Tower Theatre

425 NW 23rd Street,
Oklahoma City, OK 73103

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Tower Theatre (Official)

Additional Info

Previously operated by: Cinema West, Cooper Foundation, Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp.

Architects: W. Scott Dunne

Functions: Live Music Venue, Movies (Film Festivals)

Styles: Streamline Moderne

Phone Numbers: Box Office: 405.708.6937

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News About This Theater

Tower Theatre

The Tower Theatre 23rd Street entrance (another entrance was located off 24th Street) had a narrow facade, with an extemely long, shooting gallery style lobby which led into a large lobby located beneath a balcony.

Opened July 15, 1937, the 1,500 seat, ornate auditorium had a complete working stage, pipe organ, and billowing, scarlet waterfall stage curtains.

It underwent renovations in 1953 and in 1968. The Tower Theatre closed as an adult movie theatre in 1989. It briefly reopened as a live music venue in the 1990’s but closed in 2000. reopened as a live music venue with some use as a host to film festivals in April 2016.

Contributed by Jeff Chapman

Recent comments (view all 48 comments)

Cimarron
Cimarron on July 14, 2014 at 7:14 pm

Pic of Marquee and crowd in line for showing of “Unsinkable Molly Brown” uploaded in Photo Section.

Coate
Coate on April 7, 2015 at 2:23 pm

It was 50 years ago today that “The Sound of Music” premiered at the Tower. With a reserved-seat run of 82 weeks, it’s almost certainly the long-run record holder for this venue. (Anyone know of something that ran longer?)

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on January 9, 2016 at 8:52 am

The Tower Theater is shooting to reopen as a music venue in April.

http://nondoc.com/2016/01/09/lights-up-tower-theater-turns-on-the-neon-in-okc/

Cimarron
Cimarron on January 9, 2016 at 11:07 am

Well, hope OKC is supportive of this new endeaver as this old theater has become somewhat of a land mark. Thanks for posting.

Cimarron
Cimarron on May 9, 2016 at 7:30 pm

Pic added to Photo Section…Playing “Sand Pebbles”

CStefanic
CStefanic on May 18, 2016 at 3:17 pm

I attended film school at OCU just up the street. My twin and I desperately tried to get interest and investment into the Theatre, but could not do so. Not sure why. It’s original Norelco 70mm/35mm projector equipment were still intact.

If anyone has information on these projectors – if they are still intact – PLEASE E-MAIL ME.

Trolleyguy
Trolleyguy on February 26, 2018 at 7:27 am

this theatre should be listed as OPEN as a live events performance venue. Film festivals are also featured. Updated Website: https://towertheatreokc.com/ Phone:405-708-6937

robboehm
robboehm on March 19, 2021 at 12:17 pm

A detailed article on the history of the Tower (with minor references to other early downtown Oklahoma City theatres) can be found at doug.dawg.blogspot.com>2009/09>tower-theatre. Among the interesting facts is that the building permit said the cost of the theatre would be $38,000.

gxceb0t
gxceb0t on August 23, 2023 at 9:11 am

Evidence that this was an adult theater? I lived in the area at the time and there were no adult theaters in OKC in 1989 as far as I can remember.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES on August 23, 2023 at 10:49 am

Actually, it appears that it ran a mixture, but cannot tell because it didn’t show up by advertisements or showings. I recently read a couple of articles about the Tower from the 1980s and it appears that it was running selections of both normal English and Spanish films. However, it did have an adult bookstore next door.

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