Miller Theatre

Reading the town’s history, the North Side of the Square held its original opera house called, at opening, Tripp’s Opera House. It was built as only its third brick building in Milan’s history in 1880 behind its court house and the First National Bank Building. It was a second floor opera house which had a saloon and a restaurant housed on the first floor.

W.H. Tripp sold the Opera House in 1891. John Hughes took on the venue in 1892 which briefly was known as Hughes' Opera House. It went by the name of Opera House after Hughes left the operation and until it was destroyed by fire January 15, 1897. A fire originating in the main level restaurant took out the entire block.

This entry should be the Miller Theatre formerly the Harmon Theatre formerly known as Milan Opera House, Opera House and Bullock’s Opera House. W.P Bullock began building the replacement opera house at 212 East 2nd Street early in 1898. The building replaced a livery that had burned in 1894. Bullock’s Opera House launched May 30, 1898 with Decoration Day festivities. In 1900, it was known as Opera House and Milan Opera House.

Hugh M. Harmon took over the venue in 1913 renaming it was Harmon Theatre. Movies would overtake live entertainment as was the case in many small town opera house / theatres. The theatre converted to sound on November 24, 1929 but the venue was not a good match for the equipment. It soldiered on as the Harmon Theatre until closing on April 10, 1930 with Mae Clark in “Nix on Dames". A new venue was identified and built with sound in mind to improve on the acoustic reproduction of the films.

The town’s next movie operation was the Grand Theatre and it was the town’s short-lived yet important movie theatre in that it took sound seriously. The Grand Theatre (which has its own page on Cinema Treasures) was launched on the Southeast corner of the Milan town square in a converted retail operation. The Grand Theatre launched on May 25, 1930 just after the closing of the Harmon Theatre with Will Rogers in the sound film, “They Had to See Paris.” The building had housed the E.C. Cherry Store and the floor was elevated for better sight lines and the walls lined with Celotex insulation to improve sound. It was part of W.A. Collins' circuit of theatres.

In October of its first year of operation it was damaged by fire and reopened. The Opera House was used one last time as a theatre under the moniker of the Miller Theatre, a 400-seat venue opening on September 27, 1930. Meanwhile, the Grand Theatre became the Grandview Theatre on January 22, 1931 with the small town operating two theatres.

Mr. Miller installed a brand new Western Electric sound system with OptoKrome screen to make the Miller Theatre an improved experience beginning with the March 27, 1931 showing of “Min and Bill starring Marie Dressler. The end was near, however, as the Miller Theatre / Opera House was gutted by fire just a month later on April 24, 1931 ending its run. “River’s End” starring Charles Bickford was the last film to play at the venerable venue and the Western Electric sound equipment was among the losses in that blaze.

The Grandview Theatre was damaged by another fire and closed for repairs in 1933. The theatre was ostensibly replaced by the long-running Karyl Theatre on the East side of the Square on May 2, 1933. The town would hit its high-water mark with three theatres open simultaneously in the early-1950’s in time for television’s competition.

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