Egyptian Theatre

In the early-1900’s Park City’s social and entertainment needs were served by a number of flourishing theatres and social halls. When the Dewey Theatre, originally on this site, collapsed under a heavy snow load, John Rugar replaced it with the Egyptian Theatre which was opened December 25, 1926. It was designed to accommodate both movies and vaudeville in the 400-seat auditorium. It became the first "sound movie" theatre in Park City.

After being remodeled in 1963, the building opened as the Silver Wheel Theatre, and old fashioned "mellodramas" were performed for the next fifteen years. In 1978 the building’s architectural integrity was threatened by an attempt to change its facade to a western motif. Preservation of its distinctive Egyptian features was achieved, however, when the building became the home of Park City Performances in 1981

The Egyptian Revival style represents a unique period architecture which peaked in America around 1930. Egyptian style theatres are rare, and this is one of only two remaining in Utah. Originally the interior contained replicas of Egyptian artifacts. This is a masonry structure with a false front shielding its hip roof. Tiles at the base of the ticket booth and pilasters in obelisk shape reinforce the Egyptian motif.

(From a historical marker presented by the Park City Centennial Commission)

In 1998, the Egyptian Theatre was underwent a $5 million remodeling and seating was reduced to 266.

Recent comments (view all 11 comments)

teecee on March 1, 2005 at 2:12 pm

Recent photo:
View link

phantomjt on April 13, 2005 at 12:56 pm

The Egyptian Theatre company is a non-profit 501-3-c Organization. It produces High Quality Professional Theatre productions yearly. Broadway and Off-Broadway musical and shows. This Actors Equity House is top of the line! Also the main venue for the famous Sundance Film Festival. The Egyptian Theatre was remodeled in 1998 ($5 Million) and cut their seating to 266. Their new website address is: www.parkcityshows.com Their box office phone number is: 435-649-9371.

shoeshoe14 on February 2, 2006 at 1:35 pm

The marquee is on the front page of the New Haven Advocate (New Haven, CT) at www.newhavenadvocate.com

kencmcintyre on March 1, 2007 at 8:32 am

The weather doesn’t look too hospitable:
http://tinyurl.com/3ydm3u

kencmcintyre on January 4, 2008 at 6:18 pm

Here is another photo. Still too cold for me:
http://tinyurl.com/3y48xj

kencmcintyre on April 11, 2009 at 1:26 pm

Here is a 2006 photo from Life magazine:
http://tinyurl.com/c8bwo2

TLSLOEWS on February 19, 2010 at 3:59 pm

From the pictures it looks like the vertical EGYPTIAN sign rotates,pretty cool,nice looking.

rivest266 on May 28, 2017 at 9:23 am

This opened on Christmas day, 1926. Grand opening ad in the photo section.

Trolleyguy on September 23, 2022 at 9:54 am

The website lists only live performances for the next six months. No films scheduled.

50sSNIPES on May 13, 2025 at 10:53 am

During its days as the Silver Wheel Theatre, it continued to screen first-run movies for the most part, with its famous old-fashioned melodramas on both Fridays and Saturdays.

On December 1, 1973, the Silver Wheel Theatre was renamed the Park City Opera House as a dedication to the original Park City Opera House that got destroyed in the Great Park City Fire in 1898. It continued to show first-run films and melodramas for the most part, but they also added both classic movies and a very small amount of foreign films in its lineup.

• Unfortunately what’s strange about the Park Record archives is that they never listed any showtimes during its days as the Silver Wheel. However, the Park Record archives did managed to pick up several amount of monthly showtimes as the Park City Opera House though but not all of it.