The
Natural" and a great many others. It was my decision to paint the
figures and vehicles on the front art in a deco style as I felt it
would contribute to the feel and period of the concept. It seems that
the art went over well as A and M printed the art as a limited edition
print minus the title lettering on high quality paper ( an addition of
500 I think, I assume those must be worth something I know that I must
have a few artist's proofs stashed away some where for a rainy day) The
art was also a finalist for a grammy award in the category of "Album
Packaging Design".
I have been intending to delete the Paradise Theater art from my web
site as it was created so long ago and I believe that my painting
skills have improved drastically. But as it turns out yours is not the
only inquiry as of late. I suppose I'll delay it's removal for a little
while longer.

Thanks very much Mike.

[FormerDJMike]

And some more interesting trivia I stole from another website. Ya know it kind of makes me sad. What a wonderful old building. More info on the demolition stolen from another random site:

In 1990 when The Granada was on the purchasing block, a company called Senior Lifestyles had a bid for the land. This sparked some protest from the community that the old building should be saved, and made a landmark. The Save The Granada Theatre committee was formed, and marquis screamed the words "SAVE ME."

Eventually the city would succumb to the $1.8 Million dollars that Senior Lifestyles offered, and the demolition began. Posing as an investor, in my best business suit. I went along with the other people from Senior Lifestyles, and The City of Chicago to do a walk through of The Granada.

I was appalled at what I saw. All of the artistic décor was all but destroyed. A few of the ornate columns had crumbled away. Light fixtures lay on the floor as if having fallen from their braces in the ceiling. The worst part was that the basement was flooded with six feet of water.
The large iron safety curtain had been dropped. There was more gang graffiti inside than there was outside. I looked around in various areas that I remembered in the heyday of the original 1980 restoration. Mirrors, and fixtures were gone, and the carpet had been burned away in spots.
Another woman was looking over some of the same spots and shedding the odd tear. "You're not really supposed to be here either, are you?" she asked me just sort of matter of fact. "I won't tell on you, if you won't tell on me." I replied with a wink.
Upon leaving, I noticed that the large stained glass window had already vanished without a trace. I went across the road and just sat and starred at The Granada. I had my hat off, and over my heart as if to bid it a final farewell.

I have friends in that area that I'd go to see every now and again. It helped me keep tabs on the progress of the demolition. One week I decided to stay with them, and torture myself. It was January and the north wall had already been removed, exposing the auditorium to daylight that it was never meant to see.
Witnessing the wrecking ball strike like an executioners axe, I began to cry. All of a sudden there was this loud groaning noise as if the building itself cried out in protest, and its roof came crashing down. All the workmen came running out from all directions as if to run a role call.
Two of the workmen had minor injuries, and was taken to nearby Evanston Hospital to be bandaged up. Most of the debris had fallen onto the EL tracks, thus delaying the CTA's impending rush hour. (No more than it delays itself.)

On March 15, 1990. (Beware the ides of March) only the façade remained to be demolished. At 3:00PM their plan was to block the road, blast, and get traffic moving again. A rock & roll band does a song that goes "I'm gonna go down, in a blaze of glory." Our old girl had done just that.
The charges went POW! And the façade came down in a fashion as though it were taking a bow. Creaking, and groaning all the way to the ground, and raising a cloud of dust so thick, and so black that it was seen for miles. People called 911 from as far west as Uptown reporting a fire.
Traffic was delayed for four hours, and the EL once again suffered unscheduled delays. WGN radio reported their rush hour traffic saying that Lake Shore Drive was delayed due to a heavy fog. It was the fog produced by The Granada Theatre going down in a blaze of glory.

The Granada Centre Apartments is the building that now stands on the land at Devon Avenue, and Sheridan Road. It is the spot that was once St. Ignatius Catholic Church where people would go to pray, and then The Granada Theatre where people would gather to escape life, perchance to just dream.

The Granada Theatre, one of Chicago's architectural treasures lost, gone forever, but never ever to be forgotten. It is to theatre enthusiasts, and architectural preservationists all over that I dedicate this personal journey, and this website.

[gr8dane]

And some more interesting trivia I stole from another website. Ya know it kind of makes me sad. What a wonderful old building. More info on the demolition stolen from another random site:

In 1990 when The Granada was on the purchasing block, a company called Senior Lifestyles had a bid for the land. This sparked some protest from the community that the old building should be saved, and made a landmark. The Save The Granada Theatre committee was formed, and marquis screamed the words "SAVE ME."

Eventually the city would succumb to the $1.8 Million dollars that Senior Lifestyles offered, and the demolition began. Posing as an investor, in my best business suit. I went along with the other people from Senior Lifestyles, and The City of Chicago to do a walk through of The Granada.

