(Excerpted from the CHICAGO READER, March 30, 2007, Section One, P.4 “A Hundred Furnished Rooms, an architectural history of Uptown” by Lynn Becker) - The challenges facing historic Uptown may best be represented, however, in its great namesake monument, the Uptown Theatre, dating from 1925. Constructed at a cost of $4 million in a deliriously eclectic style that a contemporary reporter called “Spanish Mexican Renaissance,” it covers 46,000 square feet (most of a city block), stands eight stories high, and seats 4,300. By the end of its first decade, nearly 20 million people had passed through the 213-foot-long lobby, which is terminated by a curving double stair and lined with twin colonnades rising to a 92-foot-high ceiling. As detailed in The Chicago Movie Palaces of Balaban and Katz by David Balaban, namesake grand-son of the Uptown’s manager, the theater occupied a rare moment of shared democracy, where anyone with a quarter or 50 cents could spend a couple hours steeped in the sort of luxury usually reserved for the ultrarich, attended to by a small army arrayed in at least eight different styles of uniforms, designating every station from floor manager to page boy to footman. So as not to disturb the patrons, ushers had to master a complex set of hand signals to manage the huge crowds.
By the 1960s, of course, we had begun opting for a no-frills, self-service, lowest-price world. Blitzed by free TV, the great movie palaces crashed into dust. The Uptown held on, finally closing for good in 1981. The heat was turned off soon after, and in the dead of winter the water pipes froze and burst, causing massive damage. It’s gone downhill ever since. The theater has passed through multiple owners, including convicted slumlord Lou Wolf, who once owned the Goldblatt’s block, and is currently in receivership. Recently the city picked up the tab for $500,000 in emergency repairs, removing some large, unstable chunks of terra-cotta before they simply fell to the street. Despite the ongoing efforts of activists committed to saving this official Chicago landmark, the Uptown remains boarded up and forlorn. Just before the February election, the 48th Ward alderman Mary Ann Smith told Windy City Times that a “premier developer” had signed a contract to restore the theater but declined to divulge the company’s name.
(May 27, 1955) El Paso Children Escape Unhurt In Theater Fire
Three hundred and fifty grade school children were led to safety at 11:30 a. m. Thursday when fire broke out in the projection booth of the El Paso Theater. The children were attending a free show at the theater as part of their end of the school year activities.
Speedy Exit
Don Rist, co-manager of the theater, saw smoke coming from the projector and sped downstairs to warn H. B. Tate, superintendent of schools.
Edward Heiken, principal of the Jefferson Park School in El Paso, gave orders for the 12 teachers
present to lead their pupils out. Most of the youngsters were on the sidewalk before they knew what had happened. The El Paso Fire Department quickly extinguished the blaze.
Projector Damaged
Bill Fever, who was operating the projector, said the film broke and snapped against a carbon arc.
One reel of the film was destroyed and the lens and the projector were damaged. In addition to the El Paso pupils, classes were present from the Secor and Spring Hill schools. A show for another group of children, scheduled for Thursday afternoon, has been cancelled.
Flashback - Seeing the great potential at the Orpheum
The Orpheum Theatre has stood at the heart of downtown Kenosha for more than a century. In 1922, Kenosha would gain a true “movie palace” that reflected both civic ambition and cultural pride. That ambition was largely driven by brothers Edward and Fred Dayton, prominent local businessmen. After Edward returned from World War I, he believed Kenosha needed major institutions - a luxury hotel and a world-class theater - to compete with Milwaukee and Chicago.
Though their hotel plans initially stalled, the Daytons re-entered the theater business and, with partners, built the Orpheum Theatre at a cost of $400.000. It opened on March 14, 1922, dazzling audiences with a lavish French Renaissance interior that contrasted sharply with its modest exterior; gold accents, velvet drapes, silk wallpaper, and a $20,000 Barton organ made the Orpheum Kenosha’s first true movie palace.
From the start, the Orpheum positioned itself as both a cultural and moral force. Management promised family-friendly programming and emphasized modern ventilation systems in the wake of the recent Spanish Flu pandemic. The opening night featured the U.S.. debut of “Smiling Through”, and the theater soon hosted silent films, vaudeville, roadshows, and later sound pictures.
By 1924, the Orpheum building was described as “a veritable city in itself, housing shops, offices, studios, and services alongside the theater.” Ownership and management shifted repeatedly over the decades. Fox Theaters briefly renamed it the Lake Theatre, but the Orpheum name returned in 1933 with a lavish gala complete with celebrity impersonators.
A flashback to the glory days of the Orpheum Theater Is teased in the 1999 film “The Great Ride”
Through the 1940s and 1950s, the Orpheum adapted to changing tastes, hosting talent competitions, special promotions, celebrity appearances, and community events even as television began drawing audiences away. Creative gimmicks, from free kitchen utensils to midnight “Voodoo Parties,” were used to keep seats filled.
By the 1960s, downtown Kenosha faced broader challenges. Traffic changes, youth culture, and suburban shopping centers threatened traditional businesses. Longtime manager Wallace Konrad became a vocal advocate for downtown vitality before retiring in 1967.
Despite successful runs like “The Sound of Music”, the theater increasingly struggled. Crime incidents, aging infrastructure, and shifts toward adult programming marked the late 1960s and early 1970s. By 1975, after United Artists stepped away and owner Bernie Chulew purchased the building, the Orpheum closed as a movie theater.
New owners continued to see potential in the Orpheum. Developers rehabilitated store fronts and offices, while community figures kept its spirit alive through art shows and events. In 1988, a brief but legendary rebirth as a concert venue brought punk. metal, and alternative acts including the Smashing Pumpkins to its stage, cementing the Orpheum’s place in local music lore.
The building endured years of uncertainty and narrowly escaped demolition in the early 1990s thanks to preservationists like Lou Rugani and Merike Phillips. Declared a local landmark in 1993, the Orpheum was renovated and triumphantly reopened in 1996 as a budget cinema, though that revival was short-lived, ending in closure by 2000.
Though the theater remains dark today, its story mirrors Kenosha Itself: cycles of ambition, decline, reinvention, and enduring hope that the grand old theater will once again shine.
(Go Downtown Kenosha Magazine; Spring, 2026)
The Badger Theater building, closed, with its equipment, by 421 Main St., has been sold to Warner Bros. theaters for $50, the Bloch Furniture Co. No sale price was announced. The theater chain bought the property from the Badger Improvement Co. after operating the movie house under lease for 14 years.
For nearly a half century the building has presented offerings of the vaudeville circuit and, more recently, the movies. A landmark in Racine’s amusement history, it is one of the oldest theaters in the city.
Theater Adjoins Blochs
The building adjoins the furniture store property. Max Grust, general manager of the furniture store said there were no immediate plans to use the building as part of the store, but that the auditorium space which fronts on Lake Ave. would probably be converted into a warehouse. A 10 foot wide frontage on Main St. was the entrance and lobby of the theater.
In 1947 the building was purchased, with its equipment, for $50,000 to $55,000, according to revenue stamps attached to the deed.
Closed Since June
Originally known as the Bijou, the theater was among the first downtown vaudeville houses in Racine. It was later renamed the State and then the Badger. For many years it was operated as a movie house by the late Owen McKivett. At one time it was owned by the Fox Midwesco Theater interests.
Warner Bros. Theaters closed the building last June. It was never reopened. It is the second downtown theater to be closed, and the first which will be converted to other uses.
Announcement was made Friday of the sale of the Sheridan theatre, Seventeenth street and Sheridan road, North Chicago, to Nathan and Sylvan Slepyan of Waukegan. cash consideration was $7,500.
John Dromey, former owner of the theater, who is in charge of all bookings for Publix theater houses in Illinois and Indiana, will now devote all of his time to this branch of work. Dromey managed the North Chicago playhouse for the past several years, but his connection with the Publix company necessitated full time participation in arranging bookings for the theaters in the two states.
