The Cameo is now operated by the Opium Group, the same nightclub management company that runs Mansion (Cinema Casino) and Set (Flamingo Theater).
Opium Group is a first-rate company, so this should at least insure that these theaters will continue to operate as nightclubs and won’t fall victim to developers cutting them up for retail or office space. (I hope)
I got my hands on a copy of the 1927-28 Miami-Miami Beach phone book hoping to find a wealth of theater information in it, but it turned out to be pretty boring. The entire section only included 7 true theaters. (I’m not sure exactly what the “Miami Beach Auditorium” was.)
I also checked under “Arcades” and “Nickelodeons,” but nothing was listed. I guess by 1927 everything had been converted to full movie houses.
There’s only a few minor differences in addresses between this phone book and what is listed here on Cinema Treasures for the Tivoli and Fairfax theaters —probably due to Flagler being re-numbered several times over the years.
Excellent news, Al. I was just sitting here looking at Google Map’s “street view” function trying to figure out if both theaters were at the same location. Now we know!
Louis, sorry for the delay in responding. No, TAO hasn’t opened yet. There were some delays with City boards, but I think that’s all resolved now and they should be opening soon.
Also, the link to the original article has moved to here…TAO Miami Beach
Louis and Al —I’m just thinking out loud here, but one possible explanation for the two different dates could be that The Strand was originally built in 1924, then damaged by the hurricane of 1926, and rebuilt, so that what’s showing in the City’s building records could be the last/most recent building permit info.
With so many buildings in ruin after the hurricane of 1926, I would imagine that the City had an expedited building approval process, and it’s also not inconceivable that some building owners would try to take advantage of that process to modernize/expand their properties even if they weren’t damaged by the storm.
During the last 25 minutes of the movie “Bad Boys” there’s a chase scene where they run through an all-white building passed a couple of model photo shoots. That whole sequence shows the current interior of the Paris Theatre.
When they first come through the front doors, you can see where the owners have built office space over the left (camera-left) two-thirds of the inclined walkway that leads up into the main theatre lobby. The next scene is a very brief look at the main lobby itself.
Except for the office space up front, the entire building was basically gutted and painted white for photo production work.
“Current plans call for the SoundSpace complex to occupy a huge open area north of Lincoln Road behind the Lincoln Theater, and will include an open-air concert area and outdoor video screen for viewing concerts and performances.”
The owner’s name is Leroy Griffith and lots of people (mainly City officials) have had re-ins with him. He’s quite an interesting guy (and quite a character). Here’s the latest dust-up he’s having with the city of Miami Beach.
Leroy is responsible for bringing porno to Miami Beach (his claim). At one time he owned or controlled the Paris, Roxy, Cameo, and Carib in Miami Beach, plus the Paramount and Boulevard (Pussycat) in Miami as Al mentions over on the Boulevard’s page.
There’s no telling how much money he’s spent fighting various local governments, but he’s just one of those guys that won’t let city officials push him around.
Man, how’s this for deja vu. I just realized that my doctor’s office is in the building that occupies the Sheridan’s former location. The office building is now called “Galleria Silver.”
Well, here’s another brain-twister for you. The Fotosho Theatre in Miami. I’ve been trying to research this one, but I have no idea what to make of it.
The photo is from 1921.
The theatre was listed as being located on “East Flagler Street."
It has that billboard on top that’s advertising a Paramount film.
But, it also says "Hippodrome” on the billboard. So, does that mean the Paramount film is playing here at this Fotosho Theatre, or over at the Hippodrome?
Louis, you and Al and all the contributors here at CT have no idea how happy I am that I found this message board. I was beginning to think I was the only one left who appreciated these great theaters.
I lived in NY for a few years in the early 80s and went to the movies in Manhattan quite often, but never gave a second thought to WHICH theater I was in or WHAT its history was! I could really kick myself now for not being more observant.
If I come across any other things that people might find interesting, I’ll be sure and post them.
Here’s a heavily cropped photo of the Rex Theater from 1932. I included the Ponce de Leon Hotel (at right) in the crop as a point of reference to compare with other photos that may surface.
The Hippodrome that Al mentioned over on the Town Theater’s page is off to the left of the woman in white.
Something else interesting…notice the difference in the marquees between the top photo (1929) and the second photo (1922).
I’ll bet the hurricane of 1926 blew off the 1922 ornamentation and vertical “Fairfax Theatre” sign, and they replaced it with a hurricane-proof design where the “Fairfax Theatre” part was built in to the marquee itself.
I found this photo of the Fairfax Theatre Miami in the state archives. Notice that the theater entrance is right next to the Fairfax Hotel entrance.
And if you look at that map I posted earlier, you can see that it lists the Paramount in that location next to the hotel. So, you were correct —the Fairfax became the Paramount.
The Cameo is now operated by the Opium Group, the same nightclub management company that runs Mansion (Cinema Casino) and Set (Flamingo Theater).
Opium Group is a first-rate company, so this should at least insure that these theaters will continue to operate as nightclubs and won’t fall victim to developers cutting them up for retail or office space. (I hope)
Yeah, that “conversion to retail” thing really worked out well for the Caribe and the Beach Theaters didn’t it.
Sheezh…these short-sighted City officials…
I guess the rest of them were too cheap to spring for a phone book listing.(G)
There is a listing for a “Hippodrome Cigar Store” located at “7 NE 2nd Ave.” Does that sound like the Hippodrome Theater’s location?
