Gem Theatre
1615 East 18th Street,
Kansas City,
MO
64108
1615 East 18th Street,
Kansas City,
MO
64108
3 people
favorited this theater
Opened in 1912 as the Star Theatre, it was renamed Gem Theatre in 1913. It got a facade facelift in 1923. The Gem Theatre was built for use by African-American audiences and had a seating capacity for 1,414. Movies continued until the mid-1970’s and then went to live performances. Since 1997, after a detailed renovation to create a 500-seat performance space which removed most of the original interior, it has been a venue for the American Jazz Museum located across the street. The Gem Theatre is still a popular venue for the African-American audience. The theatre is very impresive and spotlessly clean.
Contributed by
Chuck Van Bibber
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Recent comments (view all 29 comments)
Don, that’s a lovely picture.
A 2008 photo can be seen here.
From the Library of Congress:
http://tinyurl.com/cswesr
1985 Photo
1988 Photo
This is a recent photo.
Here is a 1989 photo.
This theatre has a Vitrolite tile exterior. The work was done by Tim Dunn, Vitrolite specialist located in St. Louis MO.
View link
Here’s 3 Photos I took of the GEM back in November of 2007.. Enjoy!
Randy A Carlisle – Historical Photographer
Again, what a lovely theatre and thanks “Driveintheatre” for the addtional flickr photos! This theatre is truly a “gem”!