The Star Theatre was apparently remodeled in 1937, though I don’t know how extensively. The 1950 edition of Theatre Catalog listed the Star as a 1937 project of architect Fred L. Markham.
The 1950 edition of The Theatre Catalog lists the Roane Theatre at Rockwood as a 1949 project by architects Marr & Holman. It doesn’t say if it was new construction or a remodeling.
As late as 1953, there was a second theater called the Ritz in Rockwood, listed in the Motion Picture and Television Almanac. Here is a painting of it by a local artist who goes by the single name Susanne. It might be the same house that appears as the Lyric in this painting depicting Rockwood in the 1940s.
The 1941 Ganado Theatre was designed by Houston architect Ernest L. Shult, and was on a list of his theater projects that was published in the 1950 Theatre Catalog. Prior to establishing his own practice, Shult was a long-time associate of theater architect Alfred Charles Finn.
The original Showboat Theatre was designed in 1941 by architect Ernest L. Shult, but might have opened in 1942. The house was on a list of theaters designed by Shult that was published in the 1950 Theatre Catalog.
The architect’s correct name was Ernest L. Shult. The Plaza was listed as a 1941 project in a list of Shult’s theater designs published in the 1950 edition of Theatre Catalog.
The official web site for the Plaza Theatre has moved to this URL.
The Leon Theatre was designed by Houston architect Ernest L. Shult. It was included on a list of his theater projects published in the 1950 edition of Theatre Catalog, with the design dated 1948.
The Palms Theatre was built in 1949, according to this weblog post from The Old Sugar Land Club House. It includes a photo of the construction. Additional photos can be seen at this post from the same weblog.
A list of theaters designed by architect Ernest L. Shult, published in the 1950 edition of The Theatre Catalog also says the Palms was a 1949 project.
Greater Indianapolis, by Jacob Piatt Dunn, which was published in 1910, noted that the Metropolitan, the first theater in Indianapolis, had been designed by architect Diedrich A. Bohlen, whose son Oscar D. Bohlen had recently designed the Murat Theatre, the city’s newest house.
An introduction to the records of the Daggett architectural firm mentions the Park Theatre as one of the projects designed by Robert Platt Daggett (the plans themselves are apparently lost, as they are not listed among the contents of the collection.) No date is given for the project, but as R. P. Daggett practiced in Indianapolis from 1868 to 1912, I would imagine that he was the architect for the rebuilding of the theater after the 1897 fire.
I’ve been unable to find any photos of the Metropolitan from before the fire, but the style of the facade as depicted in post-fire photos could have been designed in the 1850s, especially as Diedrich Bohlen was trained as an architect in his native Germany, where the classical influence was strong throughout the 19th century. It’s possible that the building’s outer walls survived the fire and were largely restored by Daggett rather than rebuilt. I’ll keep an eye out for pre-fire photos.
The Murat Theatre was opened on February 28, 1910. The building was designed by Indianapolis architect Oscar D. Bohlen of the firm D. A. Bohlen & Son. It is predominantly Moorish-Oriental in style, and originally had 1,950 seats. A major renovation undertaken in 1996 increased the seating capacity to 2,476.
In its early years, the Murat Theatre was leased by the Shubert organization, and it later served as the venue for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. From the late 1940s until the early 1960s, it was the only house in Indianapolis capable of hosting the touring companies of major Broadway stage productions.
The building is still owned by the Shriners, but the Murat Theatre is now operated under a long-term lease by Live Nation, which lists upcoming events on this web page.
Here is another web page about the Victoria Theatre, focusing mostly on its later history as a nightclub, though with a few lines about its brief history as a theater.
The December 7, 1913, issue of The Moving Picture World ran this item:
“Philadelphia, Pa. — A. W. Barnes, 130 South Fifteenth Street, is preparing plans and specifications for alterations and additions to the Dixie Theater, Manayunk; alterations to consist of one-story brick, 50 by 75 feet.”
The theater had already been renovated in 1911, according to Manayunk, by Thom Nickels, which features a photo of the neighborhood showing the rooftop sign “Dixie Vaudeville” from across a valley. The Dixie was apparently a popular neighborhood vaudeville house for quite some time. This biography of Imogene Coca, who was born in 1908, says that she made her vaudeville debut at the Dixie Theatre in Manayunk at the age of 13, which would have been about 1921.
