Fox Theatre

17 W. Congress Street,
Tucson, AZ 85701

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Showing 26 - 47 of 47 comments

OnslowKUA
OnslowKUA on October 31, 2006 at 11:38 am

Tonight (Halloween) the Fox is featuring a couple of great horror films- The Shining and the Exorcist. This weekend they will have a Mexican Film Festival. It is really great to see that the management is offering a variety of presentations. The Fox is one of the venues that will anchor the Rio Nuevo Project, an attempt to lure folks to downtown Tucson.

Patsy
Patsy on October 31, 2006 at 10:46 am

Interesting that the architect for this theatre done in Pueblo Deco was M. Eugene Durfee and the architect for the Fox done in Art Deco in Phoenix was S. Charles Lee.

Patsy
Patsy on October 31, 2006 at 9:42 am

Glad to read that this Fox has or is being renovated as it was featured on the recent broadcast of Mrs. America on 10/30/06. Too bad that the Fox in Phoenix is listed as having been demolished!

OnslowKUA
OnslowKUA on October 28, 2006 at 9:25 pm

I visited the Fox for a concert. The theater is beautifully restored. It is being used in varied ways- classic films, cine mexicano, live concerts, etc.

OnslowKUA
OnslowKUA on July 29, 2006 at 9:21 am

The Fox is showing some classic films several nights each week.

Don Lewis
Don Lewis on July 16, 2006 at 7:37 pm

My December 2004 photograph of the FOX View link

FoxVolunteerSteve
FoxVolunteerSteve on June 14, 2006 at 11:04 am

Fox Tucson Grand Re-opening was New Year’s Eve 2005.
Entertainment schedule and information available on the
Fox Tucson website: www.foxtucsontheatre.org
Volunteer and fan website: www.frappr.com/foxtucsontheatrebalconyloge

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on May 23, 2006 at 8:42 pm

Here is one more article about the restoration from an engineering perspective:
http://tinyurl.com/nm3u8

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on May 23, 2006 at 8:33 pm

Here is another article about the restoration in 2002:
http://tinyurl.com/mbql6

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on May 23, 2006 at 8:25 pm

Here is a 1999 article about the sale of the theater:
http://tinyurl.com/plabj

Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short on October 6, 2005 at 5:42 pm

Amazing that a property can sit dormant so long, and then come back to life. Similar story at the Fox-Oakland.

Patsy
Patsy on March 26, 2005 at 3:49 pm

I taped the the above show and just watched it. Very good!

Patsy
Patsy on March 23, 2005 at 3:56 pm

BACK TO THE BLUEPRINT
Theaters: Fox Theatre, Tucson, AZ and Saenger Theater, Mobile, AL
Airs on Saturday, March 26 at 2:00pm ET

Episode description: “Talking Pictures” gave birth to a theater-building boom in the 1930s. In an attempt to make going to the movies as memorable as the film itself, architects and engineers constructed buildings that stimulated the senses. From the flashing lights of the marquee to the cushion seats of the balcony, no detail was overlooked. Host Marty Dunham travels to Arizona and visits the Fox Tucson Theatre. While there, he installs new air-conditioning ducts and acoustone—a soundproofing material that dates to the 1920s. Then, Marty visits Santa Theresa Tile Works to recreate the vintage tile that once covered the Fox’s facade. And at the Saenger Theatre in Mobile, Alabama, Marty helps mount a plaster bracket for new box seats and assists in applying gold leafing to this renovated movie house.

Don Lewis
Don Lewis on January 20, 2005 at 1:00 pm

I photographed the FOX and was able to take a look through the doors in late December (2004).

It looks like they are doing a total and complete restoration and a wonderful job!

Backseater
Backseater on October 18, 2004 at 12:08 am

I was stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Base in Tucson in Feb-Mar 1969 and went to the Fox to see Alan Bates in “The Fixer”. Don’t remember much about it, but it was a grand old lady of the classic movie house era. Ah, memories.

