Roxy Theatre
150 W. Church Street,
Orlando,
FL
32801
150 W. Church Street,
Orlando,
FL
32801
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Orlando’s Roxy Theatre was a neglected masterpiece of Art Deco design. The house must have opened in the 1920s since it had a large loft above the stage, with lots of windows for dressing rooms. The marquee was spread over the entire city block, making it predominate over the many merchants who were located there. It was remodeled in the 1950s, but kept its Art Deco heritage.
Regulated to a double feature grind house, the Roxy struggled for another decade, but the audiences were sparce. In 1953, For some reason, it premiered Arch Oblier’s 3D film “Bwana Devil”, and large crowds flocked to the theatre. It was demolished in the early 1960s because it was dead in the path of the under construction Interstate 4.
Contributed by
Irv Lipscomb
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
A friend of mine “lived” in the Roxy for several weeks in the late 1940s when he was an usher there. He had run away from home, and the manager allowed him to stay in one of the dressing rooms backstage. He said he was kept awake all night by the ghosts of vaudeville artists who had performed in the theatre.
Per the 1944 FILM DAILY YEARBOOK, the Roxy had 1100 seats, making it the largest movie house in Orlando at that time.