Whitehouse Theatre

dallasmovietheaters on February 14, 2016 at 2:45 pm

Address was 185-189 Third St. in Milwuakee.

JimRankin on December 8, 2004 at 3:42 pm

Naomi is confusing the EMPRESS on Plankinton Ave. with the EMPRESS once on Third St., as DavidH brings out. Of course, they were not both holding the same name at the same time, but at different times. The structure once at 748 N. Plankinton Ave. (which is the parking lot Naomi refers to) actually opened as the CLUB in 1909 and was designed by Lee DeCamp of Chicago according to the “Free Press” newspaper of Dec. 16th, 1909, Page 3. This 1100-seater continued as the EMPRESS and closed as the EMBASSY in 1929 when an office bldg. was built on the site, now demolished. It is shown on page 80 of “Milwaukee Movie Palaces.”

The theatre on the Southwest corner of Third St. at Wells St. was built in 1906 as the NEW STAR, the former STAR vaudeville theatre having been demolished when the former Gimbel’s department store on Wisconsin Ave. at the river expanded westward to Plankinton (then called West Water St.) to the space that is now the courtyard of the new office complex there. There is a photo of the STAR/GARRICK in the “Milwaukee Sentinel” of May 20, 1907, including a story about the NEW STAR, which was designed by noted Milw. architects Kirchoff & Rose. The NEW STAR was built by the Schlitz brewery and had three seating levels with eight box seats, and a five pointed star of light bulbs over its proscenium. The most notable feature of that 1500-seat burlesque theatre, however, was the giant beer bar (serving only Schlitz, of course) located in a mezzanine lobby that one had to pass through to get to the mezzanine or gallery seats, but one concludes that most patrons were happy to visit the bar! It continued with this order of names through the years: NEW STAR, SAXE, ORPHEUM, GAYETY, EMPRESS until it was closed in 1955, but a fragment of the building remained as a Thom McAn shoe store for years, though the Rathskeller that was below it in the basement was also closed. Now, the parking structure of the New Federal Office Bldg. stands where one of our more notorious EMPRESSES reigned so many years ago. See the photo of it on page 97 of Larry Widen’s “Milwaukee Movie Palaces” (which is to be released as a new enlarged edition titled “Silver Screens” in about a year.)

The name GARRICK had been applied at different times to another theatre as well: the BIJOU which once stood where the 2nd St. entrance to the Shops At Grand Avenue now stands on the Western side, south of Wis. Ave.

The theatre on the Southwest corner of Third St. at Wells St. was built in 1906 as the NEW STAR, the former STAR vaudeville theatre having been demolished when the former Gimbel’s department store on Wisconsin Ave. at the river expanded westward to Plankinton (then called West Water St.) to the space that is now the courtyard of the new office complex there. There is a photo of the STAR/GARRICK in the “Milwaukee Sentinel” of May 20, 1907, including a story about the NEW STAR, which was designed by noted Milw. architects Kirchoff & Rose. The NEW STAR was built by the Schlitz brewery and had three seating levels with eight box seats, and a five pointed star of light bulbs over its proscenium. The most notable feature of that 1500-seat burlesque theatre, however, was the giant beer bar (serving only Schlitz, of course) located in a mezzanine lobby that one had to pass through to get to the mezzanine or gallery seats, but one concludes that most patrons were happy to visit the bar! It continued with this order of names through the years: NEW STAR, SAXE, ORPHEUM, GAYETY, EMPRESS until it was closed in 1955, but a fragment of the building remained as a Thom McAn shoe store for years, though the Rathskeller that was below it in the basement was also closed. Now, the parking structure of the New Federal Office Bldg. stands where one of our more notorious EMPRESSES reigned so many years ago. See the photo of it on page 97 of Larry Widen’s “Milwaukee Movie Palaces” (which is to be released as a new enlarged edition titled “Silver Screens” in about a year.)

naomimoan on December 8, 2004 at 4:28 am

I believe that the Empress/Gayety/Garrick Theater was on Plankinton Ave in the spot that is now the Rock Bottom Brewery parking lot. (at least that’s what the Digital Sanbourn maps indicates)

JimRankin on July 8, 2004 at 2:33 pm

REVERSE THEATRE
This is one of the few “Reverse” or ‘backwards’ theatres in the world, of which 9 were in the USA and 2 in England, of those that are known. This unusual format had the audience entering the front as usual, but the screen was at their backs as they entered, and the projection room/booth faced them! In some cases it was a construction demanded by the topography, as when the land at the rear sloped up sharply at the rear of the building (as with the DARRESS ( /theaters/1645/ ) and the little LINCOLN in Limon Colorado), but for others as with the WHITEHOUSE in Milwaukee ( /theaters/2642/ ), it was purely a gimmick to make the place memorable in competition with the dozens of other show houses in most communities in the ‘golden days!’ The known Reverse Theatres are:

Existing in the USA, if not also operating:
1) The SEBASTIAN, Ft. Smith, AR ( /theaters/257/ )
2) The DARRESS, Boonton, NJ ( /theaters/1645/ )
3) The LINCOLN, Limon, CO ( /theaters/7595/ )

No longer existing as a theatre, if still standing at all (USA):
4) The PHIEL, St. Petersburg, FL
5) The METROPOLITAN, 3308 W. Lawrence, Chicago, IL (later TERMINAL, METRO)
6) The E.A.R. (for Earl A. Reisden), Chicago, IL ( /theaters/7597/ )
7) The FAMILY, Quincy, IL
8) The HAPPY HOUR, New Orleans, LA
9) The WHITEHOUSE, Milwaukee, WI ( /theaters/2642/ )

These two are known of in England, but status unknown (courtesy of Louis Barfe):
10) The CINEMA ROYAL, Epsom, Surrey (1910—1938)
11) The CINEMA LUXE, Lake, Isle of Wight (1989—?)

And then there is the FOX Theatre, Taft, CA, ( /theaters/7564/ )where one “entered on the side, the back corner, actually,” to round out our little list of eccentric theatres.