Majestic Theatre
Cedar Rapids,
IA
1 person
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The Majestic Theater opened in 1908. The manager was Victor Hugo (real name Victor Klassens). The auditorium was added to an existing building which housed the lobby. The theater was designed by Rapp and Rapp.
The auditorium seated 1400 originally. It was the premier vaudeville house in town. In 1914 the roof collapsed over the stage house, demolishing the proscenium and opera boxes. The theater was rebuilt and the theater reopened, Four new brass light fixtures lit the proscenium with its' new mural.
In 1921 the theater added movies, but vaudeville was still the main event. Special acts, such Sousa and His Band were often booked for one night engagements. When this happened the regular stage show would move to the Isis theater for the night. When the Iowa Theatre opened, the Orpheum vaudeville shows moved to the new theater. When the Capitol (Paramount) opened, the management at the Majestic reorganized and brought in various theatre groups to run the theater as a legitimate house.
When the Trousdale Players left in March of 1929 the theater closed. The owners tried different formats, but by 1930 the theater had closed, a victim of the depression, the death of vaudeville, competition from the new theaters, and the lack of air conditioning – which forced them to close during the summers. In 1934 the theater burned in a suspicious blaze (the owner was bankrupt and heavily in debt).
More info on Cedar Rapids theatres at www.jeffkorns.com
Contributed by
Jeff Korns
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
Jean, The Linn County historical society would probably love to have those, they do have an extensive collection of local theatre items. Their web site is http://www.historycenter.org/
Or you could sell it. Some bits of theatrical memorabilia can be quite valuable. If any of the letters are from people whose names would be recognized by theatre buffs today, or if the photos are of historically significant actors (especially if the photos are hand autographed), a good sized collection could be worth quite a bit. Donating it to an institution is nice, but if you do that, be sure to get an appraisal of its value so you can deduct the donation from your income tax.
If you sell it, the collection will most likely end up being donated to an institution eventually anyway, as that’s what most serious collectors of memorabilia do. For example, look at this long list of performing arts memorabilia collections now in the possession of the Library of Congress, many of them assembled by collectors over many years from disparate sources such as Ms. Devereaux’s scrapbook.
Here is the lineup on 9/20/20:
MAJESTIC
Matinee Daily, 2:30
Vaudeville Night 8:15
A Tuneful Girly Farce
“A Brazilian Heiress"
With Frankie Kelly and Nine Others
LARRY COMER in Song and Jest
MAY and HILL Clever Couple
DANCING KENNEDYS Original Creation
EXTRA! EXTRA! FIRST MOVING PICTURES
Wall Street Blown Up!
Ken MC do you have any more information on this theatre?
The Majestic Theatre in Cedar Rapids opened on September 28, 1908. The theatre was indeed designed by Rapp & Rapp.
An article from the May 2, 1908 edition of the Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette states the following…“The theater was designed by Messrs. C.W. and Geo. L. Rapp, who make a specialty of theater architecture, and who have charge of remodeling and the construction of new theaters for the Western Vaudeville Managers association. They are among the best theater architects in the country.”
The theatre roof over the stage collapsed on July 6, 1915 when one of the stay rods which helped support the truss dircectly above the stage snapped. The theatre was repaired and opened again on October 28, 1915.
Besides the Majestic/Shubert/LaSalle Bank Theatre in Chicago this is the earliest known Rapp and Rapp. However from the article it appears there must be more for them to be known as “among the best theater architects in the country.”
A Wurlitzer theater organ opus 1192 style “E” was installed in the Majestic Theater on 10/31/1925.
All this information on this theatre and no one can come upwith an address.
The lobby entrance was on the corner of A Avenue and 3rd street. The auditorium was on the corner of A Avenue and 2nd street.
Jeff, what happened to your web site, I tried to find it the other day and it don’t exist anymore.
I took down my web site. I’m looking at either putting my info on the website for the local ATOS chapter or starting a blog.