Sylvan Slepyan, who will manage the Sheridan theater, has been connected with the Barden department store in Kenosha for the past year and a half. Nathan Slepyan who is manager of the La Villa theater in Libertyville will continue to act in that capacity. Both boys have been residents of Waukegan for the past 10 years. (January 17, 1930)
Stanley Przlomski is the man everybody boos when the picture at the movie theater turns into a shirring blur right at the time the killer is crawling through the bedroom window with a knife towards the sleeping heroine.
Przlomski, 78, 6211 40th Ave., is a movie projectionist and he’s been at it at the Lake Theater in downtown Kenosha since 1963, and, before that, at the old Kenosha Theater next to the Dayton Hotel from 1927.
“The old Kenosha Theater is brick warehouse now,” he said. “I was the only man who was there at its opening performance in 1927 and its closing show in 1963.”
But Przlomski’s been around a movie projector longer than since 1927. He got his start in 1907 at his birthplace town of Menominee, Mich, with a 1,000-foot reel that unwound into a large metal drum below the projector.
Recalls Nickel Shows
In his youthful heyday it cost a nickel to see the 10-minute, thousand-foot reel. “That’s why they called it a nickel show,” he said.
Przylomski says there’s a lot of junk filling up the eyeballs today. He feels he’s a good judge of pictures because he’s seen a lot of junk in his day. In former days it may have been a sentimental epic with Mickey Rooney gushing over the girls. Today Przlomski says hunks of flesh do most of the contributing to the junkpile.
He won’t have to sit up in his booth looking at anything he doesn’t like anymore. Last Saturday was his last day in the booth. From now on he’ll be down with the paying customers. Maybe he’ll be there, too, when the blur wakes everybody up and the stomping begins.
Przlomski says there’s more to running a reel machine than just keeping the picture in focus.
“We keep an eye on the screen to be sure it’s in focus but we’ve got a lot of other duties to perform, too. We’ve got so many that hardly ever can we keep up with the story line,” he said. Some people pay $1.50 to sit in a soft seat and still can’t follow it. “The public thinks we just sit up there and read newspapers, I suppose,” he said.
Not A Soft Job
Even when he got his start, there was a lot more to being a projectionist than just sitting back, chewing popcorn and watching the neckers in the balcony.
In the early days when the 1,000-foot reel all uncoiled in the metal drum, Przlomski had to entertain the nickel customers while he rewound the first reel and prepared to run a second 1,000-foot segment. They really got their money’s worth in those days. He entertained them with illustrated songs on a stereopticon slide.
In a few years some genius came up with the automatic windup which meant Przlomski wouldn’t have to dig in his tub and rewind by hand the unravelled mess. “I thought the takeup would be the last word in projection,” he recalled.
The last word in film fare in that exciting era was the travelogue and the western. Prior to the 1920s the two reelers appeared. With the two-reeler, a story could be told because now there was 5,000 feet of film for a director to play with.
Remembers Bronco Bill
One of Przlomski’s two-reeler favorites was Bronco Billy Anderson. “Believe me that was a long time ago,” he said. D. W. Griffiths, with his “Birth of A Nation” classic, came along with the live orchestra, adding maturity and dimension to films. Sound in those days was provided by an orchestra in a pit and a half dozen sound men behind the transparent screen. When Bronco Billy was about to shoot on screen, a man would stand behind the screen and pull the trigger on a gun loaded with blanks. The shot would come at the same time Bronco Billy was picking the crook off his horse. It was a scenic trick. too. When the blank was fired there was a flash and it looked just like Bronco Billy’s pistol was spitting fire.
In 1919, after his World War I military service, Stan was in Kenosha looking for a job. Theater owners said they had none and back he went to Menominee. The day after he got home he got a call to get back to Kenosha. In 1927 he moved to the Kenosha Theater where he spent his best days. “We had vaudeville and film, an hour of vaudeville and an hour or an hour and half of film. There were five shows a day Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. The rest of the week there were only three, a matinee and two at night. You could sit there all day for a buck if you wanted. We had all the outstanding acts in vaudeville at the time. When I wasn’t running a film I would run the spotlight for the acts.”
Two men ran the spotlights and two the projectors. “We had two on the machines in the booth, more for safety’s sake than anything else. It was highly inflammable nitrate film and if it went, it would go up like gunpowder. When acetate tape came in one man could run the show. Acetate came in the 1950s.
Old Time Favorites
The best Przlomski saw on nitrate were John Barrymore, Charlie Chaplin, Francis X. Bushman and Beverly Bayne. If they weren’t his favorites, he still remembers Tom Mix, Hoot Gibson, William S. Hart and Blanche Sweet.
One of his favorite films was “Neptune’s Daughter” with Annette Kelleman, and a memorable series was “Million Dollar Mystery.” In the light of today’s talent, “Neptune’s Daughter” and the “Million Dollar Mystery” have a good chance at a comeback.
Przlomski says there’s a future for films but says it’s not in the bedroom. Anyway, he’s not too concerned about movies' future. He’s got his own retirement future to consider.
Some of that future is going to have Przlomski sitting in his chair late at night in front of his TV set. “Like everybody else, I’ll watch the old ones myself. It’ll be fun. I’ll get to pick out the characters I put on the screen.”
The City Council’s Finance Committee has again agreed to support a $25.2 million HUD federal loan backed by community development block grants.
Jeff Cohen, Deputy Planning and Development Commissioner said the developers couldn’t get a conventional loan because of the “risk perception” that COVID created for live entertainment venues. Also, AEG Presents, the entertainment partner, was “unfortunately being considered as a startup because it is a new entity operating in the city” even though its parent company has “been around for a long time and is the second-largest entertainment group right behind LiveNation and Ticketmaster,” Cohen said, but added “It’s worth the risk because we have high confidence in both the development team and the underlying operator to be able to perform their obligations. If we didn’t believe the commercial tenant AEG had sufficient capital or wasn’t able to perform, even if their venue doesn’t, we wouldn’t necessarily consider this,” he told the Sun-Times, and urged movement soon. “Since it’s been sitting vacant and unused, it will continue to deteriorate if we can’t move forward… This is another attempt to help move this project forward to avoid any negative outcomes in the future,” he said. Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) said “We are at the last opportunity to make this happen."
New $45,000 Northern Lakes Building Now Completed (April 9, 1927)
(Special to the Telegram.)
The new Northern Lakes building at Phelps, in which is located the Northern Lakes theater, is completed at a cost of approximately $45,000. Few towns in Wisconsin the size of Phelps can boast of such a splendid structure. The theater has a seating capacity of 350 and was almost entirely furnished through the courtesy of Balaban & Katz Theater corporation of Chicago. The building also houses the postoffice, which has been newly equipped.
(January 5, 1959) Modern Super Foodland Replacing Theater At Edgerton Next Monday
The curtain is down for the last time for Edgerton’s Charve Theatre, of which the town was very proud and went to almost limitless ends to keep in operation, but in its place is a brand new Super Foodland. It opens Monday, June 22, under the management of Bob Meyer, an Edgerton man who is realizing his dream of more than a year of giving his home town a place just as bright a spot in food as the theatre was in entertainment.
Conversion to a food market has been complete. The inclined floor and stage have been torn away and 77 loads of fill dirt, with equal gravel, were dumped to make a level floor of more than 3,000 square feet of spotless tile. The air conditioning now comes from wall ducts instead of the ceiling to keep the direct drafts away from the fresh vegetables and foods.
Two hundred feet of tubular lights inside and the neon lights in the marquee make it a bright spot in an already modernly lighted small town. On the big marquee in front will be posted the latest in foods instead of motion pictures. In the lobby is the nickel riding prancing horse for the kids. There will be a popcorn machine like in the theatre. The windows that had the colorful posters of shows to come will show the latest foods to satisfy the gourmet appetite. The only pictures now will be the large murals of farm scenes on the walls, as Edgerton is in the heart of a rich farm country.
