The Colonial Theatre was under construction, and probably fairly near completion, at the time of the Earthquake of April 18, 1906. Construction had begun in 1905, and the year was engraved in stone below the cornice above the entrance.
There is no historic record indicating that the theater had actually opened before the disaster. Like many other substantial buildings in the downtown area the structure was gutted by the subsequent fire, but it was restored, and the Colonial Theatre finally opened on October 6, 1906.
The house became the Plaza Theatre in 1922, when it was taken over by a repertory company that grew out of Berkeley’s Greek Theatre Players. I don’t know how long it remained the Plaza, but the name was in use at least into 1923. The theater had never had much success either as a legitimate venue or as a movie house, and changed hands frequently until it finally found its niche as a burlesque house.
It is very likely that Reid Brothers were the original architects of the building as well as of the 1919 renovations.
Thanks, fred1. I see that the web site’s front page says that the grand opening took place on January 8 this year. The theaters have new seats. The house is all-digital, and 3D equipment is to be installed later this year.
The Robinson Crossing 6 is now operated by a company called Evans Theatres, who reopened the house late last year after it had been closed for about two years. It is their only theater and is operated as a discount house. The Norman Transcript published an interview with company vice president Joshua Evans on August 16 last year, before the theater reopened. There is no dedicated web site for the theater, but the company has this Facebook page.
The 1927 FDY lists the Imperial Theatre in Walnut Grove as one of three movie houses operated by K. Hirata. Hirata was a Japanese American who also had the Nippon Theatre in Sacramento and the Delta Theatre in Courtland. The latter town, like Walnut Grove, was a small agricultural town along the Sacramento River. All three theaters most likely catered to predominantly Japanese audiences in those days.
The entrance to the RKO Palace and its associated three-story office and commercial building were on the site of Loew’s Star. The Star must have been demolished by early 1928. It’s remarkable that this large, substantial theater stood for only fifteen years or so.
What remains of the El Capitan Theatre and Hotel was designated a San Francisco city landmark in 1996, which was unfortunately long after the auditorium had been demolished. A PDF of the Planning Commission document with the history of the building can be downloaded with this link. The document says that while G. Albert Lansburgh did in fact act as consulting architect on the project, the architect of record was William H. Crim.
JKRP Architects (the new name of the former JKR Partners) have several photos of the Flix Brewhouse in Carmel on this page of their web site, though most of them are of the bar and brewery.
The firm that designed the Regal Moorestown Mall Stadium 12, JKR Partners, have renamed themselves JKRP Architects. Their web site features three photos of this cinema on this page.
Linkrot repair: After changing their name again (it is now JKRP Architects) the firm that designed the renovations of the Ambler Theatre also reconfigured their web site. The photos of the Ambler are now on this page.
JKR Partners have changed their name to JKRP Architects. Their reconfigured web site now features four photos of the Regal Deer Park Stadium 16, which can be found on this page.
JKR Partners have changed their name to JKRP Architects. Their web site has been reconfigured, but two photos of the Penn Cinema remain, and can now be found on this page.
Regal had this multiplex renovated after taking over. The project was designed by the Philadelphia architectural firm JKRP Architects (formerly JKR Partners) and there are four photos on this page of the firm’s web site.
JKRP Architects is the new name of JKR Partners. Their web site has been reconfigured, and three photos of the Penn Cinema Riverfront are now on this page.
JKR Partners has changed names again, becoming JKRP Architects. The web site has been reconfigured and the photos of the Spotlight Theatres are now on this page.
Linkrot repair: JKR Partners have renamed themselves JKRP Architects, and have reconfigured their web site. Four photos of the Cityplex remain on display at this link.
JKR Partners is now called JKRP Architects (the firm was founded in 1984 as J.K. Roller Architects.) While several cinema projects are featured on their redesigned web site, the Dietrich Theatre is unfortunately not among them.
The photo currently on display was uploaded by wsasser back in 2012, but he didn’t provide any annotation with it. As the newest movie on the marquee, The Mummy Returns, was released in 2001, I’d surmise that the photo was taken around the time the house reopened that year, and the people depicted were connected in some way with the event.
Blaney’s New Orleans Lyric Theatre was mentioned in the February, 1909, issue of Pan-American Magazine. The house was one of several operated by the prolific author and producer of melodramas for both stage and screen, Charles E. Blaney.
The October 31, 1912, issue of The Tradesman, a Chattanooga-based publication later to be renamed Southern Hardware, noted that a permit to construct a $10,000 movie theater in Birmingham had been issued to H. M. Newsome.
The opus list of Louisville organ makers Henry Pilcher’s Sons includes an entry for opus 778, a two manual, ten rank organ installed in a theater in Birmingham for H. M. Newsome, February, 1913. Probably the Trianon.
The installation was also mentioned in a classified ad for Pilcher’s Sons in the October 25 issue of Moving Picture World that year. The ad said that other recent installations included organs for the Hippodrome Theatre in Dallas, the Queen Theatre in Galveston, and the Vaudette Theatre in Atlanta.
The Colonial Theatre was under construction, and probably fairly near completion, at the time of the Earthquake of April 18, 1906. Construction had begun in 1905, and the year was engraved in stone below the cornice above the entrance.
There is no historic record indicating that the theater had actually opened before the disaster. Like many other substantial buildings in the downtown area the structure was gutted by the subsequent fire, but it was restored, and the Colonial Theatre finally opened on October 6, 1906.
