Windsor Theatre
5078 Richmond Avenue,
Houston,
TX
77056
5078 Richmond Avenue,
Houston,
TX
77056
6 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 48 of 48 comments
John—I took ballroom dance classes @ Dance City USA about 1963, during Junior High (translted to Middle School—for the youngsters), but didn’t realize that it was the same bldg I saw Hall & Oates @ around ‘80.
I saw The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, Rollerball, Shenandoah &, best of all—Ice Station Zebra @ the Windsor. Wow! WRoatching that submarine navigating around those icebergs on that incredibly wide screen!!
Folks, I’m sorry—don’t know why that posted twice.
If a moderator could remove the duplicate and this message, I’d be obliged.
Live long enough, you’ll get to sound like your parents: “We didn’t have that when I was your age. They don’t do it the way they used to.”
Well, as far as grand movie houses, they don’t do it the way they used to—and they probably never will again.
I saw “Camelot” at a downtown Chicago theater called the McVickers in 1966. We had reserved seats; the seat assignments were printed on the tickets.
As far as I can recollect, the first Cinerama theater I went in was a United Artists 150 theater at Oakbrook (suburban Chicago). That’s where I first saw “2001: A Space Odyssey” in 1969. Blue velvet rockers, curved screen, the works.
Next place I saw “2001” was at the Gaylynn or Gaylynn Terrace (the latter, I believe) in 1974. Quite a house.
But I was blown away by my first visit to the Windsor in 1975. “Rollerball” played there that summer & into the early fall. The Windsor was a palace. Never went up in the balcony; never had to, because the house was virtually deserted. (My first job had been at a Tercar theater in Baytown, and I knew just enough abut how that company operated to suspect, in looking back, that it was purely a tax write-off or a money-laundering gig somebody really rich set up.) When I had to pay, it cost $3.50 to get in (which was some money in 1975). But mostly I got in on free passes; I went back to watch “Rollerball” repeatedly. The long drive & immersion into the Windsor offered a dandy escape from Baytown.
It was a lush but elegant and classy place. There were faint grayish and powder-blue clouds on the ceiling (in a theater, the area actually called “the cloud”).
Anyhow, it was quite an experience to watch a film there. “Rollerball” doesn’t compare favorably to “2001,” but it was a great place to see movies. It was really nice to get dressed up & take a date there.
I have an original “Rollerball” one-sheet poster on glossy stock, as well as two lobby posters announcing the Houston-Tokyo and Houston-New York games. (I made the mistake of giving away the Houston-Madrid poster. WHY did I do that?) Someday when I can afford to have them framed, the game posters will make nice flankers for the one-sheet.
But I digress.
There was no cable, and nobody had VCRs or DVDs back then. There were only 3 television networks (which explains why they could get away with showing crap like “Happy Days,” “Laverne & Shirley” or “Dallas”). With the wide variety of entertainment options available nowadays, I’m afraid we’ll never see real movie palaces again.
Live long enough, you’ll get to sound like your parents: “We didn’t have that when I was your age. They don’t do it the way they used to.”
Well, as far as grand movie houses, they don’t do it the way they used to—and they probably never will again.
I saw “Camelot” at a downtown Chicago theater called the McVickers in 1966. We had reserved seats; the seat assignments were printed on the tickets.
As far as I can recollect, the first Cinerama theater I went in was a United Artists 150 theater at Oakbrook (suburban Chicago). That’s where I first saw “2001: A Space Odyssey” in 1969. Blue velvet rockers, curved screen, the works.
Next place I saw “2001” was at the Gaylynn or Gaylynn Terrace (the latter, I believe) in 1974. Quite a house.
But I was blown away by my first visit to the Windsor in 1975. “Rollerball” played there that summer & into the early fall. The Windsor was a palace. Never went up in the balcony; never had to, because the house was virtually deserted. (My first job had been at a Tercar theater in Baytown, and I knew just enough abut how that company operated to suspect, in looking back, that it was purely a tax write-off or a money-laundering gig somebody really rich set up.) When I had to pay, it cost $3.50 to get in (which was some money in 1975). But mostly I got in on free passes; I went back to watch “Rollerball” repeatedly. The long drive & immersion into the Windsor offered a dandy escape from Baytown.
It was a lush but elegant and classy place. There were faint grayish and powder-blue clouds on the ceiling (in a theater, the area actually called “the cloud”).
Anyhow, it was quite an experience to watch a film there. “Rollerball” doesn’t compare favorably to “2001,” but it was a great place to see movies. It was really nice to get dressed up & take a date there.
I have an original “Rollerball” one-sheet poster on glossy stock, as well as two lobby posters announcing the Houston-Tokyo and Houston-New York games. (I made the mistake of giving away the Houston-Madrid poster. WHY did I do that?) Someday when I can afford to have them framed, the game posters will make nice flankers for the one-sheet.
