Anthony Theater

The attribution of the architect above is wrong. A.N. Fisher was the builder of the Anthony Theatre. The architect was S.S. Voigt, of Wichita.

The Anthony Theatre was partly owned by Charles Barron, operator of the Barron and Kansas theaters in Pratt, Kansas. His business partner at Anthony was Hazel Droz. Barron sold the Pratt theaters in 1943 and retired to California, but continued the partnership in Anthony until his death in 1952. He also held part ownership of the Star-Vue Drive-In at Anthony, opened by Mrs. Droz in 1950. After Mr. Barron’s death Mrs. Barron remained a partner in the Anthony operations for some time. Mrs. Droz sold the theater and the drive-in in 1970.

Also, a house called the Palace Theatre opened in Anthony on October 9, 1925, according to the notice in the October 17 issue of The Reel Journal. It was operated by L.W. Conner, an Oklahoma exhibitor. The Palace is mentioned a couple of times in 1926, and after that I can’t find anything about it. Does anybody know what became of it?

Somehow the beginning of my comment above got lost in posting. Here it is:

The respective functions of Fisher and Voigt were noted on the nomination submitted to the NRHP. It includes an extensive description of the theater and its history. A .pdf of it is linked from this page for anybody who might want to read it.

The nomination form also says that Floyd and Hazel Droz entered the theater business when they purchased the Novelty Theatre in Anthony in 1934. I’ve been unable to find the Novelty (or Floyd Droz) mentioned in Boxoffice.

Thanks to Keith Wondra for the excellent photos of this splendid survivor.

Since my previous comments about him, a bit more information about the architect has appeared on the Internet, most notably in a publication from the City of Wichita’s Historic Preservation Office that indludes a brief biography (PDF file here.)

Samuel Siegfried Voigt was born in Leipzig, Germany, in 1885. His family moved to Wichita in 1896. He studied architecture and engineering through the International Correspondence Schools, earning a degree in 1909. He became a draftsman in the office of Wichita architect Fred G. McCune, and established his own practice in 1913. Voigt appears to have specialized mostly in institutional projects, as by 1929 he had designed over 400 schools and 200 churches, completing projects in four states according to that year’s edition of Who’s Who in Wichita. He died in 1937, so the Anthony Theatre was a fairly late project.

I still haven’t been able to discover if Voigt designed any theaters other than the Anthony.

This theater should be changed to open. Showtimes are listed on Facebook.

Functions should include performing arts. No movies scheduled on Facebook page.