Olympia Theatre at Gusman Center
174 E. Flagler Street,
Miami,
FL
33131
174 E. Flagler Street,
Miami,
FL
33131
12 people
favorited this theater
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Here is that mystery link to SPARKS' THEATRES I mentioned above.
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Before it was demolished for the Olympia, this site was the Hippodrome.
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After being awarded an inspection and repair contract for the Gusman Center in 1992, InterAmerica Stage, Inc. provided rigging hardware upgrades, control system repairs and installed a new orchestra shell ceiling hoist and controls. The theatre recently underwent another renovation led by Architect R.J Heisenbottle & Associates. A new auditorium lighting bridge and other improvements were achieved. Every year the Miami International Film Festival is hosted by the Gusman Center.
http://iastage.com/historical_renovations
Although the Olympia appears to have opened at a PUBLIX theatre, the precursor of ABC Florida State Theatres, I have recently purchased a January 1932 Newsletter from SPARKS' Theatres listing it as one of theirs on that date.
January 29, 30, 31 RUDY VALEE in Person!
Stanleigh Malotte at the mighty organ!
Saturday Midnight Show at 11:30pm Eddie cantor in THE KID FROM SPAIN
Other sites included are:
Coral Gables (not the Gables on Ponce de Leon)
Paramount (downtown house looking nothing like the one I remember) Roxy (24 East 1st Avenue)
Rex (205 East Flagler Street)
Rosetta (Little River, later a Wometco site)
Community (Miami Beach)
Does anyone have any info on SPARKS and their Miami history? I had never heard of them and I worked for ABC for over 7 years in the 70’s.
Yes, regarding the claim of the Olympia being the “first of many atmospheric Eberson theaters,” according to information posted on this site:
The Dallas Majestic Theater opened in April 11, 1921.
/theaters/227/
The Wichita Orpheum Theater opened in September 4, 1922.
/theaters/381/
The Houston Majestic Theater opened in January 29, 1923.
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The Capitol Theater, Chicago, opened January 19th. 1925
All preceded the 1926 opening of Eberson’s Paramount Olympia in Miami.
What a great postcard!
It was already there by 1926 so this must be an opening postcard. I believe it was always Publix with the company eventually becoming Florida State Theatres, then ABC Florida State. By the time ABC became Plitt Theatres, the Olympia was already Gusman Hall having spent a few years of Blaxploitation and horror flicks.
I was lucky enough to get 5 minutes inside the stunning Olympia when I was in Miami last januari. It was a tuesday night and the theatre was closed, but a lovely lady who was about to close off and go home let me in for just a bit. There was no one else there but her and two friends and me and my girlfriend. As we were making her wait, all I could do is take a couple of pictures and be awed by my first atmospheric experience. Check out the photos on my flickrstream: View link
I also purchased an old postcard from around the opening time I think, or actually, when did it become a ‘Publix’ theatre? View link
Does anybody know anything about a former Strand Theatre in Miami?
One morning while communting from my home in Hollywood down to my job in Coral Gables, I decided to avoid the terrible traffic on I-95 and find some avenue that ran parallel to the interstate. And somewhere between NW 29th Street and NW 14th Street along NW 7th Avenue I found a small theatre with a marquee and classic double doors. It was labeled the STRAND with the S having fallen off some time ago. It currently seems to be a small church/prayer home now. I will try to take some pictures of it. Can anybody here identify what part of town/neighborhood we would call this area? It’s definitely industrial and very poor. Perhaps that might help with some research (where I’m finding NO luck).
One of the last times I went to the Gusman, was to catch a thrilling performance by a flamenco dancer whose name, oddly, escapes me at the moment (I want to say Paco de Lucia, but that can’t be right, since he’s a renowned flamenco guitarrist, of course).
This must’ve been around 1991.
It is true that I have attended the odd piano recital and Miami Film Festival showing, there, but despite these forays, I can’t say that the Gusman is one of my favourite places, save for its wonderful décor, it goes without saying.
From marble railings, and gold-leaf relief cherubs surrounding the lobby, not to mention the sumptuous bathroom facilities, with genuine red brocade pouffes in front of a Versailles-sized mirrors, the Gusman is a true moviepalace relic of a sadly bygone age.
I think what prevents it from fulfilling its promise, is that Miamians are notoriously fickle about location, and as soon as the 1970s-early 1980s drive to the southwest “suburbs” began, the Gusman was a goner as popular venue.
Parking — including its outrageous valet prices — and the rough, seedy quality of downtown Miami after dark, didn’t help.
For décor, nothing can beat the Gusman (named after Maurice Gusman, the local patron of the Arts, who made his fortune in rubber: raffishly, he was known as the Condom King to us locals, since it was rumoured that was his number one product).
N.B.: This theatre is not to be confused with the much later, much more modern theatre with practically the same name, within the University of Miami’s campus in Coral Gables.