If Google Street View is getting the address right, it looks like the Dixie Rose Theatre has been demolished. There are no surviving buildings on this block that could have housed a theater of its size.
Also, the spelling of the theater’s name still needs to be corrected to Juarez, as in Benito Juárez, the Mexican President for whom it was most likely named.
I’ve set Street View to the correct address. In the most recent listing I can find on the Internet, the building was occupied by the office of attorney Lemuel Lopez, but an obituary reveals that Lopez died in a hang gliding accident on October 13, 2010, so the building might be vacant now.
The Home Theatre was designed by architect David Saul Klafter. On December 9, 1912, not long after the house had opened, the roof of the building collapsed. A lawsuit was filed against Klafter, but he was cleared by the Illinois board of examiners for architects, as noted in this article in the January 10, 1914, issue of The Moving Picture World.
I’ve discovered that it was a different house called the Home Theatre that partly collapsed in 1912. A brief mention of the event in the December 20 issue of Chicago Commerce says that the collapse of the roof had taken place at the Home Theatre on Milwaukee Avenue. That means it must have been the house that later became the Wicker Park Theatre.
Street View is currently stuck on the wrong side of the courthouse square. The address 222 E. University Drive is on the south side of the street, one door west of 13th Avenue and sandwiched between two nondescript buildings housing a pool hall and a mortgage company. The theater building looked like it was vacant at the time Google’s camera went by. It’s a very distinctive brick building of rather Moorish appearance. I don’t know if it looked like that when it was the Juarez Theater. If it did, it had an awfully narrow entrance for a 600-seat house, and the theater itself was quite narrow, but very deep.
The finding aid for the Liebenberg & Kaplan papers at the University of Minnesota has several references to theater projects the firm undertook in Perry, Iowa, including an entry specifically naming the Perry Theatre, dated 1935-36. That was probably when the ground floor facade was modernized.
As some of the entries have no theater name attached, Liebenberg & Kaplan might have worked on the other indoor theater in Perry as well. As it turns out the other theater was indeed called the Foxy, at least for a while, the former Rex Theatre having been renamed about 1927.
There is also one entry for a Perry Outdoor Theatre in Perry, dated 1947, so the firm must also have drawn the plans for the drive-in that once operated there. Drive-ins.com says it was called the Corral Drive-In.
Here is a photo of the Hamilton Theatre. It, and two others, can be seen about a third of the way down this long web page about the Marshall-Matheson department store, which was once located next door to the theater. The commercial building that replaced both structures is now occupied by the Yonkers Public Library.
In its issue of January 3, 1928, The Film Daily had an item about the demise of the Hamilton Theatre:
“Yonkers, N. Y.— Strahan Theaters
Corp. have sold their lease of the Hamilton to the Ross Stores who are to erect a department store on the site. The lease had four and a half years to run, and $50,000 was paid to abrogate it.”
The January 3, 1928, issue of The Film Daily said that the Garfield Theatre had been opened. It said that the house had 1,300 seats, and had been built by Frank Porsinski, who would operate with a policy of four changes of program a week.
The streamline modern tower over the entrance seen in the 1948 photo must have been the result of a 1930s or 1940s remodeling. Google Street View shows that the tower has been removed. Southeast Carpet Company is no longer located in the Garfield Theatre building, so it the space is probably vacant, if the building is even still standing.
This theater was in operation as the Grand Opera House at least as early as 1908, when it was mentioned in issues of The Billboard. The building is recognizable in this postcard, which has a 1912 postmark on it. The ground floor has been altered, but the upper part of the building is largely unchanged, except for having been painted and having had the windows altered.
The Grand Theatre mentioned in the January 3, 1928, issue of The Film Daily is probably this house:
“Perry, Ia. — Youngclass & Latta,
owners of the Foxy and Grand here, have bought the Strand at Woodward. They are planning a circuit in this territory.”
The Grand Opera House was listed in the 1913-1914 edition of Julius Cahn’s guide as a ground-floor theater with 769 seats, but was not listed in the 1901 guide. I’m not sure if the other theater mentioned in the FD item was actually called the Foxy, or of that was a typo for Roxy.
