Pantages Theater
708 Hennepin Avenue,
Minneapolis,
MN
55403
708 Hennepin Avenue,
Minneapolis,
MN
55403
1 person
favorited this theater
The Pantages Theater was built as a vaudeville theater, opening on October 27, 1916.
By the 1920’s, the Pantages Theater switched to a mostly-movies format.
RKO extensively remodeled the house in 1946 renaming it the RKO Pan Theater from April 20, 1946. The remodel was carried out to the plans of Sebco Inc.
It was bought by Ted Mann in 1960 and remodeled into a 70mm roadshow house, opening in March 1961 with “Spartacus”.
The Mann Theater was one of the plushest cinemas in the Midwest. It closed in 1984 and was purchased by the city. After a complete refurbishment it reopened on 7th November 2002 as a live theatre.
Contributed by
Kirk
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 25 comments)
I must come to the defence of Ted Mann. It’s true Mann had no interest in restoring his cinemas back to the world of the 1920s. But one needs to remember the times. The 1950s and 60s were an age when anything old and classy was targeted to be razed.
No where was this more true than in the movie house business. Mann took over the Shubert in 1957 (it was called the Alvin in those days). He renamed it the Academy and equipped it for Todd-AO. Yes he ripped out the old 1910 boxes and all.
He did the same with the Pantages in 1961 (then called the RKO Pan).
But the bottom line was that Mann kept the theatres of downtown Minneapolis alive during a decade when the wrecking ball was just around the corner.
From what I read, there was NO INTEREST in Minneapolis in restoring any buildings in the 1950s and 60s.
Had Mann not done the remodels et al, I expect that the Shubert, Pantages, and Orpheum theatres would have been razed by the end of the 1960s. I haven’t read about any other Minneapolis theatre owners much interested in the downtown scene.
So even though Mann didn’t plan it this way, Minneapolis today has the Orpheum, State, Pantages and Shubert because he kept downtown alive long enough for the houses to survive into the age of restoration.
So I think we should give Ted Mann credit for that.
Mr. Besse is absolutely correct. Thank heavens for all the theatre owners in so many US cities that “modernized” these theatres in the 50s and 60s so they could be fully restored — and truly upgraded — for our current appreciation and use. Think of the Cutler Majestic (Emerson College) in Boston, for example!
A Robert-Morton theater organ was installed in the Pantages Theater in 1921.
Here is a recent night view of the Pantages Theater from a different perspective.
This is the website for the Pantages Theater.
A June 2008 photo can be seen here.
Back in the 80’s I had friends who lived in this building, quite illegally. It was by then a half abandoned third-rate office building.
My friends had to pretend that they were “artists” with “studios” (they were, actually)—but slept there too. The problem was, there were no showers, and only a regular office type bathroom down the hall.
The mann company screening room was still intact, but Mann were simply waiting for the city to buy them out. and didn’t care a whit what happened to any of it.
1982 photo of the Mann Theastre.
View link
1982 photo of the Mann Theatre.
View link
Another 1982 photo of the Mann Theatre.
View link
A final 1982 photo of the Mann Theatre.
View link
Another photo of the Pantages.
View link
There is a picture of the theater as the RKO-PAN here: View link
The theater’s official gallery page has many pictures of the theater over the years; it is here: View link