But I digress.
There was no cable, and nobody had VCRs or DVDs back then. There were only 3 television networks (which explains why they could get away with showing crap like “Happy Days,” “Laverne & Shirley” or “Dallas”). With the wide variety of entertainment options available nowadays, I’m afraid we’ll never see real movie palaces again.
The Palace, later the Agora (or was it the other way around?) was a nightclub that featured national acts. It was located at the other end of the shopping center from the Windsor Theater, toward 610, rather than Sage, where the Windsor was. I worked for Warner Brothers Records in the early 80s and acts such as the Pretenders and Dire Straits played the Palace at the time.
There is a great site with photos of old Houston theaters at the Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin in the Bailey (Bob) Studios Photographic Archive, ca. 1932-1998. He was a prominent Houston photorgapher who shot wonderful photos of events and buildings of all sorts, including old theaters, some even as they were being built. I don’t know if there are any of the Windsor under the “Cultural Facilities” link (there are 367 photos), but it might be worth looking. The Photos are dated year first, then month and day. View link
WOW! Thanks, William!
Yes, there she is. That beautiful curved screen, those incomparable rocker seats. In the 3rd picture on that site, you get the side view perspective of the auditorium. The green, blue and turquoise circles in the custom, wool carpet are also visible. Changing the bulbs in the spotlights aimed at the screen was a bitch!
What a treasure we have lost.
I have a website that have photos showing the cinerama screen and two photos showing the big blue velvet seats in the windsor theater— here is the website http://cinerama.topcities.com/ctwindsor.htm
I remember my dad took me to my first cinerama picture called grand prix 1966 starring james gardner. When you walked in the theater it had this great indoor carpet and the seats were like big blue velvet rocker seats shaped like lazy boy chairs very comfortable. The screen was huge shaped like a circular screen that wraped around from left to right and the height looked about 9 or 10 feet up. When everyone sat down to watch the film the red velvet curtains would open and on this 70 milameter screen was black and music would play from the movies soundtrack. that music lasted about 15 minutes to let the patrons get there popcorn and drinks from the concession stand in the lobby. this theater was classy in the lobby it had several chandeliers near the ticket booth and concession stand. Seating in this grand theater the music would stop and the film began showing on the screen the cinerama logo and the main title of the film GRAND PRIX. The film was excellant you really felt you were in the drivers seat. It was a long film over two hours about halfway thur the movie the screen went dark and shown on the screen ITERMISSION so people could relax and visit the restrooms or refill drinks or popcorn. Patrons would enter back in the theater before intermission was over so they would see the rest of the film. The screen went black and the film rolled again. At the end of the film the screen went black and read exit music and the soundtrack from the movie came on. These movies were special ROADSHOW ENGAGEMENT . I remember that the film was so real that when i came out of the theater i felt dizzy. I also saw ICE STATION ZEBRA 1968 starring rock hudson another CINERAMA release.
Agora was a live music venue in 1980 and ‘81, very popular at the time. I saw the band The Judys there. Their one-hit was “Ghiana Punch” (sp?) about the Jim Jones mass suicide at the Peoples Temple in S. America. During the concert, they hauled a large vat of Kool-Aid onto the stage and encouraged the audience to “come drink.”
Before it was Agora, it was “Dance City USA” which was a “dance school” where, on certain nights in the 60’s and 70’s, one could go pay to dance. Recall Tina Turner’s hit “Private Dancer” depicting just such a place. In the 70’s, there was a woman murdered outside of the place in the parking lot. Don’t know the details, but it was an older woman who was a “regular” patron of the club. I recall the news story. Evidently she was a River Oaks type. I also recall it was somehow mob related…
As for the Agora Ballroom, I have no idea what happened to it.
DEoes anyone recall a live music club in Windsor Plaza called The Agora Ballroom? I saw Hall & Oates there in the Early 80’s.
Yes, the unique drink cups in the days of the Cinerama domination of the film schedule were part of a VERY limited concession offering. And, actually, I was told that in the first year, no snacks or drinks were allowed in the auditorium due to the fact the ENTIRE FLOOR was carpeted! (Not just the aisle runners were carpeted, but the ENTIRE auditorium.) In 1982, when Cineplex bought the theatre, the carpet was removed from between the rows to reveal the concrete floor below. During the process, MILLIONS of roaches emerged and covered the walls! The place had to be sealed and fumigated to kill all those roaches. One of the few days in the history of the place when it was dark for a whole day and night. (The only other 24 hour cycle when the theatre was dark was during Hurricane Alicia, to the best of my knowledge.)
