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Without a doubt, Perry C. Morris<\/strong> must be one of the hardest-working cultural stewards living in our fair twin cities! He will prove it handily over the next 10 days during a quartet of appearances at which he will wax ephemeral not only about the Orpheum Theatre<\/strong><\/span><\/a> in downtown Champaign<\/strong>, which will reach its centenary at the end of the week, but also his book on the neighboring Art Theater<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n Morris will become a de facto<\/em> theater historian-in-residence at the Urbana Free Library<\/span><\/a>, 210 W. Green St., Urbana<\/strong>, as three of his four events will be hosted there with the first taking place tonight, Tuesday, October 14, 7 p.m.<\/strong>, in the second-floor Jean Evans Archives Room<\/strong>. After general business is conducted at the monthly meeting of the Champaign County Genealogical Society<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, of which Morris is acting president, he will give a presentation titled \u201c100 Years of the Orpheum Theatre.\u201d And tomorrow, Wednesday, October 15<\/strong>, also at 7 p.m.<\/strong> but this time in the ground-floor Lewis Auditorium<\/strong>, Morris will be joined by Joshua Harris<\/strong>, media preservation coordinator at the University of Illinois\u2019 University Library<\/strong>, for a unique show-and-tell called \u201cChampaign County on Film\u201d where they will discuss various artifacts of local significance. (Morris has hinted to C-U Blogfidential<\/strong> that Harris will share vintage footage of the Orpheum at this event.) The latter is part of a new \u201cTown & Gown Speaker Series\u201d<\/span><\/a> sponsored by the Student Life and Culture Archives<\/strong>, UIUC, and the Champaign County Historical Archives<\/strong>, while both are free admission for the general public.<\/p>\n The \u201cmain event\u201d of the bunch will jazz it up on Saturday, October 18<\/strong>, when current caretakers \u2013 including Morris, who serves as secretary on their board \u2013 throw a Twenties-themed \u201cCentennial Celebration\u201d in the auditorium of the Orpheum, 346 N. Neil St., Champaign<\/strong>. Home for the past two decades to the non-profit Orpheum Children\u2019s Science Museum<\/strong>, the space will reflect its former life as a vaudeville and movie house for one night only while guests enjoy dinner, libations, and performances by singer Katie Flynn<\/strong>, the Illini Contraband<\/strong>, and Crash Events<\/strong>. Obviously, this is being staged as a dress-up affair \u2013 era-appropriate attire is highly<\/em> encouraged \u2013 and not just a nostalgic reunion show you can crash at any point; tickets are available here for $95\/individual, $180\/couple, and $500\/table for six<\/span><\/a>, with all revenue going towards continued operation of the science museum. For your memory banks, the ornate New Orpheum Theatre<\/strong> first opened for business on October 19, 1914<\/strong>, replacing a previous live venue of the same name, and eventually operated as a dedicated movie palace for many years until its closing in 1986.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Concluding the sequence will be a return to Urbana Free\u2019s Jean Evans Archives Room on Thursday, October 23, 7 p.m.<\/strong>, when the Champaign County Historical Archives presents \u201cLocal History & Genealogy: Authors Panel.\u201d Several participants will talk about how they utilized the holdings of the archive for researching or augmenting their manuscripts. Audrey Wells, Joseph Muskin<\/strong>, and Morris will recount their work on The Art Theater: Playing Movies for 100 Years<\/strong><\/span> (Champaign Urbana Theater History<\/span><\/a>, 2013) and be joined by Guy C. Fraker<\/strong> (Lincoln\u2019s Ladder to the Presidency: The Eighth Judicial Circuit<\/strong><\/span>, Southern Illinois University Press, 2012), Dennis Roberts<\/strong> (Images of America: Urbana<\/strong><\/span>, Arcadia Publishing, 2009), Dannel McCollum<\/strong> (Remembering Champaign County<\/strong><\/span>, The History Press, 2010), and Frederick A. Schlipf<\/strong> of the UIUC Graduate School of Library and Information Science<\/strong>. If you are an independent writer and the task of weeding through a collection seems formidable, this might be worth your time to attend. A \u201clight reception\u201d \u2013 presumably, chatter and refreshments \u2013 will conclude the program.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
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