With the bright lights of the marquee shining onto Halsted Street, this appears to be a unique place to check out a show or film.
That’s true about Ramova Theatre, but there is so much more to this venue in the Bridgeport neighborhood where it resides just south of 35th Street.
Emily and Tyler Nievus wanted it to be that way when the native Chicagoans returned from New York to resurrect the decades-old venue that had fallen into disrepair.
Beyond the famous performers they’ve had at the venue since opening in 2023, like Chance the Rapper, Ramova has become a gathering place for several events outside of music and movies.
A diverse range of community groups has gathered in the main theatre space, the upstairs loft, and the Off Hours Brewery, all of which have been restored within the last five years. It achieved the goal of the co-founder of the new-look venue: Become a gathering place for the Bridgeport neigborhood.
You can learn more about how Emily and Tyler rebuilt the Ramova Theatre and have turned it into a community gathering space in this edition of “Chicagoans You Should Know.” You can watch the feature story in the video above.
