Will Rogers Theater
4500 E. 11th Street,
Tulsa,
OK
74112
4500 E. 11th Street,
Tulsa,
OK
74112
4 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Video Independent Theaters Inc.
Architects: Jack M. Corgan
Styles: Streamline Moderne
Nearby Theaters
The Will Rogers Theater was opened on July 21, 1941 with Carole Lombard in “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”. The exterior featured a tall tower over the entrance, which bore the theater name. Inside the foyer was a framed portrait of Will Rogers on horseback with a lasso. Inside the auditorium seating was all on a single floor. There was a Navajo pattern stenciled along the stepped ceiling, and on the sidewalls were stenciled figures on horseback.
In the 1960’s and 1970’s, it was operated by Video Independent. It was closed in 1976.
Contributed by
Lauren Grubb
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Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
Though it has been rumored that Griffith Amusement neglected their theatre interiors. It is also known that Griffith Amusement usually kept exteriors up to date, utilizing them as oversized billboards.
Long before the Will Rogers Theatre was to be torn down it was allowed to fall into decay -
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/E0145.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/E0146.jpg
SEE 1941 interior photos. SEE exterior shots, by typing in word “Theatre”,
View link
Vintage images illustrate interior motifs for the Will Rogers as decorated in unique Western Impressionist Styling.
These dull B&W photos cannot bring out how auditorium hues were rich earth tones, with splashes of bright colour thrown in here and there for dramatic effect. All together it created an exciting setting in which to view a movie.
View of WRT auditorium seating arrangement –
View link
Cool looking marquee and vertical.
I attended the church (across the street) from this theater. The church eventually bought the building and used it for several years. They then tore it down and made a parking lot out of it, mostly because they couldn’t afford the upkeep and cost of renovations.
This is the only movie theater I was ever kicked out of and I was only nine years old!
My “boyfriend” took me to see “The Girl He Left Behind” starring Tab Hunter and Natali Woods. When the kissing started on the screen, Gene began whistling and stomping his feet. Less than two minutes later we were standing on the corner waiting for my mother to pick us up after a call from management.
Needless to say, that was the end of our “courtship”.
I worked at the Will Rogers Theater in Tulsa with Ben Kehe, Frank Pyro, Mickey Drake, J.C. Duncan and Margaret Wellman from 1969 to 1974 first as a ticket taker and later as the house manager. I have very fond memories of my time there because they were an extraordinary group of people to work with.
The auditorium was almost unaltered from the time the theater opened until it closed in 1976. The lobbies were updated multiple times. A very large oil painting of Will Rogers had at one time hung in the lobby but after being vandalized had been moved upstairs to the house managers office. I hope that painting was donated to either Will Rogers High School or the Will Rogers museum in Claremore.
Respectfully Submitted, Dale Catlin, Wichita, Kansas
The Will Rogers theatre opened on July 21st, 1941. Grand opening ad posted.
Newspaper listings for the Will Rogers theatre ended in 1977