The Regent Theatre in downtown Springfield, which many remember as a home to vaudeville performances and movie screenings, now lends itself to a different form of art. The rear exterior of the building features a 6000 square foot mural, adding an exciting aesthetic element to the downtown landscape with amazing oversized images and brilliant colors.
The mural was created by artist Jason Morgan. Regionally, Morgan has created the Main Street Market Mural in Wilmington and the mural on the YSI Inc. building in Yellow Springs.
The mural is meant to reflect the history of the Regent Theatre. The top two-thirds of the mural features famed vaudeville booking agent, Gus Sun, as the central figure. Sun started his career as a juggler and is portrayed in the mural as such, symbolizing the juggling of his various acts as he operated his booking agency out of the Regent. A variety of the type of acts he represented are depicted onstage with him. The lower third of the mural, which is prominent as one enters and exits the Courtyard Hotel, features the Chakeres brothers, Louis, Harry & Philip, who ran one of the oldest movie theatre chains in the country, which was based in Springfield. The Chakeres operated the Regent Theatre from the 1950s to 1992.
The Regent Theatre was designed by renowned Detroit architect C. Howard Crane and features a combination of classic 18th century style and Art Deco. Opened in 1920, it was initially built for vaudeville promoter Gus Sun and the stage hosted many celebrated performers, including Bob Hope.