Rosewood Theatre
1905 S. Lauderdale Street,
Memphis,
TN
38106
1905 S. Lauderdale Street,
Memphis,
TN
38106
1 person
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The 1950 Rosewood Theatre was located on the corner of S. Lauderdale Street at Rosewood Avenue. It was a neon encased Art Moderne style gem that illuminated the night sky with a burst of colours. Unfortunately this was not enough to sustain a steady flow of patrons and the theatre shuttered within a decade of opening. Today, a church occupies the former theater.
Contributed by
Jack Coursey
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
As kids, the Rosewood was a fantastic concert venue after it closed as a movie theater. In the same building was a barber shop. The Rosewood Barbershop of course, and that’s where most of the neighborhood kids got their haircuts. Although the barbershop AT the Rosewood theater closed THAT location, it is still known as the Rosewood Barbershop at their new location in the Whitehaven neighborhood.
The theater itself is now occupied by a Church…Rosewood Church.
Here is an archive photo of the theatre.
Nice story about the barbershop! I visited on 7/4/2007 and took a few photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gspragin/722746655/
The Rosewood Theatre was pictured in the July 22, 1950, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. The house, then under construction, was expected to open on October 15, but was ahead of schedule. Boxoffice announced in its issue of September 16, 1950, that the Rosewood had opened. The architect was W.C. Lester.
1983 photo of the Rosewood Theatre.
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The Rosewood was one of the theaters operated by Augustine Cianciolo, as mentioned in many issue of Boxoffice Magazine during the early 1950s.
The December 29, 1956, issue of Boxoffice said that Nathan Reiss had bought the Rosewood Theatre from its owner, Ben Bass, and would take over operation of the house from lessee Augustine Cianciolo on January 1, 1957.
The January 11, 1960, issue of Boxoffice reported that William Shapiro had taken over operation of the Rosewood on a lease from owner Nathan Reiss. After that the Rosewood is only mentioned retrospectively in one 1963 item, so it must have closed by then.
Rosewood Theatre
905 S. Lauderdale St.
Memphis, TN. 38106
Sorry I goofed on the address, should have been 1905 S. Lauderdale St. I left off the 1.