Cameo Theater
703 State Street,
Bristol,
VA
24201
703 State Street,
Bristol,
VA
24201
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Cameo Theater (Official)
Additional Info
Architects: Claude Knox Howell
Functions: Live Music Venue
Styles: Art Deco
Previous Names: All American Family Cinema
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The Cameo Theater was opened on March 30, 1925. A nice Art Deco style gem on the street that borders TN and VA. The theatre closed as a movie theater on April 29, 1982. It became home to WHCB radio, followed by a church. By 2021 it was operating as a live music venue.
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JackCoursey
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Recent comments (view all 16 comments)
I was fortunate enough to be able to see the inside of the Cameo this weekend. It was a day of mixed feelings. Happy to see a bit of theater history, sad to see what time has done. It has been closed a very long time. But the building and theater still stand.
I have mixed the sound at the Cameo Theater for the last 12 during Bristol Rhythm and Roots festival. There is no better place the acoustics are great its ashame someone don`t take it over if I had the money I would.
The Cameo was open for a bit during the late 80’s/early 90’s I saw The Little Mermaid and Beaches there. They started showing The Rocky Horror Picture Show at midnight on Saturdays and a kid that i went to school with was wrapped in toilet paper & someone lit him on fire. He was ok but they shut down again soon after. I hope it can come into good hands soon. I saw The Rescuers there as a little kid
i loved going to cameo as akid i was so sad to see it closed we really need a movie theatre downtown thank goodness new owners bought it and the cameo will be open again in 2018 i cant wait and hopefully very soon i be one the first customers.
The Cameo is now open as a concert venue. When I saw it almost two years ago,it was still being worked on but the owner told me they had already done a couple of band performances. There are no immediate plans to show movies
Opened On March 30, 1925.
Grand opening ad posted.
The 1925-built Cameo Theatre is listed in the 1929 FDY with 800 seats. It was one of six movie houses listed for the two Bristols (no British euphemism intended) that year. The NRHP registration form for the Bristol Commercial Historic District says the Cameo’s façade was remodeled in 1950 and again in 1970. Since the form was prepared there has been another major remodeling of the façade, and the current Art Deco look is entirely ahistorical, having been created for the 2021 reopening of the house.
Since reopening, the Cameo has launched a new official web site. It gives the current seating capacity as 510.
Closed as a cinema on April 29th, 1982.
The March 30, 1925 issue of the Bristol, Tennessee Evening Herald Courier had an article about the opening of the Cameo Theatre which attributed the design of the house to the noted Richmond, Virginia theater architect Claude K. Howell. After several major remodeling projects over the decades it’s unlikely that any of Mr. Howell’s original details remain.