Modern pastel colors of ivory, white and blue with 90 feet of gondola counters, large wall shelves and large freezer counters for service, self service meats, dairy goods, vegetables, frozen foods, and what not will tempt the house wives to fill those big bags at the checking counter. The large parking area, north of the theatre, will not come amiss. Hours will be from 9 to 9 on week days only. Five full time attendants will be of in spotless uniforms. The rest rooms are all repainted and brightened.
The Charve Theatre was opened in 1945 with a grand premiere of flood lights, band music and festivities that filled the house twice on a cold evening, with the temperature at zero. It was the latest in theatre design with push back seats, interior neon lighting, modern projection room and screen. In spite of the townspeople’s efforts in the last years, even to buying tickets for a year in advance, it could not combat T.V. and the slow death of the small town movie houses. Edgerton folks feel that they are again winning a battle of replacing a darkened theatre with a bright new super market.
Due to the high operating costs and low box office receipts, the Charve theatre will be closed most Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights, according to an announcement by Rhys Cook, manager.
As often as possible, live stage entertainment will be scheduled for Wednesday nights. Announcement of these events will be made in The Earth.
Edgerton Revives Theater With Advance Admissions (February 7, 1957)
‘Spirit Of Edgerton’ Rallied To Provide Entertainment In Modern Charve House
EDGERTON, O., Feb. 7 - With all the trimmings of a Hollywood opening, Edgerton’s Charve Theater will reopen to-night with 5,700 paid-in-advance admissions.
Contrary to the national trend, Edgerton refused to let its community theater remain closed after business fell off several months ago and decided that a theater in Edgerton was more than just another business firm.
So civic organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, Edgerton Garden Club, Riverside Floral Garden Club, Mothers' Club, Boy Scouts and the retail merchants division of the Chamber decided to do something about it.
They banded together and sold the advance admissions tickets as insurance for the future.
Heading the campaign was E. Cranston Poole, assisted by Richard G. Fensch, Charles Lewis, E. R. Lehman, James Hagerman and the president of each organization.
When the Charve opened its 600-seat theater 10 years ago, it featured the finest in equipment, including push-back seats, indirect lighting and air conditioning. Two capacity audiences filled the theater opening night, despite weather.
Now, Charles and Virginia Lewis, of Edgerton, have arranged to operate the theater with the backing of the community.
The Charve Theatre at Edgerton, which is now under the management of Charles Lewis, will be taken over by Rhys Cook and Richard Beals, who will have their first show, “Day of Triumph,” a religious picture, on Wednesday, February 5.
Mr. Cook is a student at Tri-State College, in Angola, and Mr. Beals, who has had 15 years experience in the operation of moving picture houses, is from Sherwood. There had been rumors that the Charve might be closed, and taking over the business by the new management assures continued operation.
Entertainment Goal Set By New Operators (February 6, 1958)
Beals And Cook To Book Own Movies, Passes Good
Richard Beals and Rhys Cook have promised attraetive entertainment in one of the finest theatre houses in Northwest Ohio as new operators of the Charve Theatre.
The two young men began their work last night (Wednesday). Their first film is “Day of Triumph,” a religious picture, which runs through Saturday.
The new operators will select and order their own films, taking only those films they believe will be acceptable in Edgerton.
They have begun a concerted of physical clean-up campaign in the building to brighten its appearance, both inside and out. The marquis neon sign is being repaired and will be lighted soon.
The box office will be used again. It will open at 6:45 weeknights and 2:15 Sunday afternoons. A kiddies matinee, sponsored by the merchants of Edgerton, will be shown at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoons. Parents have been invited to bring their children to the movie while the adults shop.
Inside, repainting has lightened the lobby and lounges. The heating plant has been reworked and is operating efficiently.
The wide screen has been moved back to provide stage room of live presentations. The first of these features will be Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 7:48 р.m. when the Edgerton high school band will play a half-hour concert. “The Quiet Man” will follow the band concert.
Beals and Cook announced early this week that they will honor the $25 season passes sold last year for a 30-day period, beginning Feb. 9.
Charve Theatre Being Renovated, Opens Feb. 5 With Special Film
EDGERTON- The Charve Theatre is being given a complete interior renovation, including cleaning from stem to stern, readying it for operation by new management of Rhys Cook, of Edgerton, and Richard Beals, of Sherwood.
Rest rooms have been repainted and the heating plant reconditioned to give a comfortable temperature for patrons at all times. The neon lighting in the interior has been restored, which with the push-back seats and modern interior has made it one of the most beautiful small town theatres in northwestern Ohio. The giant screen has been moved back to provide ample stage for music specialties, etc.
“The Day of Triumph” a great religious picture of the adult life of Jesus, will be the opening feature of the new management Wednesday evening, Feb. 5, at 7 p.m. and this picture will continue Thursday, Friday and Saturday of that week. The picture has had advance screening for the clergy and church leaders of the area.
Edgerton is solidly back of the new operators in having the theatre kept open of which all are proud. The merchants of Edgerton are having a Saturday afternoon free matinee for the kiddies. Their elders may accompany them free. This will be a special show for the kids and will not include the feature.
A year ago a civic drive sold many advance tickets good for a year to public spirited people who were interested in keeping the theatre open. Even though these will have expired, the new management will honor the unused portions of these tickets for thirty days, starting Feb. 9, with their compliments
Other things planned for the theatre are amateur nights, special rural features and appearances of the Edgerton high school band in February. This will be a half-hour concert under the direction of L. E. McBain, director of the music department. The orchestra pit has been refurbished for this performance. The theatre will be open seven nights a week. (January 29, 1958)
(Feb. 05, 1957) Charve Theatre At Edgerton To Reopen Thursday
EDGERTON - The Charve Theatre will re-open on Thursday evening with over 5,700 paid in advance admissions as a result of a drive by all civic groups, the Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, the Edgerton Garden Club, Riverside Floral Club, Mothers Club, Boy Scouts and others.
The general committee in charge was headed by E. Cranston Poole, assisted by Richard G. Fensch, Charles Lewis, E. R. Lehman, James Hagerman, the Retail Merchants Division and the president of each participating organization.
Ten years ago, Edgerton opened this brand new theatre with push back seats and the finest of equipment, said by those in the theatre business to be one of the finest small town theatres between South Bend and Toledo. The original opening was like a big town premiere with flood lights, school band, microphone announcement of guests, etc. At zero weather, two capacity audiences were entertained.
A couple of months ago, like many small town theatres, it was forced to close its doors, to the regret of all Edgerton.
Charles and Virginia Lewis of Edgerton will manage the theatre and many innovations are planned. Mrs. Lewis has done much community work in theatrical productions for recreation day, polio drives, etc., and is well fitted to help in the new operation.
So, Thursday evening, the band will again head the “first nighters” to the reopened Charve with big screen, stereophonic sound, and the spirit of a town that refuses to have its theatre closed.
The people of Edgerton have watched the beautiful new Charve Theatre go up block by block and beam by beam and have cheered the courage of the men responsible for it. In spite of hundreds of difficulties and shortages these men waded through red tape and impossible situations to bring to reality a dream that they had and which they were bound and determined to make come true. The Charve theatre will give Edgerton an amusement enterprise comparable to the biggest and best theatres in America. Every device and modern improvement known to theatre science has been incorporated in the new building. Owners and managers of the new theatre are making big plans for a regular Hollywood Premier First Night, details of which will be carried in the Earth.
It might be mentioned here that the principal comfort and service features of the New Charve Theatre will in clude the famous Push-Back seat, a revolutionary seating improvement eliminating standing to let others pass. Modern heating and air conditioning. The plastic motion picture screen, a revelation in light projection, “Voice of the Theatre” sound now being installed in the Roxy, New York. Courteous uniformed attendants, lounge room for men and women and free parking for patrons. Contracts are now being made with the leading motion picture producers for the exhibition of the finest features in the new Charve theatre. Changes of pictures and price policy will be announced later.
The Charve treater will reopen tonight (Thursday, Feb. 7) at 7:30 p.m. with approximately 5,000 tickets sold in advance as an expression of support and faith in the future of motion picture entertainment.