JimRankin
JimRankin on May 27, 2004 at 6:39 am

This theatre is one of some 200 that could be described as “Skouras-ized For Showmanship” which is the title of the ANNUAL of 1987 of the Theatre Historical Soc. of America. In the late 1930s through the 1950s, there occurred on the west coast of the United States a phenomenon known as the ‘Skouras style’ in recognition of the oversight of the Skouras brothers in their management of several cinema chains. They employed a designer by the name of Carl G. Moeller to render their cinemas/theatres in a new style best described as ‘Art Moderne meets Streamlined Rococo.’ The then new availability of aluminum sheeting at low cost was the principal material difference to this style allowing for sweeping, 3-dimensional shapes of scrolls to adorn walls and facades in an expression that would have been much more expensive and not at all the same in plaster. With the use of hand tinted and etched aluminum forms, the designers could make ornaments in mass production that allowed much greater economies of scale. The ANNUAL also shows in its 44 pages how some 20 theatres were good examples of this combining of aluminum forms with sweeping draperies heavily hung with large tassels, and with box offices and facades richly treated with neon within the aluminum forms. Few of these examples survive today, but it was a glorious era while it lasted, and this collection of crisp b/w photos is a fitting epitaph by the late Preston Kaufmann.
PHOTOS AVAILABLE:
To obtain any available Back Issue of either “Marquee” or of its ANNUALS, simply go to the web site of the THEATRE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA at:
www.HistoricTheatres.org
and notice on their first page the link “PUBLICATIONS: Back Issues List” and click on that and you will be taken to their listing where they also give ordering details. The “Marquee” magazine is 8-1/2x11 inches tall (‘portrait’) format, and the ANNUALS are also soft cover in the same size, but in the long (‘landscape’) format, and are anywhere from 26 to 44 pages. Should they indicate that a publication is Out Of Print, then it may still be possible to view it via Inter-Library Loan where you go to the librarian at any public or school library and ask them to locate which library has the item by using the Union List of Serials, and your library can then ask the other library to lend it to them for you to read or photocopy. [Photocopies of most THSA publications are available from University Microforms International (UMI), but their prices are exorbitant.]

Note: Most any photo in any of their publications may be had in large size by purchase; see their ARCHIVE link. You should realize that there was no color still photography in the 1920s, so few theatres were seen in color at that time except by means of hand tinted renderings or post cards, thus all the antique photos from the Society will be in black and white, but it is quite possible that the Society has later color images available; it is best to inquire of them.

Should you not be able to contact them via their web site, you may also contact their Executive Director via E-mail at:
Or you may reach them via phone or snail mail at:
Theatre Historical Soc. of America
152 N. York, 2nd Floor York Theatre Bldg.
Elmhurst, ILL. 60126-2806 (they are about 15 miles west of Chicago)

Phone: 630-782-1800 or via FAX at: 630-782-1802 (Monday through Friday, 9AM—4PM, CT)

unknown
unknown on October 20, 2003 at 8:51 am

I have had a alot of good memories at the Fox theatre.. My sister and I use to see movies there in the 1960’s.. I’m glad they are restoring it and hope to see it on my next trip home to Tucson!!!!

johnzo
johnzo on February 5, 2003 at 4:03 pm

I just wanted to fill in some blanks for you on the Fox Theatre in Tucson. The seating capacity is 1,300, and the architect is

Erickson Leader Associates, Architects of Tucson, AZ.

Anthony
Anthony on October 8, 2002 at 2:09 pm

Here is the web site for this theater:

http://www.foxtucsontheatre.org/

Anthony
www.ross-art.com

kwilcox
kwilcox on February 27, 2002 at 1:51 pm

who is doing this renovation? how can I get in touch with them?

DKNelson
DKNelson on February 14, 2002 at 9:11 pm

The architect was M. Eugene Durfee from Santa Monica (at the time of design,1929). I would like to find other projects that he may have designed.

DavePirtle
DavePirtle on June 20, 2001 at 1:22 pm

Browsing the net I find several references to Tuscon AZ, however, the closest city name I can find on my maps is Tucson AZ. Is this an acceptable alternate spelling or is there really a place called Tuscon AZ? If so, where in AZ is it located?