Iris Theatre
612 Travis Street,
Houston,
TX
77002
612 Travis Street,
Houston,
TX
77002
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I was eating at a local restaurant that had a photograph that included this old theatre. The owners didn’t know where the photo was from, they had acquired it when a Souper Salads was remodeled. They thought it might be from Houston, as another photograph was from there.
After much searching, using clues from the photograph, I finally tracked down the same photo on the website for the "Center for American History"!
The Travis Theatre was opened on April 13, 1913. It was renamed Iris Theatre in 1919. Iris Theatre was home to the first Reuter Theatre Organ in 1925. It was the first truly orchestral instrument made by Reuter as a 2/5 unit organ for the Iris Theatre. Actor Jack Valenti was from Houston and one of his first jobs was showing people to their seats in this theatre. The theatre was also home to a radio station "WEAY" in 1924.
During the 1940’s the Iris Theatre was listed with a seating capacity of 1,114. It was still operating into the 1950’s with a listed seating capacity of 934. The Iris Theatre was closed on July 26, 1965, and was demolished in August 1965. The address today now contains the Chase Center & Chase Tower.
Contributed by
M. J. Fly
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
Hello. Did you happen to bookmark the spot where you found the IRIS photograph in the Center for American History?
Thanks……….
Don
hello…I purchased a building that once was the IRIS movie theatre many years ago..I have converted it into a banquet hall. but I want to put back some of the old movie theatre look. There are no pictures of the interior of my IRIS. So if anyone has any old pictures of their IRIS theatre please send me a copy. What I want to do is perhaps take some of each of the pictures of the IRIS and reconstruct the look of the old time theatre. I even want to put back a front markee of the IRIS…Thanks for any help…Joe Hig
There is a nice photo of the Iris on this page:
http://tinyurl.com/2tadbk
Interesting article here:
http://tinyurl.com/5qox47
Three additional photos can seen here.
Renovations and re-naming described in this 1956 trade report: boxoffice
This house opened as the Travis Theatre on April 13, 1913, according to Cinema Houston: From Nickelodeon to Megaplex, by David Welling. Welling says the name was changed to Iris Theatre in 1919, when Will Horowitz took over the failed vaudeville house and converted it to movies. The impression the 1956 Boxoffice article gives that the name change took place with the 1956 remodeling is the result of careless wording by the writer of the article’s headline.
Horowitz actually named the theater Iris after his daughter, but he was apparently also motivated by pecuniary concerns. Welling says that Horowitz had the T in Travis altered into an I, and removed the A and V. Grouping the remaining letters together changed the theater signage to read IRIS at minimal cost.
Welling’s book gives the date of the last show at the Iris as July 26, 1965. The Iris and the Rivoli Theatre, around the corner on Capitol Street, were demolished on August 15, 1965.