Poncan Theatre
104 E. Grand Avenue,
Ponca City,
OK
74602
104 E. Grand Avenue,
Ponca City,
OK
74602
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The Poncan Theatre opened its doors on September 20, 1927 with Richard Dix in “Shanghai Bound” along with a variety of stuff, including the Our Gang comedy “Yale Vs. Harvard”, a few local novelty units, a couple of newsreels, a dancing presentation of Mack & Long (either live or a merchant reel), a performance of three girls named Barnett, Edmunds, and Clark as well as a piano player, a performance by the Poncan Orchestra (or “Earl Moon And His Stars”), and Vera Byerhoff playing several songs on his Mighty Wurlizer (the same-modeled organ that was used at various large movie theaters around the country from New York to Chicago to St. Louis).
Uploaded 1939 night time pic showing “Union Pacific”
Sharp pictures of the Poncan are on this link
http://www.roadsideoklahoma.com/node/604
I sorta like the 1985 marquee better,in fact alot better,the new one is too stuffy looking.But thanks for putting it on Don.
From 2010 a photo of the Poncan Theatre in Ponca City.
An article about the Poncan on the occasion of celebrating eighty-seven years: View link It now does show movies from time to time.
It’s a beautiful theatre, but it breaks my heart that they don’t show movies any more. I used to make the trip from Oklahoma City when I came home for the holidays, just to experience this lovely theatre. It’s a darn shame.
Terry Fator, World Class Ventriliquist, performed at the Poncan May 6th, 2008 to a sold out house of 800. They got Fire Marshal permission and brought in another 36 seats. It was the first time the Theatre had been sold out in anyones memory.
It was a magical night!
The crowd sure woke up some ghosts that night!
It was louder and more fun than his performance in Dallas that had an audience of 2,000!
Here are some local news articles about the event.
View link
View link
The Poncan was operated by Video Independent Theaters of Oklahoma City in the early sixties.
To view rare 1930s and 1950s photos of the beautiful Poncan Theatre interior type in word “poncan”, then use search function …
View link
A front cover of Oklahoma Today Magazine featured a color photograph of the Poncan Theatre during its neon days. An inside article has a nice color image of the atmospheric auditorium. To read the entire srite up click below, and go to 1990s – Vol 41, Number 1, Jan 1991;
View link
Check out below link to view rare image of Ponca City’s first moving picture house-
View link
Great photo with a great looking exterior!
During 2003 and 2004 my company had the privilege to be involved with the installation of sound panels throughout the Poncan auditorium to enhance all sound formats. The sound panel installation was beautifully executed and left the auditorium looking completely original with far better acoustics.
My company then installed Dolby Digital sound processing equipment in to the projection room to enable the reproduction of digital sound from the 35mm film.
At this same time, equipment was installed to enable 5.1 digital sound reproduction from a DVD source along with pro-logic sound from a two channel source.
The Poncan Theatre is a beautiful venue and it is always a privilege to be a part of any project at this theatre.
Respectfully Submitted,
Ben Kehe, President
Motion Picture Projection Services, Inc.
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
918 906 3715
Interesting to read about this atmospheric theatre being built by architects/brothers, Robert and Carl Boller. I wonder how their atmospheric design compares to Eberson’s atmospheric ‘touch’. Also, is anyone aware of the famous Eberson fist that he included in his theatres? I recently toured the Palace Theatre in Canton Ohio and our tour guid, Rob Sees, showed me that theatre’s famous fist high above the auditorium! I wish I could include a photo with this post as it was a sight to behold.
The Poncan is now showing movies on a regular basis. My wife and I have recently attended a number of interesting films not shown by the monsterplexs as well as some more mainstream movies at the Poncan. It is a truly grand theater! The beautiful gilded decoration, stained glass, faux skylight and other wonderful elements combine to make this theater one of the most magnificent one will ever see. The theater is decorated with rich colors including burgandy, gold, and navy blue. We enjoy sitting in the balcony soaking in all the beauty around us. Pictures and descriptions can never do justice to this theater. Anyone interested in vintage theaters should visit the Poncan.
This is a beautiful theatre. No doubt. Occasionaly, they still show movies here, too! I suggest you call first though.
Congratulations to the folks of Ponca City OK for restoring this atmospheric theatre!
The Poncan is an Atmospheric style theatre. The auditorium was designed to give the audience the feeling of sitting in a Spanish/Moorish open air courtyard complete with moving clouds & twinkling stars over-head.
The Boller Brothers used similar plans for the Uptown in Wichita, KS and The Granada in Kansas City, KS among others.
Here is a link to an interior & exterior photo & a brief history:
http://www.poncacity.com/attractions/poncan.htm
Here is their official page:
http://www.poncantheatre.org/homepage.htm
The Poncan was the grandest of five theatres in town. It opened on September 20, 1927 for both vaudeville & silent films. Designed by the Boller Brothers, of Kansas City.
Ironically, just 15 days after the Poncan opened, Al Jolson made film history with the first talkie, “The Jazz Singer.” Soon talkies were the rage, and silent film became a memory. The Poncan was quickly converted to sound, and she continued showing both talkies and the best of vaudeville.
In the 1940’s, the Poncan turned exclusively to film. In the 1950’s, the theatre was redecorated and revitalized. The Poncan closed its doors on October 11, 1985. One month later it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In July 1989 a group was formed to bring the Poncan back to her 1927 glory.
Extensive remodeling in the 1950’s had covered up many beautiful ornaments, but left them in original condition. During the restoration laborers found a magnificent set of stained glass light fixtures that had been missing since the 1950’s. They also discovered an original hand-painted fire curtain that no one had seen for decades. The marquee was reworked to the original size and shape, with molded elements that were authentic to period.
A celebration of completed restoration was held on September 17, 1994.