WW II Museum in N.O. to get theater with 120 foot screen

posted by CSWalczak on September 14, 2009 at 7:40 am

The World War II Museum in the Warehouse District near the riverfront in New Orleans will soon boast a new theater with a curved screen to show a special documentary film to be entitled “Beyond All Boundaries” to be narrated by Tom Hanks and featuring the voices of other Hollywood stars. The $5.5 million dollar cinema will be called the Solomon Victory Theater in honor of Theodore “Teddy” Solomon and his family, and will be capable of showing other films as well. The Solomons built a number of theaters in the South, some later sold to AMC.

It was a fundraising match so perfect it could have been confected in Hollywood: Movie-theater magnate Theodore “Teddy” Solomon and his family wanted to give money to the National World War II Museum, and the museum needed cash for a high-tech theater.

The outcome: The family gave $5.5 million for a new 242-seat auditorium, which will be called the Solomon Victory Theater. It marks the biggest private gift for the Warehouse District museum’s $50 million expansion, spokeswoman Clem Goldberger said.

Read more in the Times-Picayune.