Center Theatre
117 S. Elm Street,
Greensboro,
NC
27401
117 S. Elm Street,
Greensboro,
NC
27401
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This opened on August 1st, 1949. Grand opening ad uploaded here.
“Lawrence of Arabia” played at the Center Theatre on October 17,1963.
“West Side Story” also played here at the Center Theatre on October 18,1962.
“My Fair Lady” also played here around June or July of 1966 as a General Release.
Chuck1231:
Wasn’t this theatre also known as “The Cinema” which is NOT listed on this site.
Need to change the header to Center Theatre with AKA’s, Piedmont, Victory and Imperial.
Here is a link with the history of the Center Theatre.
View link
Header should be changed to Center Theatre aka Imperial Theatre. Closed as a movie Theatre in 1987.
1981 photo of the Center Theatre.
View link
A vintage photo from 1946 of the Imperial Theatre while promoting an on stage appearance of western star Johnny Mack Brown along with a photo of the star himself.
Was also known as the Center Theatre during the 1950’s and 1960’s where numerous protests took place during the civil rights movement.
Here is a photo of this building.
The N Club is located at this address today.
The Imperial Theatre was an ornate movie palace with appointments as good as those of the still-standing Carolina Theatre. In 1949 it was gutted, and the south half of the space became the Center Theatre. The Center is rather plain. Without checking to see if they were dimmable, fluorescent fixtures were installed on the walls. When the house lights were dimmed, these fixtures flickered erratically until finally doused. When you’re in the Center today, imagine what it would be like if it was twice as wide, and you’ll have a good idea of how big the Imperial was.
This theatre was called the Center theatre in the 60’s. It is now a night club.
I found two organ listings for this theater. A Robert-Morton organ was installed in 1923. Then it shows another Robert-Morton organ being installed in 1927. A note on the 1927 listing reads “New Organ”. I guess it was a replacement for the first one.