SEMO Theatre

Glain W. Gordon opened a new theater in the existing John Bess Building on the East Side of the Square as The Gordon on November 20, 1938 with “Little Miss Broadway. It was known as "The Little Theatre with the Big Hits”. Gordon installed the Ultra-Phone sound system. The neighboring building was equipped with two bowling alleys, two pool tables and a cafe to create an entertainment nexus in the town’s center.

Dr. C.H. Porter and Norvin Garner took on the theatre on April 17, 1942 changing its name to the Star Theatre. It remained that way for much of World War II. But John A. Gray took on the Star Theatre and created a new look venue renamed as the Hollywood Theatre on August 30, 1945.

Gray sold the venue to three St. Louis men, Tom Tobin, Julius Leventhal and Charles Goldman who changed the name of the venue to the State Theatre effective on July 5, 1946. William and Margaret Sherman of Sherman Theatres Circuit took on the venue and changed its name effective July 16, 1948 as the Sherman Theatre.

John F. Edmundson took on the venue with Margaret Sherman changing both it and the Jackson Drive-In to the Edmundson Theatre and Edmundson Drive-In on August 1, 1953.

On December 23, 1955, Duane Kirby took on the venue changing it to the SEMO Theatre, short for Southeast Missouri. His tag line was “U SE-MO at the SEMO”. That motto was rendered obsolete when the venue was closed permanently on May 31, 1960 after showings of Charlton Heston in “The Ten Commandments.” He offered the theatre and contents for sale with few if any takers later that year.

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