Theatre of the Living Arts

During the 1980s, I took the el into town many, many times to go here. They had broadsheets with pictures showing their film schedule for the next three months and I had several on my bedroom walls. My first viewing of Casablanca was on a big screen because of the TLA. Also, my first midnight show with Rocky Horror, Fellini, Stop Making Sense, dozens of others and many were double bills if I remember rightly. That dinky little snack bar where you could get hot tea or coffee. And no sneaking food in, even though there was a popcorn store next door! Great place. Great memories.

Today’s Philadelphia Inquirer article states that Ray Murray and Claire Brown converted this theater intoa a repertory movie house a few months after offering a repertory film program at Upper Darby’s Tower Theatre in the summe of 1981.

Circa 1987, TLA switched from movies to yet another theatrical company. The first production was “Little Shop of Horrors,” for which Audrey II, the killer plant, was painted all over the facade! The stage version of “Rocky Horror” also ran there a few times, and in the late 1980s there were a few rock-themed film festivals.

Andrew Dice Clay’s first HBO special was recorded at TLA.

Finally, TLA was where I first say Godfrey Reggio’s amazing film, “Koyaanisqatsi” – on their Eprad Starscope sound system!

New York Times:
Compiled by BEN SISARIO
Published: June 11, 2008
Last year Live Nation, the giant concert promoter, renamed a handful of clubs and small theaters around the country to give them a unified brand: Fillmore, after Bill Graham’s famous clubs in San Francisco and New York. In Philadelphia the Theater of the Living Arts became the Fillmore at the TLA, and in New York, Irving Plaza became the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza. The Philadelphia club has now reverted to its old name, but Live Nation said it had no plans to change the name of the New York club. “Although Fillmore is a valuable and powerful brand, which we remain committed to,” the company said in a statement, “the fans in Philadelphia made it known to us that the Theater of the Living Arts was a more relevant name in their local community.”

No more TLA? What’s next, Zipperhead? Jim’s Steaks? Grendel’s Lair? What’s happening to my favorite street?

This theater is being renamed the Fillmore Philadelphia by operator Live Nation. The new name becomes effective as of April 27, with a show by Todd Rundgren. Press release here.

This photo shows the Standard Theater at 1130 South Street. The damage is from Hurricane Hazel in 1954. I believe the only theaters listed for South Street are the TLA and the Royal. If I’m wrong, let me know:
http://tinyurl.com/javrw

Not much seems to be recorded as to what this theater was used for in the ‘40s and '50s. The Ramseys founded the Theater of the Living Arts around 1959; a bit of a surprise that they didn’t lose their shirts, as the neighborhood was rough at the time (the city had plans to replace South Street with the Crosstown Expressway, and property owners became reluctant to spend money on buildings that might soon be condemned and demolished). Andre Gregory of My Dinner with Andre fame was another prominent figure involved with the TLA as a live theater venue.

After the theater company folded in the early ‘70s, the building became an art/repertory film venue as the Bandbox Living Arts, a branch of the Bandbox in Germantown. The next operator called it the TLA Cinema because of legal problems regarding the rights to the Theater of the Living Arts name.