The advance sales, in the form of cards worth 52 admissions to the theatre, were made through the combined effort of Virginia and Charles Lewis, the new operators of the theatre, the Edgerton Chamber of Commerce, Garden club, Riverside Floral club, Rotary club, Mothers' club, Boy Scouts, retail merchants and other civic groups.
The opening will be saluted by a short parade led by portions of the Edgerton high stool band, including a caravan of automobiles which will begin at the band shell and proceed to the theatre.
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have promised to work hard to keep the theatre open. They also have pledged themselves to offering only family entertainment. They wil show non-controversial films.
The General committee in charge of the advance ticket campaign was E C. Poole. He was assisted by Mr. Lewis, R. G. Fensch, E. R. Lehman, Jim Hagerman and the presidents of organizations named above.
The 500-seat Charve was opened ten years ago. It has some of the finest equipment, including push-back seats, indirect lighting, air-conditioning, cinemascope and stereophonic sound.
The theatre is one of the finest small town movie houses in this Tri-State area.
Tonight’s feature will be “You Can’t Run Away From It,” with June Allyson and Jack Lemmon.
The Charve theater in Edgerton will close its doors after the regular feature run Saturday, Nov. 24, Herbert Kruse, manager announced Monday afternoon.
The movie house has been in operation since Jan., 1947.
Mr. Kruse said, “We would like to thank the faithful movie goers of Edgerton for their patronage.
Kruse’s plans for the future are indefinite. He did not announce plans for the building in which the theater operated.
Wednesday at 6:30 p. m. following three blasts from the fire siren, signaled the formal opening of Edgerton’s new Charve theatre, an occasion of which theatrical fans had long been waiting.
Prior to the opening of the theatre a column of people in double formation extending for nearly a block were in line.
Edgerton was all set to welcome all comers. Stores were open and window decorations were appropriate to the occasion. Merchants vied with one another in co-operating with special features.
Cars were parked in close formation on Michigan Avenue from the New York Central Ry. tracks north for several blocks. There was middle parking on Michigan Avenue. Officer Sarver and his deputies handled the traffic in an orderly manner.
With the galaxy of colored lights in cluster formation the town took on the appearance of a boulevard. A streamer, “Welcome to Charve” linked with electric light poles on either side of the street north of the monument hung suspended and made visitors feel at home.
Donald D. Day, whose voice carried over a loud speaker, talked to the crowd explaining the plans previously outlined to direct the overflow, such as crossing the street to the Fisher Implement Co. building where entertainment was provided with music by the Edgerton High School Band while waiting for the second show. Mrs. Robert Swift presided at the ticket booth.
Shirley Kruse, Madilyn Miller and Jean Poole, in formals, were stationed in the lobby and handed a carnation to each lady patron.
Alton Fisher and Phillip Emanuel, in regulation uniform, were ushers. Mrs. Delores Riter dispensed popcorn.
Louis Ortstadt, who was the oldest resident present, 87, was presented with a liberal supply of admission tickets to the theatre.
Mr. and Mrs. H. L. Poole and Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Lewis, who were the eldest married couples were singled out and given a present. Mr. Poole and Mr. Lewis are both 81.
On the screen was “The Bachelor’s Daughters,” starring Gail Russell, Adolphe Menjou and Claire Trevor. On the stage were radio stars direct from A.B.C. network, in person, Nancy Lee and the famous Hilltoppers. Robert Whitaker’s orchestra.
At a matinee in the afternoon all school children were admitted free.
This performance was financed by the Edgerton Business Men’s Association. About 650 were in attendance and the theatre was filled to overflow.
Mr. Robert Whitaker, acting as chairman, introduced the mayor of the town, H. J. Herman, who in his talk welcomed the Charve, a theatre that Edgerton had been wanting for a long time. He was glad two enterprising men, H. L. Kruse and R. T. Priest, were citizens of Edgerton. The chairman then introduced H. L. Kruse and R. T. Priest, sponsors of the new theatre.
Mr. Kruse said he was happy that he was privileged to build a new theatre in a town where the citizens were so appreciative and cooperative.
In his remarks Mr. Priest assured the public the management would do everything in its power to present at all times the best shows and entertainment possible.
In the main entrance and on the stage, a profusion of flowers were displayed, contributions of the business men and other organizations.
There were approximately 1200 paid admissions.
DISTRIBUTE BILLS BY PLANE
Leo Dietsch and Quentin Miller distributed hand bills by plane Wedneaday announcing the opening of Edgerton’s new Charve Theatre. All neighboring towns in this area were visited.
(January 23, 1947)
Edgerton’s new Charve Theater which is nearing completion is 48x130, cinder block construction, 35 feet high, modern design, finished in white with all-neon marquee sign in colors. Ceiling is acoustic soundtone, finished in pastel blue, side walls decorated with ornamental plastic and panels and neon lighting system. The walls will be decorated in positive colors in gold trim. Chairs will be of turquoise blue and Kroehler pushback type, the very latest and most modern, making it unnecessary for seated patrons to rise to make way for others entering or leaving seats during the show. The latest and best equipment in sound effect and projection is being installed. Curtains and draperies are of heavy velvet with colors to harmonize, handled mechanically, and are fire proof. Building will be heated by combination of air and low pressure steam, using oil for fuel forced air conditioning for heating and cooling. All heat and fresh air will be automatically controlled. Seating capacity is 600. The sponsors will bend every energy to live up to the slogan, “America’s Greatest Small Town Theater.” Sidewalks will extend to the curb with provision allowed for landscaping. Stage is built large enough for personal appearances with orchestra pit to accommodate an average orchestra. This outstanding theater will be open in a few weeks. Theater will provide its own well-lighted parking lot for Charve patrons. Only the best shows will be provided. (October 3, 1946)
Raymond Nebrick, 344 Exchange St., Geneva, driver for Smith and Howell film distributors, called Phelps police when he found an intruder at the Phelps Theater early Sunday when he stopped to pick up films.
Sleeping in the back of the theater was Frederick Charles Downey, 20, Newark, who was home on leave from the Navy. He said he became confused and did not remember breaking in and ransacking the theater.
He was arrested by Phelps Police Chief Harold Murphy who discovered that he had a towel wrapped around him containing a sum of money taken from vending machines in the lobby.
POPLAR BLUFF, Me., June 2.-I. W. Rodgers of this city has secured control of practically the entire moving picture business in Cairo, Ill., adding three theaters to the string of theaters in Missouri that he now owns. The deal at the neighboring city was consummated with H. B. McFarland, owner of the Tokio Theater at Morehouse. It includes the outright purchase of the Gem Theater, Cairo’s largest moving picture and vaudeville house. Leases standing were secured on the Cairo Opera House, the largest and best legitimate stage house between Memphis and St. Louis, and the Kimmel Theater, the handsomest theater in Southern Illinois. The string of theaters that Mr. Rodgers owns controlling Interest in are the Criterion, at Poplar Bluff; the Cairo Opera House, the Gem Theater, Cairo; the Kimmel Theater, Cairo: the Fraternal, Poplar Bluff; the New Grand, Hope, Ark.; the Dixie and the Liberty, Caruthersville, Mo., and an interest from the co-partnership in Mr. McFarland’s theater in Morehouse, the Tokio. Rodgers is indeed a pioneer in the picture game. He is one of the first three men in the United States who introduced moving pictures 24 years ago.
(Excerpted from the CHICAGO READER, March 30, 2007, Section One, P.4 “A Hundred Furnished Rooms, an architectural history of Uptown” by Lynn Becker) - The challenges facing historic Uptown may best be represented, however, in its great namesake monument, the Uptown Theatre, dating from 1925. Constructed at a cost of $4 million in a deliriously eclectic style that a contemporary reporter called “Spanish Mexican Renaissance,” it covers 46,000 square feet (most of a city block), stands eight stories high, and seats 4,300. By the end of its first decade, nearly 20 million people had passed through the 213-foot-long lobby, which is terminated by a curving double stair and lined with twin colonnades rising to a 92-foot-high ceiling. As detailed in The Chicago Movie Palaces of Balaban and Katz by David Balaban, namesake grand-son of the Uptown’s manager, the theater occupied a rare moment of shared democracy, where anyone with a quarter or 50 cents could spend a couple hours steeped in the sort of luxury usually reserved for the ultrarich, attended to by a small army arrayed in at least eight different styles of uniforms, designating every station from floor manager to page boy to footman. So as not to disturb the patrons, ushers had to master a complex set of hand signals to manage the huge crowds.
