New Regal Theatre

The former Regal Theatre had operated as an African-American movie venue from 1944 to 1949. The New Regal Theatre was built in 1950 and into 1951 for $60,000 becoming the fourth African -American movie theatre in Tulsa beginning on February 7, 1951 at 1431 N. Lansing Street. It was under the operation of Greenwood Theatre Inc. with T.W. Harris and James R. Harris in charge.

The Regal Theatre opened with James Stewart in “Winchester ‘73” supported by a newsreel and a cartoon short. It joined the Peoria Theatre as a Black-owned theatre and the Dreamland (formerly Black-owned) and Rex Theatre which were White-owned theatres by Bijou Entertainment Inc. catering toward African-American audiences. Joseph Koberling was the architect of the Regal Theatre.

But Greenwood Theatre ran into financial difficulty in 1954 with stockholders of the Regal Theatre reporting nearly 100 percent losses. But the venue soldiered on a tad longer as the Regal Theatre and Peoria Theatre were operated under the same management. The Regal Theatre was closed permanently on May 25, 1955 with Robert Mitchum in “Track the Cat” with the Peoria Theatre continuing for another year.

As for the other African-American movie venues in the sound era, the Dreamland Theatre had closed a year after the Regal Theatre launched on February 17, 1952 (but did reopen as the live event Dreamland Playhouse on January 25, 1957 under African-American operation). The Peoria Theatre closed a year after the departure of the Regal Theatre on June 6, 1956 (though continuing with new operators as the Ace Theatre through 1958) ending African-American movie theatre operation in Tulsa. The Rex Theatre lasted the longest of the theatres closing in 1967.

The Regal Theatre was offered for sale or trade in classified advertising listings in the late-1950’s. The projectors were sold off. The former theatre was then retrofitted becoming Tulip’s Regal Arena, a long-running skating rink. The building has since been razed.

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