The Star Theatre was apparently remodeled in 1937, though I don’t know how extensively. The 1950 edition of Theatre Catalog listed the Star as a 1937 project of architect Fred L. Markham.
The 1950 edition of The Theatre Catalog lists the Roane Theatre at Rockwood as a 1949 project by architects Marr & Holman. It doesn’t say if it was new construction or a remodeling.
As late as 1953, there was a second theater called the Ritz in Rockwood, listed in the Motion Picture and Television Almanac. Here is a painting of it by a local artist who goes by the single name Susanne. It might be the same house that appears as the Lyric in this painting depicting Rockwood in the 1940s.
Susanne also has a painting of the Roane Theatre.
This web page about the Lyric Theatre says that its architect, Edward T. Wiley, also designed the Art Cinema.
The fall, 2008, newsletter of the Hartford Preservation Alliance says that the Lyric Theatre was designed by architect Edward T. Wiley.
The 1941 Ganado Theatre was designed by Houston architect Ernest L. Shult, and was on a list of his theater projects that was published in the 1950 Theatre Catalog. Prior to establishing his own practice, Shult was a long-time associate of theater architect Alfred Charles Finn.
The original Showboat Theatre was designed in 1941 by architect Ernest L. Shult, but might have opened in 1942. The house was on a list of theaters designed by Shult that was published in the 1950 Theatre Catalog.
The architect’s correct name was Ernest L. Shult. The Plaza was listed as a 1941 project in a list of Shult’s theater designs published in the 1950 edition of Theatre Catalog.
The official web site for the Plaza Theatre has moved to this URL.
The Leon Theatre was designed by Houston architect Ernest L. Shult. It was included on a list of his theater projects published in the 1950 edition of Theatre Catalog, with the design dated 1948.
The Palms Theatre was built in 1949, according to this weblog post from The Old Sugar Land Club House. It includes a photo of the construction. Additional photos can be seen at this post from the same weblog.
A list of theaters designed by architect Ernest L. Shult, published in the 1950 edition of The Theatre Catalog also says the Palms was a 1949 project.
Greater Indianapolis, by Jacob Piatt Dunn, which was published in 1910, noted that the Metropolitan, the first theater in Indianapolis, had been designed by architect Diedrich A. Bohlen, whose son Oscar D. Bohlen had recently designed the Murat Theatre, the city’s newest house.
An introduction to the records of the Daggett architectural firm mentions the Park Theatre as one of the projects designed by Robert Platt Daggett (the plans themselves are apparently lost, as they are not listed among the contents of the collection.) No date is given for the project, but as R. P. Daggett practiced in Indianapolis from 1868 to 1912, I would imagine that he was the architect for the rebuilding of the theater after the 1897 fire.
I’ve been unable to find any photos of the Metropolitan from before the fire, but the style of the facade as depicted in post-fire photos could have been designed in the 1850s, especially as Diedrich Bohlen was trained as an architect in his native Germany, where the classical influence was strong throughout the 19th century. It’s possible that the building’s outer walls survived the fire and were largely restored by Daggett rather than rebuilt. I’ll keep an eye out for pre-fire photos.
The Murat Theatre was opened on February 28, 1910. The building was designed by Indianapolis architect Oscar D. Bohlen of the firm D. A. Bohlen & Son. It is predominantly Moorish-Oriental in style, and originally had 1,950 seats. A major renovation undertaken in 1996 increased the seating capacity to 2,476.
In its early years, the Murat Theatre was leased by the Shubert organization, and it later served as the venue for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. From the late 1940s until the early 1960s, it was the only house in Indianapolis capable of hosting the touring companies of major Broadway stage productions.
The building is still owned by the Shriners, but the Murat Theatre is now operated under a long-term lease by Live Nation, which lists upcoming events on this web page.
Here is another web page about the Victoria Theatre, focusing mostly on its later history as a nightclub, though with a few lines about its brief history as a theater.
The December 7, 1913, issue of The Moving Picture World ran this item:
The theater had already been renovated in 1911, according to Manayunk, by Thom Nickels, which features a photo of the neighborhood showing the rooftop sign “Dixie Vaudeville” from across a valley. The Dixie was apparently a popular neighborhood vaudeville house for quite some time. This biography of Imogene Coca, who was born in 1908, says that she made her vaudeville debut at the Dixie Theatre in Manayunk at the age of 13, which would have been about 1921.If Google Street View is getting the address right, it looks like the Dixie Rose Theatre has been demolished. There are no surviving buildings on this block that could have housed a theater of its size.
Also, the spelling of the theater’s name still needs to be corrected to Juarez, as in Benito Juárez, the Mexican President for whom it was most likely named.
I’ve set Street View to the correct address. In the most recent listing I can find on the Internet, the building was occupied by the office of attorney Lemuel Lopez, but an obituary reveals that Lopez died in a hang gliding accident on October 13, 2010, so the building might be vacant now.
The Home Theatre was designed by architect David Saul Klafter. On December 9, 1912, not long after the house had opened, the roof of the building collapsed. A lawsuit was filed against Klafter, but he was cleared by the Illinois board of examiners for architects, as noted in this article in the January 10, 1914, issue of The Moving Picture World.
I’ve discovered that it was a different house called the Home Theatre that partly collapsed in 1912. A brief mention of the event in the December 20 issue of Chicago Commerce says that the collapse of the roof had taken place at the Home Theatre on Milwaukee Avenue. That means it must have been the house that later became the Wicker Park Theatre.
Street View is currently stuck on the wrong side of the courthouse square. The address 222 E. University Drive is on the south side of the street, one door west of 13th Avenue and sandwiched between two nondescript buildings housing a pool hall and a mortgage company. The theater building looked like it was vacant at the time Google’s camera went by. It’s a very distinctive brick building of rather Moorish appearance. I don’t know if it looked like that when it was the Juarez Theater. If it did, it had an awfully narrow entrance for a 600-seat house, and the theater itself was quite narrow, but very deep.
There are several photos of the Venetian Theatre at this post from the weblog of the Racine Post.
The finding aid for the Liebenberg & Kaplan papers at the University of Minnesota has several references to theater projects the firm undertook in Perry, Iowa, including an entry specifically naming the Perry Theatre, dated 1935-36. That was probably when the ground floor facade was modernized.
As some of the entries have no theater name attached, Liebenberg & Kaplan might have worked on the other indoor theater in Perry as well. As it turns out the other theater was indeed called the Foxy, at least for a while, the former Rex Theatre having been renamed about 1927.
There is also one entry for a Perry Outdoor Theatre in Perry, dated 1947, so the firm must also have drawn the plans for the drive-in that once operated there. Drive-ins.com says it was called the Corral Drive-In.
Here is a photo of the Hamilton Theatre. It, and two others, can be seen about a third of the way down this long web page about the Marshall-Matheson department store, which was once located next door to the theater. The commercial building that replaced both structures is now occupied by the Yonkers Public Library.
In its issue of January 3, 1928, The Film Daily had an item about the demise of the Hamilton Theatre:
The Film Daily of January 3, 1928, said that the Signal Theatre in Baird, Texas, was being remodeled and enlarged at a cost of $7,000.
The January 3, 1928, issue of The Film Daily said that the Garfield Theatre had been opened. It said that the house had 1,300 seats, and had been built by Frank Porsinski, who would operate with a policy of four changes of program a week.
The streamline modern tower over the entrance seen in the 1948 photo must have been the result of a 1930s or 1940s remodeling. Google Street View shows that the tower has been removed. Southeast Carpet Company is no longer located in the Garfield Theatre building, so it the space is probably vacant, if the building is even still standing.
This theater was in operation as the Grand Opera House at least as early as 1908, when it was mentioned in issues of The Billboard. The building is recognizable in this postcard, which has a 1912 postmark on it. The ground floor has been altered, but the upper part of the building is largely unchanged, except for having been painted and having had the windows altered.
The Grand Theatre mentioned in the January 3, 1928, issue of The Film Daily is probably this house:
The Grand Opera House was listed in the 1913-1914 edition of Julius Cahn’s guide as a ground-floor theater with 769 seats, but was not listed in the 1901 guide. I’m not sure if the other theater mentioned in the FD item was actually called the Foxy, or of that was a typo for Roxy.