By the 1960s, of course, we had begun opting for a no-frills, self-service, lowest-price world. Blitzed by free TV, the great movie palaces crashed into dust. The Uptown held on, finally closing for good in 1981. The heat was turned off soon after, and in the dead of winter the water pipes froze and burst, causing massive damage. It’s gone downhill ever since. The theater has passed through multiple owners, including convicted slumlord Lou Wolf, who once owned the Goldblatt’s block, and is currently in receivership. Recently the city picked up the tab for $500,000 in emergency repairs, removing some large, unstable chunks of terra-cotta before they simply fell to the street. Despite the ongoing efforts of activists committed to saving this official Chicago landmark, the Uptown remains boarded up and forlorn. Just before the February election, the 48th Ward alderman Mary Ann Smith told Windy City Times that a “premier developer” had signed a contract to restore the theater but declined to divulge the company’s name.
(May 27, 1955) El Paso Children Escape Unhurt In Theater Fire
Three hundred and fifty grade school children were led to safety at 11:30 a. m. Thursday when fire broke out in the projection booth of the El Paso Theater. The children were attending a free show at the theater as part of their end of the school year activities.
Speedy Exit
Don Rist, co-manager of the theater, saw smoke coming from the projector and sped downstairs to warn H. B. Tate, superintendent of schools. Edward Heiken, principal of the Jefferson Park School in El Paso, gave orders for the 12 teachers present to lead their pupils out. Most of the youngsters were on the sidewalk before they knew what had happened. The El Paso Fire Department quickly extinguished the blaze.
Projector Damaged
Bill Fever, who was operating the projector, said the film broke and snapped against a carbon arc. One reel of the film was destroyed and the lens and the projector were damaged. In addition to the El Paso pupils, classes were present from the Secor and Spring Hill schools. A show for another group of children, scheduled for Thursday afternoon, has been cancelled.
Flashback - Seeing the great potential at the Orpheum
The Orpheum Theatre has stood at the heart of downtown Kenosha for more than a century. In 1922, Kenosha would gain a true “movie palace” that reflected both civic ambition and cultural pride. That ambition was largely driven by brothers Edward and Fred Dayton, prominent local businessmen. After Edward returned from World War I, he believed Kenosha needed major institutions - a luxury hotel and a world-class theater - to compete with Milwaukee and Chicago.
Though their hotel plans initially stalled, the Daytons re-entered the theater business and, with partners, built the Orpheum Theatre at a cost of $400.000. It opened on March 14, 1922, dazzling audiences with a lavish French Renaissance interior that contrasted sharply with its modest exterior; gold accents, velvet drapes, silk wallpaper, and a $20,000 Barton organ made the Orpheum Kenosha’s first true movie palace.
From the start, the Orpheum positioned itself as both a cultural and moral force. Management promised family-friendly programming and emphasized modern ventilation systems in the wake of the recent Spanish Flu pandemic. The opening night featured the U.S.. debut of “Smiling Through”, and the theater soon hosted silent films, vaudeville, roadshows, and later sound pictures.
By 1924, the Orpheum building was described as “a veritable city in itself, housing shops, offices, studios, and services alongside the theater.” Ownership and management shifted repeatedly over the decades. Fox Theaters briefly renamed it the Lake Theatre, but the Orpheum name returned in 1933 with a lavish gala complete with celebrity impersonators.
A flashback to the glory days of the Orpheum Theater Is teased in the 1999 film “The Great Ride”
Through the 1940s and 1950s, the Orpheum adapted to changing tastes, hosting talent competitions, special promotions, celebrity appearances, and community events even as television began drawing audiences away. Creative gimmicks, from free kitchen utensils to midnight “Voodoo Parties,” were used to keep seats filled.
By the 1960s, downtown Kenosha faced broader challenges. Traffic changes, youth culture, and suburban shopping centers threatened traditional businesses. Longtime manager Wallace Konrad became a vocal advocate for downtown vitality before retiring in 1967.
Despite successful runs like “The Sound of Music”, the theater increasingly struggled. Crime incidents, aging infrastructure, and shifts toward adult programming marked the late 1960s and early 1970s. By 1975, after United Artists stepped away and owner Bernie Chulew purchased the building, the Orpheum closed as a movie theater.
New owners continued to see potential in the Orpheum. Developers rehabilitated store fronts and offices, while community figures kept its spirit alive through art shows and events. In 1988, a brief but legendary rebirth as a concert venue brought punk. metal, and alternative acts including the Smashing Pumpkins to its stage, cementing the Orpheum’s place in local music lore.
The building endured years of uncertainty and narrowly escaped demolition in the early 1990s thanks to preservationists like Lou Rugani and Merike Phillips. Declared a local landmark in 1993, the Orpheum was renovated and triumphantly reopened in 1996 as a budget cinema, though that revival was short-lived, ending in closure by 2000.
Though the theater remains dark today, its story mirrors Kenosha Itself: cycles of ambition, decline, reinvention, and enduring hope that the grand old theater will once again shine. (Go Downtown Kenosha Magazine; Spring, 2026)
(RACINE JOURNAL-TIMES, Friday, March 21, 1952)
Bloch Furniture Buys Badger Theater Building
The Badger Theater building, closed, with its equipment, by 421 Main St., has been sold to Warner Bros. theaters for $50, the Bloch Furniture Co. No sale price was announced. The theater chain bought the property from the Badger Improvement Co. after operating the movie house under lease for 14 years.
For nearly a half century the building has presented offerings of the vaudeville circuit and, more recently, the movies. A landmark in Racine’s amusement history, it is one of the oldest theaters in the city.
Theater Adjoins Blochs
The building adjoins the furniture store property. Max Grust, general manager of the furniture store said there were no immediate plans to use the building as part of the store, but that the auditorium space which fronts on Lake Ave. would probably be converted into a warehouse. A 10 foot wide frontage on Main St. was the entrance and lobby of the theater.
In 1947 the building was purchased, with its equipment, for $50,000 to $55,000, according to revenue stamps attached to the deed.
Closed Since June
Originally known as the Bijou, the theater was among the first downtown vaudeville houses in Racine. It was later renamed the State and then the Badger. For many years it was operated as a movie house by the late Owen McKivett. At one time it was owned by the Fox Midwesco Theater interests.
Warner Bros. Theaters closed the building last June. It was never reopened. It is the second downtown theater to be closed, and the first which will be converted to other uses.
SHERIDAN SHOW HOUSE IS SOLD
Announcement was made Friday of the sale of the Sheridan theatre, Seventeenth street and Sheridan road, North Chicago, to Nathan and Sylvan Slepyan of Waukegan. cash consideration was $7,500.
John Dromey, former owner of the theater, who is in charge of all bookings for Publix theater houses in Illinois and Indiana, will now devote all of his time to this branch of work. Dromey managed the North Chicago playhouse for the past several years, but his connection with the Publix company necessitated full time participation in arranging bookings for the theaters in the two states.
Sylvan Slepyan, who will manage the Sheridan theater, has been connected with the Barden department store in Kenosha for the past year and a half. Nathan Slepyan who is manager of the La Villa theater in Libertyville will continue to act in that capacity. Both boys have been residents of Waukegan for the past 10 years. (January 17, 1930)
10 Tuesday, January 2, 1973,
KENOSHA NEWS
Ends movie projectionist career begun in 1907
By JERRY KUYPER Kenosha News Staff Writer
Stanley Przlomski is the man everybody boos when the picture at the movie theater turns into a shirring blur right at the time the killer is crawling through the bedroom window with a knife towards the sleeping heroine.