GAGA & YOYO at Olympia
The old Olympia Theatre in downtown Miami was my first introduction to the movie palace. My grandmother, Adele Valibus (GaGa to me) was a buyer for Burdines department stores and had her office nearby. My mother and aunt spent much of their childhood at the Olympia while their mom was at work. My mother often talked of being scared silly by some version of Phantom of the Opera that showed there when she was a kid. When I was a boy in the 1960’s it was always referred to as The OLD Olympia theatre. GaGa took me to there to see Boatniks and Herbie the Love Bug movies. More than the movies I liked the slightly run down ornate interiors, starry ceiling, odd spaces and balconies. I think I remember a suit of armor that made me a little a nervous. When I was in 6th grade the Olympia had become Gusman Hall and our class from the Cushman School went to see Yoyo Ma perform when I believe he was making his American debut. We were very excited because he was just a little older than us and was getting a lot of publicity. I’ve been is several spectacular theatres since then but for purely sentimental reasons the Olympia Theatre is my favorite of all time.
Wow. They even put back the fake foliage and birds. Nicely done!
Tonight I found a very nice website with much information and many photographs of the Olympia. Check it out: http://www.sftos.org/olympia01.htm
As a native Miamian I went to the Olympia many times in the forties and fifties. My dad would take us there to see the “stage shows.” He told us it was the last theatre south of Atlanta that was booking vaudeville acts. Not long after its renovation as the Gusman my wife and I went to see Don McLean perform. It was precisely as I remembered it. They preserved the wonderful ambience of the Olympia.
Remember “The Police” performing there in the early 80’s. Footage of that concert is released under “Police Live” DVD. Also, worked for Univision and did a lot of live special events. Great venue!
A belated “Happy 80th” to the Gusman/Olympia! Spent most of Februarys there for the first 18 years of the Miami Film Festival, with periodic visits for the likes of Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, Dead Can Dance (what turned out to be one of their final performances), Nina Simone (ditto), and the now-defunct Florida Philharmonic.
We came close to losing this one to demolition for a parking garage (until Coppertone suntan products mogul Maurice Gusman stepped in), and it’s almost fallen victim to political whim through the years, including one city commissioner’s proposal to convert the space to a flea market.
Favorite Gusman/Olympia evening: the Miami Film Fest’s 1989 revival of “The Wind” (Lillian Gish), accompanied by the Florida Philharmonic under guest conductor Carl Davis. Ten minute standing ovation, continuing with calls of “Bravo” to musicians down the streets, all the way to the parking garage.
The Olympia Theatre opened on February 26th. 1926.
This is now known as OLYMPIA THEATRE AT GUSMAN HALL. Common sense prevails!
Wow! What memories…, It had for those days a marvelously large movie screen….
Before it became Gussman hall, I rember going to the OLYMPIA to see John Wayne in: THE GREEN BERETS!, that was the most beautiful house on Flager street!
Have seen Barbara Cook In Concert here and for many years The Miami International Film Festival. This was until one year unclaimed seats were sold at the last minute and instead of waiting for the patrons to enter and make their way to seating, the lights went out, the program started and the aisles were filled with the lastest arrivals who sat there throughout the film.
I’ve never revisited.
Have seen Barbara Cook In Concert here and for many years The Miami International Film Festival. This was until one year unclaimed seats were sold at the last minute and instead of waiting for the patrons to enter and make their way to seating, the lights went out, the program started and the aisles were filled with the lastest arrivals who sat there throughout the film.
I never revisited.
The Olympia is a true palace. As a kid I would just stare at the walls and the ceiling when the movie got boring. I often went in at 11:00am and came out after dark having seen the same film over and over again. A smuggled in hoagie from the nearby Woolworths provided a meal.
This was the downtown home of most Disney and Doris Day films, the only ones I could get into. I often asked strangers to accompany me to R rated films and they willingly obliged in that more innocent age. I saw WILD IN THE STREETS, THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY, and BONNIE AND CLYDE this way.
The floating clouds and cool air conditioning made me a cinema buff for life. In the early 70’s the Miami Police shut down the 3-D soft core porn flick THE STEWARDESSES and arrested manager Jimmy Barnett.
For more information on Downtown Miami cinemas and Jimmy Barnett check out a documentary by University of Miami professor Corky Irick called A FEW THINGS I KNOW ABOUT MIAMI. It can be found at the Coral Gables public library on VHS.
Here is a pic, look at that great box-office
http://www.agilitynut.com/05/1/olympia.jpg
In a previous post I mentioned that my husband knows the man who bought the Paramount sign….he still owns it today, but it is one of the original signs and not the curved sign that still exists on the building that isn’t used as a theatre anymore. And now there is a link to this Paramount on CT.
Small photos and brief history at this link:
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