Athens Theatre
414 Pollock Street,
New Bern,
NC
28560
414 Pollock Street,
New Bern,
NC
28560
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Opened on April 11, 1911 as the Athens Theatre with 572 seats. By 1941, it had been renamed Show Stop Theatre and by 1943, it was the Kehoe Theatre, a name which lasted until at least 1950. The Tryon Theatre was owned and operated under Charlotte-based Stewart and Everett Theatres until its closing in the late-1970’s.
Since renovations in 1980, it is now operated by the New Bern Civic Theatre.
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raysson
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Recent comments (view all 13 comments)
This theatre was also known as the ATHENS, SHOW STOP and KEHOE.
Source: http://www.newberncivictheatre.org/history.html
As noted at the theater’s official web site (to which Mark_L linked above,) this house opened in 1911 as the Athens Theatre, and was designed by architect Herbert W. Simpson. In addition to The Show Shop and the Kehoe Theatre, Tryon Theatre should be listed as an aka, as the house has gone back to its original name.
The Athens Theatre was restored in 1980, and has since served as a performing arts venue operated by the New Bern Civic Theatre.
Here is a photo of the Athens Theatre taken in 2009.
If this link works (the web site is in Beta and rather temperamental) you’ll see five large thumbnails showing the Athens. They are supposed to enlarge, but I can’t get them to do so. Maybe it’s not compatible with either of my browsers.
The photos at the second link in my previous comment are now enlarging properly, so I guess they worked the bugs out of their program. One of the images is the original floor plan of the theater from the office of architect Herbert W. Simpson.
The official web site gives the address of the Athens Theatre as 414 Pollock Street. The zip code is 28560.
New Bern Civic Theatre is the name of the organization operating this house. The theater itself has returned to its original name, the Athens Theatre.
Chief Jensen is certainly right about lots of Marines going to this theatre, as it was THE grindhouse/porno theatre for Craven County from about 1974 until its closing in 1979. After the Tryon closed WCTI-TV 12(ABC) filmed scenes of the Tryon’s marquee for use on its Sunday afternoon movie. When New Bern Civic Theatre began using the theatre they originally named the building the Saax Bradbury Playhouse.
The alternate name “Show Stop Theatre” is incorrect. The correct name was “Show Shop Theatre” which was adopted in the 1930s. The Show Shop Theatre was a B-movie theater, newer releases played at the Masonic Theatre at 532 Hancock Street (that theater is still standing, as it is part of a Masonic lodge). The facade of the Athens/Show Shop Theatre was modernized approximately 1940 and may have been renamed Kehoe at that point. Stewart & Everett took over in 1958 or 1959; they renamed the theater Tryon to capitalize on the Tryon Palace reconstruction which opened in 1959. After the Neuse Village Cinema opened in 1971 the Tryon operated as a grindhouse until closing in 1979 (the last couple of years they ran porn exclusively).
Back in the early 1950s, a country & western singing group she was in, The Miss Trio, won a talent show at the Tryon.
Oooops! Let me add that I was talking about my mother, who was from Maysville.
I lived in downtown New Bern twenty years ago when the diagonal image of the “restored” facade was painted on the (then) Saax Bradbury Playhouse. I attended a performance of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” at this theater in 1991 and nothing had been done to the facade since the removal of the circa-1940 front and marquee back in the late 1980s. They should have left the modern facade up until they had the funds to fully restore the original Athens facade. Still, at least the New Bern Civic Theatre is still operating; the Turnage Theater in nearby Washington is closed and about to go on the auction block.