Przlomski, 78, 6211 40th Ave., is a movie projectionist and he’s been at it at the Lake Theater in downtown Kenosha since 1963, and, before that, at the old Kenosha Theater next to the Dayton Hotel from 1927.
“The old Kenosha Theater is brick warehouse now,” he said. “I was the only man who was there at its opening performance in 1927 and its closing show in 1963.”
But Przlomski’s been around a movie projector longer than since 1927. He got his start in 1907 at his birthplace town of Menominee, Mich, with a 1,000-foot reel that unwound into a large metal drum below the projector.
Recalls Nickel Shows
In his youthful heyday it cost a nickel to see the 10-minute, thousand-foot reel. “That’s why they called it a nickel show,” he said.
Przylomski says there’s a lot of junk filling up the eyeballs today. He feels he’s a good judge of pictures because he’s seen a lot of junk in his day. In former days it may have been a sentimental epic with Mickey Rooney gushing over the girls. Today Przlomski says hunks of flesh do most of the contributing to the junkpile.
He won’t have to sit up in his booth looking at anything he doesn’t like anymore. Last Saturday was his last day in the booth. From now on he’ll be down with the paying customers. Maybe he’ll be there, too, when the blur wakes everybody up and the stomping begins.
Przlomski says there’s more to running a reel machine than just keeping the picture in focus.
“We keep an eye on the screen to be sure it’s in focus but we’ve got a lot of other duties to perform, too. We’ve got so many that hardly ever can we keep up with the story line,” he said. Some people pay $1.50 to sit in a soft seat and still can’t follow it. “The public thinks we just sit up there and read newspapers, I suppose,” he said.
Not A Soft Job
Even when he got his start, there was a lot more to being a projectionist than just sitting back, chewing popcorn and watching the neckers in the balcony.
In the early days when the 1,000-foot reel all uncoiled in the metal drum, Przlomski had to entertain the nickel customers while he rewound the first reel and prepared to run a second 1,000-foot segment. They really got their money’s worth in those days. He entertained them with illustrated songs on a stereopticon slide.
In a few years some genius came up with the automatic windup which meant Przlomski wouldn’t have to dig in his tub and rewind by hand the unravelled mess. “I thought the takeup would be the last word in projection,” he recalled.
The last word in film fare in that exciting era was the travelogue and the western. Prior to the 1920s the two reelers appeared. With the two-reeler, a story could be told because now there was 5,000 feet of film for a director to play with.
Remembers Bronco Bill
One of Przlomski’s two-reeler favorites was Bronco Billy Anderson. “Believe me that was a long time ago,” he said. D. W. Griffiths, with his “Birth of A Nation” classic, came along with the live orchestra, adding maturity and dimension to films. Sound in those days was provided by an orchestra in a pit and a half dozen sound men behind the transparent screen. When Bronco Billy was about to shoot on screen, a man would stand behind the screen and pull the trigger on a gun loaded with blanks. The shot would come at the same time Bronco Billy was picking the crook off his horse. It was a scenic trick. too. When the blank was fired there was a flash and it looked just like Bronco Billy’s pistol was spitting fire.
In 1919, after his World War I military service, Stan was in Kenosha looking for a job. Theater owners said they had none and back he went to Menominee. The day after he got home he got a call to get back to Kenosha. In 1927 he moved to the Kenosha Theater where he spent his best days. “We had vaudeville and film, an hour of vaudeville and an hour or an hour and half of film. There were five shows a day Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. The rest of the week there were only three, a matinee and two at night. You could sit there all day for a buck if you wanted. We had all the outstanding acts in vaudeville at the time. When I wasn’t running a film I would run the spotlight for the acts.”
Two men ran the spotlights and two the projectors. “We had two on the machines in the booth, more for safety’s sake than anything else. It was highly inflammable nitrate film and if it went, it would go up like gunpowder. When acetate tape came in one man could run the show. Acetate came in the 1950s.
Old Time Favorites
The best Przlomski saw on nitrate were John Barrymore, Charlie Chaplin, Francis X. Bushman and Beverly Bayne. If they weren’t his favorites, he still remembers Tom Mix, Hoot Gibson, William S. Hart and Blanche Sweet.
One of his favorite films was “Neptune’s Daughter” with Annette Kelleman, and a memorable series was “Million Dollar Mystery.” In the light of today’s talent, “Neptune’s Daughter” and the “Million Dollar Mystery” have a good chance at a comeback.
Przlomski says there’s a future for films but says it’s not in the bedroom. Anyway, he’s not too concerned about movies' future. He’s got his own retirement future to consider.
Some of that future is going to have Przlomski sitting in his chair late at night in front of his TV set. “Like everybody else, I’ll watch the old ones myself. It’ll be fun. I’ll get to pick out the characters I put on the screen.”
The City Council’s Finance Committee has again agreed to support a $25.2 million HUD federal loan backed by community development block grants. Jeff Cohen, Deputy Planning and Development Commissioner said the developers couldn’t get a conventional loan because of the “risk perception” that COVID created for live entertainment venues. Also, AEG Presents, the entertainment partner, was “unfortunately being considered as a startup because it is a new entity operating in the city” even though its parent company has “been around for a long time and is the second-largest entertainment group right behind LiveNation and Ticketmaster,” Cohen said, but added “It’s worth the risk because we have high confidence in both the development team and the underlying operator to be able to perform their obligations. If we didn’t believe the commercial tenant AEG had sufficient capital or wasn’t able to perform, even if their venue doesn’t, we wouldn’t necessarily consider this,” he told the Sun-Times, and urged movement soon. “Since it’s been sitting vacant and unused, it will continue to deteriorate if we can’t move forward… This is another attempt to help move this project forward to avoid any negative outcomes in the future,” he said. Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) said “We are at the last opportunity to make this happen."
New $45,000 Northern Lakes Building Now Completed (April 9, 1927) (Special to the Telegram.)
The new Northern Lakes building at Phelps, in which is located the Northern Lakes theater, is completed at a cost of approximately $45,000. Few towns in Wisconsin the size of Phelps can boast of such a splendid structure. The theater has a seating capacity of 350 and was almost entirely furnished through the courtesy of Balaban & Katz Theater corporation of Chicago. The building also houses the postoffice, which has been newly equipped.
(January 5, 1959) Modern Super Foodland Replacing Theater At Edgerton Next Monday
The curtain is down for the last time for Edgerton’s Charve Theatre, of which the town was very proud and went to almost limitless ends to keep in operation, but in its place is a brand new Super Foodland. It opens Monday, June 22, under the management of Bob Meyer, an Edgerton man who is realizing his dream of more than a year of giving his home town a place just as bright a spot in food as the theatre was in entertainment.
Conversion to a food market has been complete. The inclined floor and stage have been torn away and 77 loads of fill dirt, with equal gravel, were dumped to make a level floor of more than 3,000 square feet of spotless tile. The air conditioning now comes from wall ducts instead of the ceiling to keep the direct drafts away from the fresh vegetables and foods.
Two hundred feet of tubular lights inside and the neon lights in the marquee make it a bright spot in an already modernly lighted small town. On the big marquee in front will be posted the latest in foods instead of motion pictures. In the lobby is the nickel riding prancing horse for the kids. There will be a popcorn machine like in the theatre. The windows that had the colorful posters of shows to come will show the latest foods to satisfy the gourmet appetite. The only pictures now will be the large murals of farm scenes on the walls, as Edgerton is in the heart of a rich farm country.
Modern pastel colors of ivory, white and blue with 90 feet of gondola counters, large wall shelves and large freezer counters for service, self service meats, dairy goods, vegetables, frozen foods, and what not will tempt the house wives to fill those big bags at the checking counter. The large parking area, north of the theatre, will not come amiss. Hours will be from 9 to 9 on week days only. Five full time attendants will be of in spotless uniforms. The rest rooms are all repainted and brightened.
