Oriental Theatre
2230 N. Farwell Avenue,
Milwaukee,
WI
53202
2230 N. Farwell Avenue,
Milwaukee,
WI
53202
23 people
favorited this theater
When the Oriental Theatre opened in 1927, it was among the most exotic and ornate movie palaces to have opened in Milwaukee with its Middle Eastern-meets-Far Eastern decor.
Although the large auditorium was divided into three smaller auditoriums in the late 1980s, the decor was largely kept intact, miraculously, and the theater has managed to retain its 1920s appearance to the present.
Its Kimball Organ, played each Saturay before each 7 p.m. show, is the largest of its kind remaining in the US. The Oriental is known for holding the record for a continuous midnight screening of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, which it has been performing since January, 1978.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 67 comments)
I said November, 2006; I meant November 2009.
February 3, 2010:
Oriental Theatre is target in foreclosure suit.
Several properties owned by New Land Enterprises, including the Oriental Theatre and Landmark Lanes, are the targets of a new foreclosure lawsuit. Local developer Boris Gohkman told WISN-Channel 12 that three properties in Milwaukee County are being targeted in the suit. Gohkman said Madison-based Anchorbank filed a foreclosure suit against him and other partners. Anchorbank is seeking nearly $15 million owed on the loans, late fees and interest. The Oriental Theatre, which is more than 75 years old, is still operating on Milwaukee’s east side. Gokhman said the Hebhegger Building on Milwaukee’s east side and a property in Whitefish Bay also are targets in the suit. Gokhman said New Land’s partners are confident they will come to a “mutually satisfactory conclusion” and continue with future development. (From BizTimes)
Opened July 2nd, 1927
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Recent night photo of the Oriental Theatre.
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Click the photo to enlarge.
Does Landmark do a good job with upkeep at the Oriental? Landmark owns the Uptown in Minneapolis and it’s awful: rickety seats, torn carpeting, etc. I’d like to hear from someone who has recently visited.
Not sure about Landmark at the Oriental but they do a fantastic job at the Tivoli Theatre in St. Louis.
I was just reading this (better late than never) and was amused and confused by the posting way above talking about Dolby Stereo, in particular Dolby SR. SR was and is a special noise reduction system which is used only when the SVA tracks are in use, those would be the “2 wiggles” alongside the picture area. Most theaters these days only use the digital track, but most systems will automatically default to the Dolby SR tracks if the digital fails. Dolby optical stereo always had a surround track, unless the director chose not to use one. Dolby EX was a split “stereo surround system” for 35mm, frankly it never really worked all that well and most theaters don’t use it anymore, 70mm Dolby always had stereo surrounds and this was supposed to be a way for a 35mm house to have the same effect. It worked well for 70mm because of the discrete magnetic tracks, but for 35mm it was like trying to put 10 gallons in a 5 gallon hat, too much stuff! Some of you may remember “Quintaphonic Sound” for Tommy, this was a magnetic system but it was pretty much the same idea, it didn’t work very well either, it split the surround track for 2 surround feeds but the surround track on magnetic 35mm was very narrow and prone to noise and other issues. When Dolby Stereo came out it was really a 2 channel system with left and right with a mix to fill the center channel, and they used a SQ matrix to come up with a surround track, if a theater runs a Dolby stereo print in standard analog (no digital or SR) that’s pretty much what you still wind up with. The new digital projection and sound (no film) systems now can reproduce multiple surround sound tracks in addition to the normal left, center, right and subwoofer. Early Dolby Stereo was pretty primitive, compared to discrete magnetic sound (there were some attempts at Dolby 35mm magnetic but only 70mm wound up with them)but Dolby has made quantum leaps in technology to give us the superb sound we sometimes take for granted today.
Landmark Theatres has a facebook page for the Oriental theatre at
http://www.landmarktheatres.com/Market/Milwaukee/Milwaukee_Frameset.htm
They have a photo gallery with some nice interior photos.