‘Empire’ Season 2 Films At A Chicago Theater
Last week, Empire filmed some of Season 2 at the Rialto Square Theater in Joliet, Ill. According to Joliet Herald News, the Fox TV series filmed a red carpet scene at the historic theater. The Rialto staff couldn’t say what the scene was about, but only that it involved a glamorous red carpet and tons of people in the theater’s lobby and rotunda.
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| Rialto Theater Chicago |
“It was beautiful,” Lori Carmine, technical director for the Rialto, told the Herald-News. “It was packed. I really didn’t get to see much of the filming. They had 400 extras – maybe more.”
So who was actually walking down that red carpet? Well, it sounds like the gang was all there. Carmine said she saw Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson, and Bryshere “Yazz” Gray, but believes that the whole cast was in attendance. Sounds like Empire will be featuring a glamorous new event during the remainder of Season 2.
Many crew members ate at Gji’s Sweet Shoppe across the street from the theater and Henson even requested gummi bears from the local candy store. “They even took Cookie [Taraji Henson] some gummy bears,” Everree Valentine, a Gji’s employee, told the Herald-News. “They said it’s her favorite.”
This actually isn’t the first time Empire has filmed at the Rialto. Last November, the TV drama filmed a concert scene inside the theater. Carmine told the publication she’d love it if Empire would return again.
“They keep saying they love coming here,” she told the newspaper. “We love working with the crew. They were so polite and so nice.”