The house became the Plaza Theatre in 1922, when it was taken over by a repertory company that grew out of Berkeley’s Greek Theatre Players. I don’t know how long it remained the Plaza, but the name was in use at least into 1923. The theater had never had much success either as a legitimate venue or as a movie house, and changed hands frequently until it finally found its niche as a burlesque house.
It is very likely that Reid Brothers were the original architects of the building as well as of the 1919 renovations.
The architect of the 1895 Biddeford City Hall complex, including the Opera House, which reopened on January 20, 1896, was John Calvin Stevens.
The New York Clipper Annual for 1893 lists the Rockland Opera House as having been dedicated on August 31, 1892.
Thanks, fred1. I see that the web site’s front page says that the grand opening took place on January 8 this year. The theaters have new seats. The house is all-digital, and 3D equipment is to be installed later this year.
The Robinson Crossing 6 is now operated by a company called Evans Theatres, who reopened the house late last year after it had been closed for about two years. It is their only theater and is operated as a discount house. The Norman Transcript published an interview with company vice president Joshua Evans on August 16 last year, before the theater reopened. There is no dedicated web site for the theater, but the company has this Facebook page.
The 1927 FDY lists the Imperial Theatre in Walnut Grove as one of three movie houses operated by K. Hirata. Hirata was a Japanese American who also had the Nippon Theatre in Sacramento and the Delta Theatre in Courtland. The latter town, like Walnut Grove, was a small agricultural town along the Sacramento River. All three theaters most likely catered to predominantly Japanese audiences in those days.
The entrance to the RKO Palace and its associated three-story office and commercial building were on the site of Loew’s Star. The Star must have been demolished by early 1928. It’s remarkable that this large, substantial theater stood for only fifteen years or so.
What remains of the El Capitan Theatre and Hotel was designated a San Francisco city landmark in 1996, which was unfortunately long after the auditorium had been demolished. A PDF of the Planning Commission document with the history of the building can be downloaded with this link. The document says that while G. Albert Lansburgh did in fact act as consulting architect on the project, the architect of record was William H. Crim.
Linkrot repair: The brief article about the Will Rogers Theatre in the October 17, 1936, issue of Boxoffice can now be found here.
JKRP Architects (the new name of the former JKR Partners) have several photos of the Flix Brewhouse in Carmel on this page of their web site, though most of them are of the bar and brewery.
The firm that designed the Regal Moorestown Mall Stadium 12, JKR Partners, have renamed themselves JKRP Architects. Their web site features three photos of this cinema on this page.
JKR Partners have renamed themselves JKRP Architects. The firm’s web site features two photos of the Williamsburg Cinemas on this page.
Linkrot repair: After changing their name again (it is now JKRP Architects) the firm that designed the renovations of the Ambler Theatre also reconfigured their web site. The photos of the Ambler are now on this page.
JKR Partners have changed their name to JKRP Architects. Their reconfigured web site now features four photos of the Regal Deer Park Stadium 16, which can be found on this page.
JKR Partners have changed their name to JKRP Architects. Their web site has been reconfigured, but two photos of the Penn Cinema remain, and can now be found on this page.
Regal had this multiplex renovated after taking over. The project was designed by the Philadelphia architectural firm JKRP Architects (formerly JKR Partners) and there are four photos on this page of the firm’s web site.
JKR Partners have renamed themselves JKRP Architects. There are six photos of the Flix Brewhouse at Merle Hay Mall on this page of their web site.
JKRP Architects is the new name of JKR Partners. Their web site has been reconfigured, and three photos of the Penn Cinema Riverfront are now on this page.
JKR Partners has changed names again, becoming JKRP Architects. The web site has been reconfigured and the photos of the Spotlight Theatres are now on this page.
Linkrot repair: JKR Partners have renamed themselves JKRP Architects, and have reconfigured their web site. Four photos of the Cityplex remain on display at this link.
JKR Partners is now called JKRP Architects (the firm was founded in 1984 as J.K. Roller Architects.) While several cinema projects are featured on their redesigned web site, the Dietrich Theatre is unfortunately not among them.
The photo currently on display was uploaded by wsasser back in 2012, but he didn’t provide any annotation with it. As the newest movie on the marquee, The Mummy Returns, was released in 2001, I’d surmise that the photo was taken around the time the house reopened that year, and the people depicted were connected in some way with the event.
Blaney’s New Orleans Lyric Theatre was mentioned in the February, 1909, issue of Pan-American Magazine. The house was one of several operated by the prolific author and producer of melodramas for both stage and screen, Charles E. Blaney.
Ah, so it was that issue of the News that had the typo. No wonder I was unable to find other references to Hair’s theaters.
The October 31, 1912, issue of The Tradesman, a Chattanooga-based publication later to be renamed Southern Hardware, noted that a permit to construct a $10,000 movie theater in Birmingham had been issued to H. M. Newsome.
The opus list of Louisville organ makers Henry Pilcher’s Sons includes an entry for opus 778, a two manual, ten rank organ installed in a theater in Birmingham for H. M. Newsome, February, 1913. Probably the Trianon.
The installation was also mentioned in a classified ad for Pilcher’s Sons in the October 25 issue of Moving Picture World that year. The ad said that other recent installations included organs for the Hippodrome Theatre in Dallas, the Queen Theatre in Galveston, and the Vaudette Theatre in Atlanta.
Linkrot repair: The October 22, 1955, Boxoffice article about the remodeling of the Roxy is now at these links:
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Page two
Page three
Page four