The first film in 3 camera Cinerama at the Windsor was “The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm.” (1962). It was lame but was the first Cinerama —predating How the West was Won by a little. The Windsor had unique drink cups that were waxy cones similar to an oversize Yoplait Yogurt cup with straw out the top. This was done to keep the floors clean at the luxo Windsor. Going to the Windsor was like going to a special event. My favorite time there was seeing 2001 in Cinerama.
I saw “How the West Was Won”, “My Fair Lady”, “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”, “Grand Prix” and “The Greatest Story Ever Told” at the Windsor. The days of Cinerama wide-screen were wonderful. The Windsor also sold hardcover books about the movies during intermission time. Their drinks were quite expensive as I recall. It truly was a grand experience.
Wow, glad I found this URL about the Windsor. When I was in the 9th grade, we had a school field trip and saw “How the West was Won”. Indeed, what started the hunt to find this website is that I’m playing the soundtrack to the movie with my iTunes.
Needless to say, the Windsor burned a wonderful memory in me. So sad how such a majestic place went down.
Handcrew posted:
I believe the windsor closed late 1987/early 1988 – and it then reopened as a nightclub named Xcess or eXcess – which then became the avalon i believe.
Didn’t Xcess occupy the space in the center of the Windsor Plaza on the other side of World Gym? Did it move there during the plazas renovation in 91?
I do know the owner of Xcess is the one who purchased the theater and opened it as a nightclub but not sure if Avalon was the first name it operated under. If someone knows please let me know.
Also would like to know where I might be able to see exterior and interior pictures of the old Windsor theater.
I was the Manager of the Windsor during 1984. Many fond memories of that most beloved theatre.
During my tenure there beginning in 1979, we played two 70mm films there to HUGE crowds: “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Star Trek: the Search for Spock.” People came from as far away as Conroe to see those shows on the largest screen in Texas.
Windsor opened in December 1962. The interior was absolute early 1960’s. Blues, greens, purples. The seats were blue velveteen rockers. The balcony was stadium seated. (AMC DID NOT pioneer the concept, though they want everyone to believe it.)The balcony seats were the most expensive as they were positioned at mis-point on the screen, so one need only look forward to see the screen. The walls were draped with a fabric colored somewhere between pumpkin and pink. Odd color…
The company which owned the Windsor originally was Tercar Theatres, Charles Paine, president. Tercar sold the Windsor to Cineplex of Texas in 1982. Cineplex did not properly program the place, and it became a dollar house in 1984, then a 50 cent house. It closed soon after.
Windsor Cinerama Theatre was a true jewel lost to incompetance in an industry which disregards its own history and tradition.
I now manage a Loews Cineplex theatre in downtown Chicago, the 600 North Michigan Theatre. Would love to hear from other Windsor Theatre fans! ()
I have many stories about the Windsor…
I believe the windsor closed late 1987/early 1988 – and it then reopened as a nightclub named Xcess or eXcess – which then became the avalon i believe. i remember loving seeing movies at this theatre when i lived in houston in the 1980s. huge, beautiful screen and great presentation – and i remember there being blue velvet everywhere in the interior. unfortunately, they made the balcony a second screen upstairs in the late 1970s – early 1980s.
Meant to include this….
Its is currently closed.
If anyone knows of any incarnation of the Windsor Theater before Avalon please post. Thanks
It opened as a nightclub in 1990 as Avalon
then DV8 (91)
Zazz (tejano) (92-93, 94)
Zazz (R&B/HipHop) (Oct 93-Jan 1 1994)
closed and remodeled as a multiroom nightclub
reopening in mid 94 as
City Streets
If anyone knows of any carnation before Avalon please post. Thanks
I worked at the former Windsor Theater during its Zazz tejano nightclub days (92-93) and used to always wonder what it was like as a theater. I tend to think I might have been there once or twice when I was really little in the early 70s. I do remember going to the Galleria to see movies.
The Gaylynn was a great house, but what Cinerama films played there? Where do you get your info about screen sizes and dates? I don’t doubt it, just interested.
This was Houston’s only Cinerama theater. “How the West Was Won” played there in 1963, but as a 7 year old I couldn’t really appreciate the Cinerama process. After the demise of Cinerama, the theater continued to be a popular venue. The last film I recall seeing there was “That’s Entertainment.”
The old Windsor is now a nightclub, but the new owners did keep the original, distinctive glass front-doors. I worked as an assistant manager at the theater from March 1986-October 1987, and during this time ownership transferred from Cineplex to Cinemark Theaters. It also changed from a first run theater to a dollar theater during this time. We did, however, sponser the 1987 Houston Film Festival in March or April of that year. I loved that job! (Cynthia S., Houston 10/12/04)