I got my hands on a copy of the 1927-28 Miami-Miami Beach phone book hoping to find a wealth of theater information in it, but it turned out to be pretty boring. The entire section only included 7 true theaters. (I’m not sure exactly what the “Miami Beach Auditorium” was.)
I also checked under “Arcades” and “Nickelodeons,” but nothing was listed. I guess by 1927 everything had been converted to full movie houses.
There’s only a few minor differences in addresses between this phone book and what is listed here on Cinema Treasures for the Tivoli and Fairfax theaters —probably due to Flagler being re-numbered several times over the years.
“Town was indeed the same as the old Miami”
Excellent news, Al. I was just sitting here looking at Google Map’s “street view” function trying to figure out if both theaters were at the same location. Now we know!
Update: The word I’m getting is that the TAO project is dead, so only heaven knows what will become of the Beach Theatre location now.
…[sigh]…June 2009, and still no TAO opening…
Louis, sorry for the delay in responding. No, TAO hasn’t opened yet. There were some delays with City boards, but I think that’s all resolved now and they should be opening soon.
Also, the link to the original article has moved to here…TAO Miami Beach
Louis and Al —I’m just thinking out loud here, but one possible explanation for the two different dates could be that The Strand was originally built in 1924, then damaged by the hurricane of 1926, and rebuilt, so that what’s showing in the City’s building records could be the last/most recent building permit info.
With so many buildings in ruin after the hurricane of 1926, I would imagine that the City had an expedited building approval process, and it’s also not inconceivable that some building owners would try to take advantage of that process to modernize/expand their properties even if they weren’t damaged by the storm.
Just a thought.
Here’s a photo that shows the Cinema Theatre in Miami Beach in approximately 1970 when it still had its original lobby entrance.
During the last 25 minutes of the movie “Bad Boys” there’s a chase scene where they run through an all-white building passed a couple of model photo shoots. That whole sequence shows the current interior of the Paris Theatre.
When they first come through the front doors, you can see where the owners have built office space over the left (camera-left) two-thirds of the inclined walkway that leads up into the main theatre lobby. The next scene is a very brief look at the main lobby itself.
Except for the office space up front, the entire building was basically gutted and painted white for photo production work.
Irishcine – It’s going to be called Miami Beach Sound Space…
“Current plans call for the SoundSpace complex to occupy a huge open area north of Lincoln Road behind the Lincoln Theater, and will include an open-air concert area and outdoor video screen for viewing concerts and performances.”
The owner’s name is Leroy Griffith and lots of people (mainly City officials) have had re-ins with him. He’s quite an interesting guy (and quite a character). Here’s the latest dust-up he’s having with the city of Miami Beach.
Leroy is responsible for bringing porno to Miami Beach (his claim). At one time he owned or controlled the Paris, Roxy, Cameo, and Carib in Miami Beach, plus the Paramount and Boulevard (Pussycat) in Miami as Al mentions over on the Boulevard’s page.
There’s no telling how much money he’s spent fighting various local governments, but he’s just one of those guys that won’t let city officials push him around.
The above page has moved. This is new link to the Community Theatre in Miami Beach.
Man, how’s this for deja vu. I just realized that my doctor’s office is in the building that occupies the Sheridan’s former location. The office building is now called “Galleria Silver.”
Here’s a post card that shows the State Theatre at least one building from the corner. No date available for the card, though.
(Also notice the marquee appears to say “Boyd’s”)
Very nice!
Did that Fotosho shot happen to have a date attached to it?
Well, here’s another brain-twister for you. The Fotosho Theatre in Miami. I’ve been trying to research this one, but I have no idea what to make of it.
The photo is from 1921.
The theatre was listed as being located on “East Flagler Street."
It has that billboard on top that’s advertising a Paramount film.
But, it also says "Hippodrome” on the billboard. So, does that mean the Paramount film is playing here at this Fotosho Theatre, or over at the Hippodrome?
Good luck with this one…I’m totally stumped.
“The old Miami on the Town site”
Great find, Al.
Louis, you and Al and all the contributors here at CT have no idea how happy I am that I found this message board. I was beginning to think I was the only one left who appreciated these great theaters.
I lived in NY for a few years in the early 80s and went to the movies in Manhattan quite often, but never gave a second thought to WHICH theater I was in or WHAT its history was! I could really kick myself now for not being more observant.
If I come across any other things that people might find interesting, I’ll be sure and post them.
As a point of reference, here’s a list of theaters in Miami and Miami Beach from the August, 1949 Southern Bell Telephone Book.
Here’s a heavily cropped photo of the Rex Theater from 1932. I included the Ponce de Leon Hotel (at right) in the crop as a point of reference to compare with other photos that may surface.
The Hippodrome that Al mentioned over on the Town Theater’s page is off to the left of the woman in white.
Something else interesting…notice the difference in the marquees between the top photo (1929) and the second photo (1922).
I’ll bet the hurricane of 1926 blew off the 1922 ornamentation and vertical “Fairfax Theatre” sign, and they replaced it with a hurricane-proof design where the “Fairfax Theatre” part was built in to the marquee itself.
Al, actually you were right on the money!
I found this photo of the Fairfax Theatre Miami in the state archives. Notice that the theater entrance is right next to the Fairfax Hotel entrance.
And if you look at that map I posted earlier, you can see that it lists the Paramount in that location next to the hotel. So, you were correct —the Fairfax became the Paramount.
Hmm…I don’t guess it gives addresses for them, does it?