Ritz Theatre
18 W. Fourth Street,
Tulsa,
OK
74103
18 W. Fourth Street,
Tulsa,
OK
74103
3 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Architects: John Adolph Emil Eberson, Edward Watkins Saunders
Styles: Atmospheric, Italian Renaissance
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Mar 18, 2013 — “South Pacific” 55th Anniversary – The Roadshow Engagements
- Oct 30, 2009 — Happy 50th, "Sleeping Beauty"
Located in an eight story office block designed by architect Edward Watkins Saunders, the 1,600-seat Ritz Theatre was designed in an Atmospheric/Italian Renaissance style by architect John Eberson. It opened on May 11, 1926 with Richard Dix in “Let’s Get Married” and was equipped with a Robert Morton 4 manual 17 ranks organ which was opened by organist Wade Hamilton. It was closed in 1960.
The auditorium was demolished in 1963 and the site became a parking lot. The office building was demolished in 1973.
Contributed by
Graeme McBain
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Recent comments (view all 33 comments)
Tulsa Symphony Orchestra performing on Ritz stage…
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/C0127.jpg
Seymour:
Yes, I have seen a photo of the Tulsa Orpheum. John must have had an Oklahoma connection. I’d be interested in seeing more photos of Eberson’s Oklahoma work since good photos of these theatres have been relatively unknown until now. Any detail photos of the Ritz?
The Eberson archives at the Wolfsonian in Florida have 24 design drawings of this theatre by Eberson dated 1925.
1942 exterior shot, notice smartly uniformed ushers practicing crowd control -
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Sepia toned auditorium detail shot …
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Used inside the four-million-dollar atmospheric Casa Bonita Restuarant were many decorative details salvaged from both the Ritz and Orpheum. Pimk clouds were projected onto a violet plaster sky by the Ritz Brenograph. This fabulous eatery was also a quisi cinema in that the amusement arcade had a miniature kiddie theatre that presented continuous cartoons.
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and
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This photo is entitled “Tulsa Schools, Theatres, and Eateries of the 1930’s”,
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Though not yet proven, it has been said that this is a photo of the Ritz basement smoking room,
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Here is a theatre pipe organ much grander than the one played inside the Ritz Theatre, but both instruments were produced by Robert Morton –
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Grand opening ad: