Tivoli Theatre

201 W. Main Street,
Ardmore, OK 73401

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Additional Info

Architects: Leonard Henry Bailey

Functions: Concerts, Live Performances

Styles: Streamline Moderne

Previous Names: Palace Theatre

Phone Numbers: Box Office: 580.439.4067

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Tivoli Theatre  201 West Main Street, Ardmore, OK...1963.

Originally opened as the Palace Theatre November 15, 1915. It was renamed Tivoli Theatre June 14, 1935. The Tivoli Theatre is a former movie house that has been restored for live entertainment including comedians, musicians and live entertainment.

The front facade has been painted a leaf green with a large vertical down the middle with “Tivoli” in blocks on each side and rows of flashing bulbs on the back side. The V shaped marquee is used to announce upcoming shows.

Contributed by Chuck Van Bibber

Recent comments (view all 18 comments)

raybradley
raybradley on March 11, 2011 at 12:44 am

This is what the Tivoli Theatre looks like today. Former Temple Theatre can be seen in distance.
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raybradley
raybradley on March 12, 2011 at 4:50 am

Ardmore trivia;
Actress Rue McClanahan grew up here, and Gene Autry’s “Worlds Wonder Horse” Champion (A dark sorrel with four white stockings and a medium-wide blaze) is buried beneath the sidewalk in front of the Tivoli Theatre in Ardmore.

missmelbatoast
missmelbatoast on March 12, 2011 at 4:57 am

… and, Champion’s hoof prints are enshrined in cement inside the forecourt of Hollywood’s Mann’s Chinese Theatre.

Marcel
Marcel on October 6, 2011 at 7:02 pm

A Nice looking theatre, stopped by the other day. Such am amazing downtown area. Must have been amazing in it’s day.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on December 22, 2013 at 5:57 am

The Tivoli Theatre was designed by architect Leonard H. Bailey. It was (as the Princess Theatre) on a list of theaters he had designed that was published in the October 25, 1930, issue of Exhibitors Herald-World.

rivest266
rivest266 on March 23, 2014 at 2:34 pm

This opened on June 14th, 1935. Grand opening ad in photo section.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on March 23, 2014 at 4:17 pm

The July 15, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World had this item that must have been about the Princess/Tivoli Theatre:

“Helback & Cox, proprietors of the Theatorium and Majestic theaters of Ardmore, Okla., have secured the location for a new picture theater in that city to be erected at the corner of West Main and B streets. Plans now being prepared provide for a seating capacity of 1,200 persons. It is hoped to have the house ready for opening in October.”
So far I haven’t found any mention of the opening date of the Princess in any of the trade publications, but it must have opened in the autumn of 1916.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on March 23, 2014 at 8:48 pm

Excellent finds, Lost Memory. Now that I’ve seen Leonard Bailey’s drawing, I can’t say that the plain facade of the Tivoli is an improvement on his design for the Princess.

I notice that the opening day ad mentions the Theatorium but not the Majestic Theatre. I wonder if Helback & Cox closed the Majestic upon (or even before) opening the Princess? I haven’t seen any ads for the Majestic after 1916.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on September 6, 2017 at 4:31 am

Rusty is correct, and as the Palace and the Princess were both being listed in The Daily Ardmoreite from 1917 through at least 1922, it is clear they were two different theaters. Whether the house that became the Tivoli ever used the name Princess at all I haven’t discovered, but it seems increasingly unlikely.

Neither have I been able to find an address for the Princess Theatre that opened in 1917. It’s possible that the Princess was at the address we have listed for the Palace (109 W.Main Street), seeing how the two houses have been conflated in other ways, but not certain by any means. An earlier Princess Theatre, probably a storefront nickelodeon, was in operation at Ardmore by late 1909. I don’t know its address, either.

dallasmovietheaters
dallasmovietheaters on August 10, 2021 at 10:45 pm

Celebrated a transformation by Griffith Amusements to widescreen and presentation of CinemaScope films on October 23, 1954

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