The Charve Theatre was opened in 1945 with a grand premiere of flood lights, band music and festivities that filled the house twice on a cold evening, with the temperature at zero. It was the latest in theatre design with push back seats, interior neon lighting, modern projection room and screen. In spite of the townspeople’s efforts in the last years, even to buying tickets for a year in advance, it could not combat T.V. and the slow death of the small town movie houses. Edgerton folks feel that they are again winning a battle of replacing a darkened theatre with a bright new super market.
Charve Theatre Closed Monday (March 27, 1958)
Rhys Cook of Edgerton announced Tuesday morning that the Charve theatre had been closed at the end of the regular run Monday night.
Mr. Cook said scant box office receipts and high operating costs forced the closing.
Charve Closes In Mid-Weeks (March 13, 1958)
Due to the high operating costs and low box office receipts, the Charve theatre will be closed most Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights, according to an announcement by Rhys Cook, manager.
As often as possible, live stage entertainment will be scheduled for Wednesday nights. Announcement of these events will be made in The Earth.
Edgerton Revives Theater With Advance Admissions (February 7, 1957)
‘Spirit Of Edgerton’ Rallied To Provide Entertainment In Modern Charve House
EDGERTON, O., Feb. 7 - With all the trimmings of a Hollywood opening, Edgerton’s Charve Theater will reopen to-night with 5,700 paid-in-advance admissions.
Contrary to the national trend, Edgerton refused to let its community theater remain closed after business fell off several months ago and decided that a theater in Edgerton was more than just another business firm.
So civic organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, Edgerton Garden Club, Riverside Floral Garden Club, Mothers' Club, Boy Scouts and the retail merchants division of the Chamber decided to do something about it.
They banded together and sold the advance admissions tickets as insurance for the future.
Heading the campaign was E. Cranston Poole, assisted by Richard G. Fensch, Charles Lewis, E. R. Lehman, James Hagerman and the president of each organization.
When the Charve opened its 600-seat theater 10 years ago, it featured the finest in equipment, including push-back seats, indirect lighting and air conditioning. Two capacity audiences filled the theater opening night, despite weather.
Now, Charles and Virginia Lewis, of Edgerton, have arranged to operate the theater with the backing of the community.
Behind them is the “spirit of Edgerton.”
New Managers To Operate Charve (January 22, 1958)
The Charve Theatre at Edgerton, which is now under the management of Charles Lewis, will be taken over by Rhys Cook and Richard Beals, who will have their first show, “Day of Triumph,” a religious picture, on Wednesday, February 5.
Mr. Cook is a student at Tri-State College, in Angola, and Mr. Beals, who has had 15 years experience in the operation of moving picture houses, is from Sherwood. There had been rumors that the Charve might be closed, and taking over the business by the new management assures continued operation.
Entertainment Goal Set By New Operators (February 6, 1958)
Beals And Cook To Book Own Movies, Passes Good
Richard Beals and Rhys Cook have promised attraetive entertainment in one of the finest theatre houses in Northwest Ohio as new operators of the Charve Theatre.
The two young men began their work last night (Wednesday). Their first film is “Day of Triumph,” a religious picture, which runs through Saturday.
The new operators will select and order their own films, taking only those films they believe will be acceptable in Edgerton.
They have begun a concerted of physical clean-up campaign in the building to brighten its appearance, both inside and out. The marquis neon sign is being repaired and will be lighted soon.
The box office will be used again. It will open at 6:45 weeknights and 2:15 Sunday afternoons. A kiddies matinee, sponsored by the merchants of Edgerton, will be shown at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoons. Parents have been invited to bring their children to the movie while the adults shop.
Inside, repainting has lightened the lobby and lounges. The heating plant has been reworked and is operating efficiently.
The wide screen has been moved back to provide stage room of live presentations. The first of these features will be Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 7:48 р.m. when the Edgerton high school band will play a half-hour concert. “The Quiet Man” will follow the band concert.
Beals and Cook announced early this week that they will honor the $25 season passes sold last year for a 30-day period, beginning Feb. 9.
The theatre will be open seven nights a week.
Charve Theatre Being Renovated, Opens Feb. 5 With Special Film
EDGERTON- The Charve Theatre is being given a complete interior renovation, including cleaning from stem to stern, readying it for operation by new management of Rhys Cook, of Edgerton, and Richard Beals, of Sherwood.
Rest rooms have been repainted and the heating plant reconditioned to give a comfortable temperature for patrons at all times. The neon lighting in the interior has been restored, which with the push-back seats and modern interior has made it one of the most beautiful small town theatres in northwestern Ohio. The giant screen has been moved back to provide ample stage for music specialties, etc.
“The Day of Triumph” a great religious picture of the adult life of Jesus, will be the opening feature of the new management Wednesday evening, Feb. 5, at 7 p.m. and this picture will continue Thursday, Friday and Saturday of that week. The picture has had advance screening for the clergy and church leaders of the area.
Edgerton is solidly back of the new operators in having the theatre kept open of which all are proud. The merchants of Edgerton are having a Saturday afternoon free matinee for the kiddies. Their elders may accompany them free. This will be a special show for the kids and will not include the feature.
A year ago a civic drive sold many advance tickets good for a year to public spirited people who were interested in keeping the theatre open. Even though these will have expired, the new management will honor the unused portions of these tickets for thirty days, starting Feb. 9, with their compliments
Other things planned for the theatre are amateur nights, special rural features and appearances of the Edgerton high school band in February. This will be a half-hour concert under the direction of L. E. McBain, director of the music department. The orchestra pit has been refurbished for this performance. The theatre will be open seven nights a week. (January 29, 1958)
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(Feb. 05, 1957) Charve Theatre At Edgerton To Reopen Thursday
EDGERTON - The Charve Theatre will re-open on Thursday evening with over 5,700 paid in advance admissions as a result of a drive by all civic groups, the Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, the Edgerton Garden Club, Riverside Floral Club, Mothers Club, Boy Scouts and others.
The general committee in charge was headed by E. Cranston Poole, assisted by Richard G. Fensch, Charles Lewis, E. R. Lehman, James Hagerman, the Retail Merchants Division and the president of each participating organization.
Ten years ago, Edgerton opened this brand new theatre with push back seats and the finest of equipment, said by those in the theatre business to be one of the finest small town theatres between South Bend and Toledo. The original opening was like a big town premiere with flood lights, school band, microphone announcement of guests, etc. At zero weather, two capacity audiences were entertained.
A couple of months ago, like many small town theatres, it was forced to close its doors, to the regret of all Edgerton.
Charles and Virginia Lewis of Edgerton will manage the theatre and many innovations are planned. Mrs. Lewis has done much community work in theatrical productions for recreation day, polio drives, etc., and is well fitted to help in the new operation.
So, Thursday evening, the band will again head the “first nighters” to the reopened Charve with big screen, stereophonic sound, and the spirit of a town that refuses to have its theatre closed.
CHARVE THEATRE TO OPEN SOON (1/9/1947)
The people of Edgerton have watched the beautiful new Charve Theatre go up block by block and beam by beam and have cheered the courage of the men responsible for it. In spite of hundreds of difficulties and shortages these men waded through red tape and impossible situations to bring to reality a dream that they had and which they were bound and determined to make come true. The Charve theatre will give Edgerton an amusement enterprise comparable to the biggest and best theatres in America. Every device and modern improvement known to theatre science has been incorporated in the new building. Owners and managers of the new theatre are making big plans for a regular Hollywood Premier First Night, details of which will be carried in the Earth.
It might be mentioned here that the principal comfort and service features of the New Charve Theatre will in clude the famous Push-Back seat, a revolutionary seating improvement eliminating standing to let others pass. Modern heating and air conditioning. The plastic motion picture screen, a revelation in light projection, “Voice of the Theatre” sound now being installed in the Roxy, New York. Courteous uniformed attendants, lounge room for men and women and free parking for patrons. Contracts are now being made with the leading motion picture producers for the exhibition of the finest features in the new Charve theatre. Changes of pictures and price policy will be announced later.
