Bijou Theatre

I have been in the Bijou building twice: once unsuccessfully to see a stage show and once after the theater was closed and awaiting demolition. My father and I went to see the show with friend who knew Alfred Starr and we thought we could get in but after awhile one of the employees came and told us we had to leave as they had been unable to reach Mr Starr and their orders had been to admit no whites without his okay. Of course the theater was darkened on this occasion and we couldn’t seee very much of the interior, but when I went back into the closed building I could see what was left of a box seat up near the stage. I also went up to the office where the files had been emptied and there were many papers on the floor which I now wish I had looked through.

According to the Nahville Tennesean the Adelphi/Grand Opera House was built in 1850 and burned down in 1902 as stated above.

An article headed Final Days of Old Nashville Bijou appeared in Boxoffice of August 10, 1957. It has a brief history of the theater, and some information about the Bijou Amusement Company.

The Bijou circuit served African-American audiences, but was not African-American owned. It was founded by Milton Starr, and various members of the Starr family were involved with its management for several decades. The circuit was quite extensive, operating theaters from the Carolinas all across the south and into Texas and Oklahoma. At its peak there were more than fifty houses in the chain. The headquarters was in Nashville.

This Company operated the LENOX THEATRE in Augusta.So they had screens all over Dixie.

The Bijou was constructed on the site of the former Adelphi Theatre which had burned in December 1902. The Adelphi was known as The Grand when it was destroyed by fire.

When the Bijou opened on September 14th, 1904, as a playhouse, it reportedly (Tennessean 7/19/1957) seated 1,642. The theatre had pink marble wainscoting, a tiled vertibule, soft green interior trimmed with white and gold, a guilded proscenium arch, and hand painted figures on the ceiling. The first production, “Sign of the Four” was an adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel.

When the Bijou converted to motion pictures, it’s seating capacity was reduced to accomodate the screen.

Here is a postcard picture of the Bijou Theater.