Roxy Theatre

The Roxy Theatre in Peru Indiana had a long and proud life until short sited city planners failed to realize the importance of this classic theatre whose screen was crowned with the MGM lion, and after a small fire tore it down. The theatre featured unique bowl seating on two levels near the stage for dignitaries, and over 1,000 seats. Prior to the movies that most of my generation remember watching at the theatre, the Roxy also hosted performances by many great artists, including Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, Cole Porter, to name just a few. In it’s old dressing rooms closed to the public signatures could be found on some of the walls. Sadly as it started into it’s decline in the late 60’s, the theatres once glorious interior was painted in two shades of green hiding its great beauty. I remember watching “The Glory Guys, The Chism Trail, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in that awesome old theatre as a child. It was an experience no other theatre has ever come close to replicating. The screen was gigantic compared to today’s theatres. It had a proud marquee, which thankfully partially survives on the side of the Circus Festival Building. At one time Peru had three great theatres, sadly all but one of the original structures are gone now. The one remaining theatre was long ago stripped of its equipment and walnut seating and has in years since served as a newsmart, calculator store, and other retail establishments. Yet it’s back room (the old auditorium) still at least most of the wall tile as recently as 2010. Peru is an amazingly theatrical town from which three theatrical greats came from including the great Cole Porter. Recently Peru built a new theatre which though celebrating the classic theatre lost so long ago lacks the heritage of that great theatre. Still, I am certain that the citizens of Peru are very thankful to have their modern Roxy. May she bring as many positive memories to them as the old Roxy brought to those who had the great opportunity to enjoy her.

We are still attempting to locate high quality images of the old Roxy Theatre interior and exterior. The Roxy unlike the other theatres in Peru actually comprised of three linked buildings. Our studio artists were able to generate a rendering believed to be relatively accurate of the old theatre based on low quality images we were able to obtain from films taken in the 1960’s.

This listing is full of misinformation. The Roxy was not across from the courthouse, that’s N Broadway. It did not open in the ‘30s. The building was constructed sometime before 1883, and it was a theater as early as 1912. I’m not sure how this could possibly have been larger than the Wallace, which was much wider and a bit deeper than this converted store.