Tonight Is Night! Charve Re-Opens (1957)
The Charve treater will reopen tonight (Thursday, Feb. 7) at 7:30 p.m. with approximately 5,000 tickets sold in advance as an expression of support and faith in the future of motion picture entertainment.
The advance sales, in the form of cards worth 52 admissions to the theatre, were made through the combined effort of Virginia and Charles Lewis, the new operators of the theatre, the Edgerton Chamber of Commerce, Garden club, Riverside Floral club, Rotary club, Mothers' club, Boy Scouts, retail merchants and other civic groups.
The opening will be saluted by a short parade led by portions of the Edgerton high stool band, including a caravan of automobiles which will begin at the band shell and proceed to the theatre.
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have promised to work hard to keep the theatre open. They also have pledged themselves to offering only family entertainment. They wil show non-controversial films.
The General committee in charge of the advance ticket campaign was E C. Poole. He was assisted by Mr. Lewis, R. G. Fensch, E. R. Lehman, Jim Hagerman and the presidents of organizations named above.
The 500-seat Charve was opened ten years ago. It has some of the finest equipment, including push-back seats, indirect lighting, air-conditioning, cinemascope and stereophonic sound.
The theatre is one of the finest small town movie houses in this Tri-State area.
Tonight’s feature will be “You Can’t Run Away From It,” with June Allyson and Jack Lemmon.
Charve Theatre To Close Nov. 24
The Charve theater in Edgerton will close its doors after the regular feature run Saturday, Nov. 24, Herbert Kruse, manager announced Monday afternoon.
The movie house has been in operation since Jan., 1947.
Mr. Kruse said, “We would like to thank the faithful movie goers of Edgerton for their patronage.
Kruse’s plans for the future are indefinite. He did not announce plans for the building in which the theater operated.
RECORD CROWDS ATTEND OPENING OF NEW CHARVE
Wednesday at 6:30 p. m. following three blasts from the fire siren, signaled the formal opening of Edgerton’s new Charve theatre, an occasion of which theatrical fans had long been waiting.
Prior to the opening of the theatre a column of people in double formation extending for nearly a block were in line.
Edgerton was all set to welcome all comers. Stores were open and window decorations were appropriate to the occasion. Merchants vied with one another in co-operating with special features.
Cars were parked in close formation on Michigan Avenue from the New York Central Ry. tracks north for several blocks. There was middle parking on Michigan Avenue. Officer Sarver and his deputies handled the traffic in an orderly manner.
With the galaxy of colored lights in cluster formation the town took on the appearance of a boulevard. A streamer, “Welcome to Charve” linked with electric light poles on either side of the street north of the monument hung suspended and made visitors feel at home.
Donald D. Day, whose voice carried over a loud speaker, talked to the crowd explaining the plans previously outlined to direct the overflow, such as crossing the street to the Fisher Implement Co. building where entertainment was provided with music by the Edgerton High School Band while waiting for the second show. Mrs. Robert Swift presided at the ticket booth.
Shirley Kruse, Madilyn Miller and Jean Poole, in formals, were stationed in the lobby and handed a carnation to each lady patron.
Alton Fisher and Phillip Emanuel, in regulation uniform, were ushers. Mrs. Delores Riter dispensed popcorn.
Louis Ortstadt, who was the oldest resident present, 87, was presented with a liberal supply of admission tickets to the theatre.
Mr. and Mrs. H. L. Poole and Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Lewis, who were the eldest married couples were singled out and given a present. Mr. Poole and Mr. Lewis are both 81.
On the screen was “The Bachelor’s Daughters,” starring Gail Russell, Adolphe Menjou and Claire Trevor. On the stage were radio stars direct from A.B.C. network, in person, Nancy Lee and the famous Hilltoppers. Robert Whitaker’s orchestra.
At a matinee in the afternoon all school children were admitted free.
This performance was financed by the Edgerton Business Men’s Association. About 650 were in attendance and the theatre was filled to overflow.
Mr. Robert Whitaker, acting as chairman, introduced the mayor of the town, H. J. Herman, who in his talk welcomed the Charve, a theatre that Edgerton had been wanting for a long time. He was glad two enterprising men, H. L. Kruse and R. T. Priest, were citizens of Edgerton. The chairman then introduced H. L. Kruse and R. T. Priest, sponsors of the new theatre.
Mr. Kruse said he was happy that he was privileged to build a new theatre in a town where the citizens were so appreciative and cooperative.
In his remarks Mr. Priest assured the public the management would do everything in its power to present at all times the best shows and entertainment possible.
In the main entrance and on the stage, a profusion of flowers were displayed, contributions of the business men and other organizations.
There were approximately 1200 paid admissions.
DISTRIBUTE BILLS BY PLANE
Leo Dietsch and Quentin Miller distributed hand bills by plane Wedneaday announcing the opening of Edgerton’s new Charve Theatre. All neighboring towns in this area were visited. (January 23, 1947)
Edgerton’s new Charve Theater which is nearing completion is 48x130, cinder block construction, 35 feet high, modern design, finished in white with all-neon marquee sign in colors. Ceiling is acoustic soundtone, finished in pastel blue, side walls decorated with ornamental plastic and panels and neon lighting system. The walls will be decorated in positive colors in gold trim. Chairs will be of turquoise blue and Kroehler pushback type, the very latest and most modern, making it unnecessary for seated patrons to rise to make way for others entering or leaving seats during the show. The latest and best equipment in sound effect and projection is being installed. Curtains and draperies are of heavy velvet with colors to harmonize, handled mechanically, and are fire proof. Building will be heated by combination of air and low pressure steam, using oil for fuel forced air conditioning for heating and cooling. All heat and fresh air will be automatically controlled. Seating capacity is 600. The sponsors will bend every energy to live up to the slogan, “America’s Greatest Small Town Theater.” Sidewalks will extend to the curb with provision allowed for landscaping. Stage is built large enough for personal appearances with orchestra pit to accommodate an average orchestra. This outstanding theater will be open in a few weeks. Theater will provide its own well-lighted parking lot for Charve patrons. Only the best shows will be provided. (October 3, 1946)
March 25, 1954: Phelps Theater Pays $25 Fine
Raymond Nebrick, 344 Exchange St., Geneva, driver for Smith and Howell film distributors, called Phelps police when he found an intruder at the Phelps Theater early Sunday when he stopped to pick up films.
Sleeping in the back of the theater was Frederick Charles Downey, 20, Newark, who was home on leave from the Navy. He said he became confused and did not remember breaking in and ransacking the theater.
He was arrested by Phelps Police Chief Harold Murphy who discovered that he had a towel wrapped around him containing a sum of money taken from vending machines in the lobby.
Jun 03, 1921: BUYS THREE THEATERS.
Poplar Bluff Man Adds Cairo Playhouses to String.
POPLAR BLUFF, Me., June 2.-I. W. Rodgers of this city has secured control of practically the entire moving picture business in Cairo, Ill., adding three theaters to the string of theaters in Missouri that he now owns. The deal at the neighboring city was consummated with H. B. McFarland, owner of the Tokio Theater at Morehouse. It includes the outright purchase of the Gem Theater, Cairo’s largest moving picture and vaudeville house. Leases standing were secured on the Cairo Opera House, the largest and best legitimate stage house between Memphis and St. Louis, and the Kimmel Theater, the handsomest theater in Southern Illinois. The string of theaters that Mr. Rodgers owns controlling Interest in are the Criterion, at Poplar Bluff; the Cairo Opera House, the Gem Theater, Cairo; the Kimmel Theater, Cairo: the Fraternal, Poplar Bluff; the New Grand, Hope, Ark.; the Dixie and the Liberty, Caruthersville, Mo., and an interest from the co-partnership in Mr. McFarland’s theater in Morehouse, the Tokio. Rodgers is indeed a pioneer in the picture game. He is one of the first three men in the United States who introduced moving pictures 24 years ago.