Will Rogers Theatre
4500 E. 11th Street,
Tulsa,
OK
74112
4500 E. 11th Street,
Tulsa,
OK
74112
2 people
favorited this theater
The Will Rogers Theatre was open from 1941 until 1976. The exterior featured a tall tower over the entrance, which bore the theatre name. Inside the foyer was a framed portait of Will Rogers on hoseback with a lasso. Inside the auditorium seating was all on a single floor. There was a Navajo pattern stenciled along the stepped ceiling, and on the side-walls were stenciled figures on horseback.
In the 1960’s and 1970’s, it was operated by Video Independent.
Contributed by
Lauren Grubb
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Recent comments (view all 13 comments)
The Beryl Ford Photograph Collection traces Tulsa history from a tough wild west town to a sprawling city. Depending on how far away you are from the date posted here, a blurry demolition picture of the Will Rogers Theatre can be found on page 63, image #752. This collection is constantly evolving and image numbers do change regularly, so you may need to browse around a bit,
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/BFC/index.htm
Though it has been rumored that Griffith Amusement neglected their theatre interiors. It is also known that Griffith Amusement usually kept exteriors up to date, utilizing them as oversized billboards.
Long before the Will Rogers Theatre was to be torn down it was allowed to fall into decay -
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/E0145.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/E0146.jpg
SEE 1941 interior photos. SEE exterior shots, by typing in word “Theatre”,
View link
Vintage images illustrate interior motifs for the Will Rogers as decorated in unique Western Impressionist Styling.
These dull B&W photos cannot bring out how auditorium hues were rich earth tones, with splashes of bright colour thrown in here and there for dramatic effect. All together it created an exciting setting in which to view a movie.
The Will Rogers Theater had 818 seats.
View of WRT auditorium seating arrangement –
View link
Cool looking marquee and vertical.
I attended the church (across the street) from this theater. The church eventually bought the building and used it for several years. They then tore it down and made a parking lot out of it, mostly because they couldn’t afford the upkeep and cost of renovations.
This is the only movie theater I was ever kicked out of and I was only nine years old!
My “boyfriend” took me to see “The Girl He Left Behind” starring Tab Hunter and Natali Woods. When the kissing started on the screen, Gene began whistling and stomping his feet. Less than two minutes later we were standing on the corner waiting for my mother to pick us up after a call from management.
Needless to say, that was the end of our “courtship”.
The Will Rogers Theatre was described in this 1942 trade article:boxofficemagazine