Uptown Theatre
270 Broadway,
Providence,
RI
02903
270 Broadway,
Providence,
RI
02903
13 people
favorited this theater
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Providence, RI: Comedy Connection Owners Purchase Columbus Theatre [Oct 25, 2024]
The theatre has been purchased by Comedy Connection and will be re-opened under the name Uptown Theatre, which it had been given around 1929 until the late 1960s.
The Columbus Theatre has just closed, apparently for good, this weekend. Don’t know what will happen to it.
The Studio Cinema opened in the balcony on November 24th, 1965. Grand opening ad posted.
The Columbus is closing again, after a performance by comedian Jessica Kirson on June 9. The last movie was tonight, Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus, and there are a couple more concerts coming up including a free Brown University Songwriters Showcase on Tuesday, May 7. https://www.wpri.com/top-stories/columbus-theatre-to-close-in-june
With the closure of the Cable Car Cinema & Cafe, it appears they’ve moved their events to the Columbus Theater.
https://cablecarcinema.com/
COLUMBUS/UPTOWN THEATRE PHOTO, 1941, IN MGM REPORT Thanks to Theatre Historical Society of America.
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for this theater when it was the Uptown. It’s Card # 552. There is an exterior photo shot in April 1941. The address is 270 Broadway. Condition is Good, and it was showing MGM films. There were 866 seats on the main floor and 486 balcony seats, total: 1,352.
Photo gallery from the grand reopening: http://www.providencejournal.com/topics/photos/arts/20121117-the-columbus-theatre-reopens.ece
The Columbus is finally reopening with a concert by the Low Anthem on 11/17/12. http://blogs.providencejournal.com/ri-talks/architecture-here-there/2012/10/column-bway-to-discover-the-columbus-again.html
SAVE THE DATE: The Providence Preservation Society will announce its final list for the 2011 “Ten Most Endangered Buildings” at press conference at the Columbus Theater, May 5th @ noon.
Link: View link
I was granted permission to photograph the interior of The Columbus Theatre. I also got to meet Mr. Jon Berberian (owner/manager). What a wonderful man. The theatre is incredibly beautiful.
Here is a link to some of the photographs I took. There will be more to come that will be added to the link’s gallery:
View link
Recent article in the Projo: View link
Yes, still closed, with a marquee announcing “Re-opening soon.”
Is this still closed?
Appears in a few scenes of Hachi (2009).
Item in Boxoffice magazine, April 3, 1961:
An unusual movie treat for the younger generation, particularly, was presented at the Uptown Theatre, where Rudolph Valentino was shown in “The Eagle,” modernized with music and sound. The movie house is located in a section where thusands of Providence residents of Italian descent have homes and business establishments.
Item in Boxoffice magazine, October 25, 1952:
“An Italian film, ‘Al Telefono con Te’ regaled good houses at the Uptown…”
From Boxoffice magazine, February 4, 1956:
“In the most extensive cooperation promotion ever seen in this area, 14 Providence and nearby houses used record-breaking newspaper advertising space in heralding the joint premiere of "The Day the World Ended” and “Phantom from 10,000 Leagues.” Virtually taking over the amusement pages of the local press for several days, the following houses united in the ad: Elmwood, Hope, Uptown, Liberty, Castle, all in this city; Community, Centredale; Strand, Pawtucket; Union, Attleboro; Hollywood, East Providence; Palace, Cranston; Community, Wakefield; Park, Auburn; Palace, Arctic and Stadium, Woonsocket. A brief checkup of local houses indicated that opening days were solid."
Item in Boxoffice magazine, June 29, 1957:
“The Uptown, located in a large Italian-populated district, offered two first-run Italian pictures, ‘Terra Straniera’ and ‘Cantate con me’.
Great pictures of the Columbus.
Here is a chilly photo:
http://tinyurl.com/ydfh54x
Comments on the theater description: total seating is currently 1,052, and it was a porn house until 2002. I’d also argue that the Stadium should be included on any list of Rhode Island’s finest surviving historic movie houses.
The Columbus was closed by the City of Providence on August 25 for fire code violations. Offices in the building were allowed to remain open. The owner must bring the fire suppression system up to code, repair electrical deficiencies, remove fire hazards including paint cans, reapply decorative tiles to the exterior (?), and repair at least one door. The cost of the fire suppression upgrade alone is more than $100K. The inspection was apparently the result of a complaint by a parent of a contestant in a beauty pageant held at the theater last weekend.
Providence Journal article.
Fifty years ago today, June 20, 1958, I saw a Mario Lanza double bill at the Uptown Theatre, which was what the Columbus was called then. The films were The Great Caruso and Because You’re Mine. Besides this fact, I noted in my diary that the theatre had a new marquee.