Fox Theatre
660 Peachtree Street NE,
Atlanta,
GA
30365
660 Peachtree Street NE,
Atlanta,
GA
30365
39 people
favorited this theater
Originally constructed as the Yaarab Temple Shrine Mosque to be used as the headquarters for the Shriner’s organization from 1925. The site was taken over by Fox Theatres chain and turned into the magnificent Fox Theatre which opened on December 25, 1929. Today, it is one of the best kept, best loved and luxurious of the world’s movie palaces. Its legendary status has been born from initial hardship.
The inauguration of the building as The Fox met with the commencement of the Depression. The Fox Theatre, it seemed, was doomed to fail. After a few short years of delighting Atlanta crowds with films and shows, the Fox Theatre declared bankruptcy and closed.
The city gained brief ownership of the Fox Theatre and the theater regained its footing during the 1930’s, 1940’s and 1950’s. The 1960’s hit the theatre hard like many others around the country. The proliferation of television, suburban attractions/distractions and other economic forces began to take a toll on the viability of the Fox Theatre as a movie palace. The Fox’s glory days lasted until 1973.
A non-profit group saved the Fox Theatre from demolition and in 1975, the group began the lengthy process of restoring the theatre. Reopening the theatre as a peforming arts center, the Fox’s financial situation is now much more sound.
Constant restoration and upkeep have kept the Fox Theatre looking new and have helped retain its status as a truly unique and magnificent theatre. The Fox Theatre is reportedly the only major theatre in the country to have a full-time restoration staff. They are also the only major theatre to have 2 ballrooms attached in the orginal building (this is as it was on opening day in 1929).
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Recent comments (view all 148 comments)
Broadway shows and concerts are nice, but can we get more classic movies?
I have been to 3 classic movies here…THE GENERAL, BEN HUR, and GWTW. All were neraly sold out, packed performances. Why are they so rare?
Partner up with Turner Classic Movies (which is up the street), and get some kind of classic movie program going.
I concur about more movies.
And I could use the work.
Projector Boy
My first historical reclamation project was the Fox..I gave them money when I was a child to Save The Fox…after watching Yul Brynner in The King and I.
The Fox is a magical place to see a movie. Why can’t we get more than 6 a year? The ones scheduled are pretty lame every summer lately.
While at a convention a number of years ago a cocktail party, with dancing, was scheduled in the spaceous lobby. We were also treated to a concert on the magnificent organ.
I have just had my first look at the Fox Theatre comments and really enjoyed them. However, I am 65 years old and I remember the Fox from my childhood and teen-age years—prior to 1964. This was one of the Fox’s heydays. Had a number of birthdays at the Fox. Saw “The Scoutmaster” starring Clifton Webb, saw “Gigi” (I think) but lots of other films as well.
One MAJOR memory of the Fox I didn’t see in the comments was its years (decades?) as the home of the Metropolitan Opera touring company when it spent a week in Atlanta each year. This was THE social event each year, and subscription tickets were jealously guarded and passed along from generation to generation. My family didn’t rate, but my spinster counsin did—and she took me to my first opera performance. I was hooked—who wouldn’t be seeing the Met at the Fox? If you ever imagined how totally elegant the Fox could be as a setting for a live performance the Met was it!
Actually, I did mention the fact that The Metropolitan Opera played the Atlanta engagement of its spring tour (the most important stop on the tour) at The Fox. The superb accoustics of The Fox made those performances especially memorable. If I remember correctly, The Junior League (that great bastion of snobbery) controlled the distribution of tickets. The only way that I got to see the Met in those years was to usher for the performances (through a friend who was a member of The Atlanta Music Club). Those performances hooked me on opera, too!
The Fox and its free parking lot were mentioned in this 1946 trade article: boxofficemagazine
Auditorium pictured in this incendiary 1974 trade report: Boxoffice
Tinseltoes thanks for alerting me to Boxoffice on line, lots of neat info to be had here,plus pictures!