World Theatre
16 N. Seventh Street,
Minneapolis,
MN
55402
16 N. Seventh Street,
Minneapolis,
MN
55402
4 people
favorited this theater
Opened as the Garden Theatre in 1915, the 600-seat theater was closed by the late-1920’s.
It was totally rebuilt in 1933 and reopened as the World Theatre. Originally screening foreign features, the World Theatre soon began showing first-run features.
In the late-1940’s, it was modernized, both inside and out, and seating was increased to 461 with the enlargement of the balcony.
Starting in 1949, with "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", it became known as the place to see the latest MGM musicals, into the mid-1950’s.
When Ted Mann acquired the World Theatre in 1955, it was once more rebuilt, in Modernist style, at the cost of over $150,000. The architectural firm Liebenbreg & Kaplan carried out the rebuild.
The World Theatre remained a popular venue for first-class films for decades, including its longest run ever, when "The Graduate" ran for over a year beginning in 1967, and was also was its highest-grossing film.
In 1983, the World Theatre was closed, and torn down a few years later.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
The large theatre next door to the World with the sign “Minneapolis Evangelical Auditorium” on the side and the name “Alvin Theatre” on its stage tower, was the 1910 Shubert Theatre, listed on Cinema Treasures under the name it received when remodeled and reopened as a road show house two years after this picture was taken, the Academy.
This and the theater next door are shown towards the beginning of an old Husker Du video, “Makes No Sense At All.” The World looks identical to this pic, except for being run down – tiles missing from the blank marquee, a “For Lease” sign in the window.
Here is a 1957 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/er9vq
1953:
http://tinyurl.com/oek98
Here is the video mentioned on 2/6/06. I think that’s the Academy in the beginning of the video as well:
http://tinyurl.com/5ownqm
Here is a view of both theaters from wikipedia, circa 1957:
http://tinyurl.com/6hfdpo
Here is another photo of the World Theater.
This is a 1955 photo. Should be a larger version of the photo at the top right side of this page.
1981 photo of the World Theatre with a look at the Academy Theatre.
View link
Another 1981 photo of the World Theatre.
View link
Here’s some trivia about The World and/or Academy (Shubert) theaters: Purple Rain was filmed in Minneapolis, including a lot of scenes at the First Avenue nightclub directly across 7th Street (the former Greyhound bus depot). The scene in which Jerome Benton dumps a woman in a trash bin was shot in the alley next to one or both of the theaters.
When Ted Mann had the World Theatre remodeled in 1955, the project was designed by Liebenberg & Kaplan. Boxoffice of October 22, 1955, published a four-page article about the project, which begins here.