Oriental Theater

4335 W. 44th Avenue,
Denver, CO 80212

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The Oriental Theater (Official)

Additional Info

Architects: Leo Andrew Desjardins

Functions: Art Gallery, Bar, Concerts, Movies (Classic), Special Events

Styles: Atmospheric, Oriental

Phone Numbers: Box Office: 303.455.2124

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News About This Theater

Oriental Theatre - Denver CO 2-24-2016b

The Oriental Theater opened on December 24, 1927 as one of Denver’s original movie palaces. It was equipped with a Barton organ. In 1931 it was replaced by a Kimball organ. With the assistance of MOD Productions, the Oriental Theater now operates as a multi-media event venue featuring classic movies, artwork in the lobby and concerts on the weekends. This is the only Colorado theater featuring exclusively classic films.

Contributed by Cory Morrison

Recent comments (view all 17 comments)

philbertgray
philbertgray on November 6, 2007 at 5:53 pm

Another early view of The Oriental Theatre
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24ljs
24ljs on March 31, 2009 at 4:57 am

trying to locate Lane McCoy reply tp

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short on June 17, 2009 at 7:08 pm

Talk about finding new uses for old movie theatres. Apparently a very colorful venue:

View link

View link

http://www.westword.com/slideshow/view/12606

kpdennis
kpdennis on April 6, 2010 at 8:33 pm

The Oriental in 1995, when shows were sporadic and the venue was dark most of the time:
View link

KyHollarSmoke
KyHollarSmoke on March 2, 2015 at 7:52 pm

If you are looking for taste of old fashioned entertainment meets Colorado lifestyle than look no further. This was my first experience with The Oriental Theater and it wont be my last. I had only read reviews of the venue before buying tickets to see The Rail Splitters and The Steeldrivers. I ended up giving them a 5 star rating because the overall experience was top notch.

We got there early and enjoyed some beers during sound check and met most of the staff and all of the bands. Crazy how friendly and laid back the place was. Let me start with the owners – Great guys. They don’t over manage their venue. They let you enjoy it. Yes the building is old, but the character of the theater is priceless. The 1920’s charm of the venue really reminds you of better days, when you dressed up to attend the theater and it was a privilege to be there.

Drinks were cheap, easy to get, and not far from hand. Two bars in this small of a theater really makes it nice to leave your seat and grab a drink and not stand in line for 20 minutes missing all your favorite songs. The men’s restroom had no lines, and the women’s was a short wait (Not far from the bar and a new drink to enjoy while in line).

The only drawbacks of the whole night – 1. The sound guy was new… So any of his mistakes can easily be corrected with some more training and experience (he was sick and missed a training last week I was told). He managed to solve most of the issues in a matter of two or three songs. 2. The venue is kinda run down but not in a dirty or dingy way – The bathrooms were clean, the seating areas were clean, the floors looked clean. But this is an old venue and its hard to turn a large enough profit these days to keep the vintage style and look up to its original standards. It really made me feel more at ease and I sat back and enjoyed the show. I’m a sucker for the old theaters of our past.

Lastly, I highly recommend you attend an event here. This will forever be a great memory of a great concert. I attend over 50 events a year and rarely am I this satisfied with a venue. The Oriental Theater is a must. Meet the staff, enjoy the show, leave with many memories.

kpdennis
kpdennis on February 25, 2016 at 5:35 am

The interior lighting is not the best at the Oriental, but I took some shots tonight following a superb Bill Frisell concert. See the Photos section.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on April 29, 2016 at 12:31 am

Article about the refurbished neon.

http://www.westword.com/arts/the-oriental-theaters-neon-lights-up-the-night-for-the-first-time-in-decades-7853034

MichaelKilgore
MichaelKilgore on August 15, 2023 at 6:38 pm

The Denver Post reported today that the Oriental’s owners were trying again to restore the marquee. General manager Scott Happel said, “We’ve had it done twice, apparently by people that weren’t quite sure how to do it correctly.“ This time the work is being done by Morry Weseloh’s company, Morry’s Neon Signs. Full story with pictures here

rivest266
rivest266 on April 2, 2024 at 3:40 pm

Grand opening ad posted.

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