I was appalled at what I saw. All of the artistic décor was all but destroyed. A few of the ornate columns had crumbled away. Light fixtures lay on the floor as if having fallen from their braces in the ceiling. The worst part was that the basement was flooded with six feet of water.
The large iron safety curtain had been dropped. There was more gang graffiti inside than there was outside. I looked around in various areas that I remembered in the heyday of the original 1980 restoration. Mirrors, and fixtures were gone, and the carpet had been burned away in spots.
Another woman was looking over some of the same spots and shedding the odd tear. "You're not really supposed to be here either, are you?" she asked me just sort of matter of fact. "I won't tell on you, if you won't tell on me." I replied with a wink.
Upon leaving, I noticed that the large stained glass window had already vanished without a trace. I went across the road and just sat and starred at The Granada. I had my hat off, and over my heart as if to bid it a final farewell.

I have friends in that area that I'd go to see every now and again. It helped me keep tabs on the progress of the demolition. One week I decided to stay with them, and torture myself. It was January and the north wall had already been removed, exposing the auditorium to daylight that it was never meant to see.
Witnessing the wrecking ball strike like an executioners axe, I began to cry. All of a sudden there was this loud groaning noise as if the building itself cried out in protest, and its roof came crashing down. All the workmen came running out from all directions as if to run a role call.
Two of the workmen had minor injuries, and was taken to nearby Evanston Hospital to be bandaged up. Most of the debris had fallen onto the EL tracks, thus delaying the CTA's impending rush hour. (No more than it delays itself.)

On March 15, 1990. (Beware the ides of March) only the façade remained to be demolished. At 3:00PM their plan was to block the road, blast, and get traffic moving again. A rock & roll band does a song that goes "I'm gonna go down, in a blaze of glory." Our old girl had done just that.
The charges went POW! And the façade came down in a fashion as though it were taking a bow. Creaking, and groaning all the way to the ground, and raising a cloud of dust so thick, and so black that it was seen for miles. People called 911 from as far west as Uptown reporting a fire.
Traffic was delayed for four hours, and the EL once again suffered unscheduled delays. WGN radio reported their rush hour traffic saying that Lake Shore Drive was delayed due to a heavy fog. It was the fog produced by The Granada Theatre going down in a blaze of glory.

The Granada Centre Apartments is the building that now stands on the land at Devon Avenue, and Sheridan Road. It is the spot that was once St. Ignatius Catholic Church where people would go to pray, and then The Granada Theatre where people would gather to escape life, perchance to just dream.

The Granada Theatre, one of Chicago's architectural treasures lost, gone forever, but never ever to be forgotten. It is to theatre enthusiasts, and architectural preservationists all over that I dedicate this personal journey, and this website.

Great stuff Mike.
Shame it had to go.

[FormerDJMike]

Instead of just copy and pasting, here is some more info. A great read and some good pics but they are black and white and small. Would love to see bigger and color photos. Sad that many of the photos were taken in 1987 and it actually looked good. It only took one year for the place to look like total crap.

Here's the site

http://www.compassrose.org/balaban-and-katz/granada-theatre/Granada.html

[pinkfloyd1973]

I have no idea what's there now. Probably a parking lot. Who knows. Now that I think about it I attended the last StyxCon in the summer of 1991. All of us met from all over the US and attended two shows. One at the World Music Theater where John got married on stage and the following night in Milwaukee. I remember mentioning the Granada and wanting to see it and was told it had been demolished so sometime in 89 or 90 I guess and that is so unfortuanate. Wha a beautiful building.

I remember that concert at The World (now First Midwest Amphitheatre in Tinley Park, IL)

[FormerDJMike]

I have no idea what's there now. Probably a parking lot. Who knows. Now that I think about it I attended the last StyxCon in the summer of 1991. All of us met from all over the US and attended two shows. One at the World Music Theater where John got married on stage and the following night in Milwaukee. I remember mentioning the Granada and wanting to see it and was told it had been demolished so sometime in 89 or 90 I guess and that is so unfortuanate. Wha a beautiful building.

I remember that concert at The World (now First Midwest Amphitheatre in Tinley Park, IL)

Were you there? Were you part of our group that week? Was a fun trip. This was before the internet so we saw videos we had never seen before and lots of cool pictures. I remember getting the Paradise Theater posters from someone there I wish I had them now. They had more detailed artwork than the actual album cover.



The cover art was only the bottom half of the original picture. Notice the top portion of the theater and how much it looks like the Granada. I gave these posters away after I got married and moved away. I left them in good hands with another diehard Styx fan.

[pinkfloyd1973]

I was at the concert but not with any groups, just friends....I was in the "Lawn Seats" which happened to be the grass on the hill past the GA seats

[StyxCollector]

I own the Robert Addison Paradise lithograph (did you expect anything less? lol). It's framed - no real bandwidth to take a picture at the moment but you can see it here:
http://paradisetheater.tumblr.com/post/42271777139/original-robert-addison-print-that-inspired-the

Out of all of my Styx collectibles, it's definitely in my top 5. Dennis has stated that painting inspired the cover, so for Chris Hopkins to say that it may not have come from that, I highly doubt it. He may not remember, but there's no mistaking the direct influence of that painting. Just look at the Paradise marquee. It's basically the back cover of the LP.

The theater looks to be inspired by or a direct painting of the Granada. That first sepia pic is basically it, but that second color picture is nearly a carbon copy of the back cover.

[FormerDJMike]

Very cool picture! Is that something that is still sold? I love it.