Melba Theater
115 W. Main Street,
Batesville,
AR
72501
115 W. Main Street,
Batesville,
AR
72501
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Related Websites
Melba Theater (Official)
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Commonwealth Amusement Corp.
Functions: Movies (Classic), Movies (First Run)
Styles: Streamline Moderne
Previous Names: New Theater
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
879.569.8002
Nearby Theaters
The 300-seat New Theater opened on November 22, 1934 with Eddie Cantor in “Roman Scandals”. In December 1934 it was renamed Melba Theater.
In 1940 it was taken over by Commonwealth Amusement Corp. and they decided that the Melba Theater would be moved to a new theater, created inside the Brewer Building to the plans of architect Richard Orear. The New Melba Theatre was opened on November 27, 1940 with Marjorie Rambeau in “Tugboat Annie Sails Again”. It is a Streamline Moderne style movie house on Batesville’s Main Street. The theater features a large vertical sign flush to the facade and a triangular marquee, both spelling out the theater’s name in neon-lit letters.
Though the Melba Theatre closed in the early-1990’s, it was renovated and reopened in 2000 and functioned both as a concert venue and movies on weekends. It has also been a host theatre for the Ozark Foothills Film Festival. The Melba Theatre is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Closed by 2016 for renovations and fundraising for a digital projector. It reopened in August 2016.
Contributed by
Bryan
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
The Film Daily Yearbook, 1950 gives a seating capacity of 779.
Here is an interesting article about the renovation of the Melba:
http://tinyurl.com/mnc2r
In the early 1950’s, I saw Tex Ritter and his band live on stage at the Melba. He sang songs he had made famous. The one most requested by the youngsters was “Rye Whiskey.” Before the show was over, he led his horse, White Flash, upon stage and had him do tricks, such as counting to ten and shaking his head yes or no to questions Tex asked him. Around 1958, a live magic show was held on stage at the Melba with audience participation. In 1956, the local radio station, KBTA, staged a talent show on the Melba stage every Saturday just before the matinee. The most popular attraction was always the owl show at midnight on Saturday nights which gave teens a good excuse to stay out late.
As I remember, the first CinemaScope film, “The Robe,” starring Richard Burton, played at the Landers, not the Melba, in 1953.
There was a photo of the Melba in Boxoffice, May 1958:
http://tinyurl.com/yemldz2
I remember seeing Disney’s The Rescuers there and Popeye as a kid in the late 70’s. It was pretty cool to take my kids there to see Schreck 2 around 2004
Currently closed and under renovation. Also raising money for a digital projector. Website: http://www.melbatheater.org/
The part of this entry about the opera house is completely wrong. Adler’s Opera House was much further down the block, toward what was then Chestnut (now State). It’s still there, a very well preserved structure with an ‘A’ in the keystone above the central window.
The Melba building does seem to have begun as a store, but the building does not appear until the 1923 map, replacing some small wooden shops on the 1914 map.
This started life as the New Theatre for only a single month, opening its doors on November 22, 1934 with Eddie Cantor in “Roman Scandals” along with Walt Disney’s Silly Symphony smash “Three Little Pigs”. The following month in December 1934, a theater naming contest was held with a local woman winning $25 for the name Melba, and the theater was renamed the Melba Theatre.
C.N. Jenkins and Penny Swetcoff opened the New Theater in the existing Lester Building on November 22, 1934 with Eddie Cantor in “Roman Scandals”. They held a naming contest and, in December 1934, it was renamed Melba Theater. Commonwealth Amusements took on the the venue and decided to create a new home for the Melba in 1940.
Commonwealth architect Richard Orear used the existing Brewer Building that housed a business and a hatchery to carve out a 722-seat theatre and a spot for Engles Barber Shop. The New Melba opened on November 27, 1940 with “Tugboat Annie” supported by the Warner Cartoon “Good Night Elmer,” the Warner Vitaphone short “Jan Garber and Orchestra” and Ray Whitley and Six Bar Cowboys in “Barroom Buckaroos.”