Belcourt Theatre

Thanks Ken, that sure was a quick update.

Playing this weekend at the Belcourt,In A Better World,Potiche,Rubber,Mildred Pierce,and free screening of Freedom Riders.

The Hillsboro was operated by M A Lightman or “Malco” out of Memphis and had movies and vaudeville acts. It is said that Tony Sudekum built the Belmont on the next corner to run Lightrman out of Nashville and it worked.

The original entrance was on 21st and if you look at the tavern there called I believe the Villager you will see the name Hillsboro in the concrete and brick cornice of the building.

If you go inside the tavern and walk to the back you will see an atrium style lobby complete with a dome overhead. Worth the trip.

During the time when this was the Community Playhouse it also served as the Children’s Theater for plays directed at the younger set. If you went to these plays and saved your programs you could turn them in for admission to an Ice Cream Festival in the spring. I have attended many such.

One side of the Belcourt still has the beautiful proscenium arch and I believe the name Hillsboro can be seen in it.

Photos of the Belcourt Playhouse are here in the July 8, 1963, issue of Boxoffice. The theater had recently been taken over and remodeled by Rockwood Amusement Company, and was operated as an art house. Seating had been reduced from 550 to 344. The article says the house had also been known as the Children’s Theatre after being called the Community Playhouse.

Rockwood Amusement must have operated the Belcourt Playhouse for only a year or so, as by August, 1964, Boxoffice was calling it the Belcourt Cinema and said it was being operated by the Nashville Theatre Company. In 1968 it was part of Fred Massey’s Masco circuit, and the August 26 issue of Boxoffice carried the announcement of Masco’s intention to add a second auditorium to the house. The January 20, 1969, issue listed the Belcourt Cinema II as being under construction. I’ve been unable to find an opening date.

I also remember the addition of a 2nd theater. It had a smoking section of about 6 rows in the back behind a wrought iron partition. The chairs rocked. Very comfortable for its day. Much more comfortable than the smaller original theater. Saw “Easy Rider” and “Hello Dolly” there.

The Belcourt is truly a great place! One auditorium shows movies that you can’t find anywhere else in TN. The other auditorium hosts live events like music and theatre. The concession stand in the lobby sells liquor and beer! I love drinking while watching a show.

In the 60s this theatre was called and advertized as the Belcourt Playhouse. Later in the decade, it was called the Belcourt Cinema. Played foreign films mostly – risque ones at that. Things you wouldn’t see anywhere else in Nashville: …If, Elvira Madigan, Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush, I, A Woman, Therese and Isabel, etc.

I read that this theatre was once called the Hillsboro. Does this restored theatre still have its 1925 Kimball organ?