The Plains Theatre was designed by Jack Corgan in 1946 for Theatre Enterprises. It was built of reinforced concrete. The Plains seated approximately 1000 on its main floor. At one side of the projection booth was a cry room and on the other -due to the regrettable segregation laws of the time- were 30 seats for “colored” patrons.
A triangle marquee and an elegant vertical sign were the main architectural features.
It was in the Brooklyn Paramount in 1930 that Ethel Merman really hit the big time. Obviously, Merman was alread on the way to being a star or she wouldn’t have been performing in such a first rate venue, but her voice and personality filling that 4000 seat hall got her some serious attention. Can you image the Paramount orchestra, the organ and Ethel Merman belting out an Irving Berlin tune? Really, I was born 60 years too late.
The 1989 film “Great Balls of Fire” about Jerry Lee Lewis includes a scene set in the Brooklyn Paramount. (Remember that incident when JLL set the piano on fire?) The Memphis Orpheum was the stand-in hall. Maybe I should say the Orpheum acted the part of the Paramount. Of course the Orpheum looks nothing like the Brooklyn Paramount, but the film was made in Memphis and the it’s a big, pretty hall so in the eyes of the director, close enough. They used the Orpheum’s marquee with the Orpheum name covered. There were a couple of absolutely ridiculous changes to the interior which are, mercifully, only briefly seen and were taken down after filming. The director appearantly had never been in a movie palace before: he certainly didn’t know ANYTHING about basic cinema presentation. He didn’t even know that the Brooklyn Paramount had had anything to do with Paramount Pictures. Clueless. CLUELESS! The whole film was awful beyond words.
Gary Smith responded privately to my question about the Tivoli’s Wurlitzer organ. He consented to have his note posted here. Thanks Gary.
Will,
Didn’t know if anyone has responded to your inquiry about the Tivoli Wurlitzer but here is what I know about;
Opus Number 780, a 3-manual 12-rank 235 Special. A Post Horn rank was added when the theater was remodeled in the late 80’s. The electronics were upgraded at the same time under the technical assistance of theater organist Tom Hazleton to make the organ more user friendly. Although the organ is not used it is still playable and checked about twice a year by Larry Donaldson from Birmingham, AL. who is the crew chief for the wonderful organ at the Alabama Theater. Presently the organ is stored backstage.
I have had the opportunity to play this organ (although not a
professional). It will not blow your socks off with sound but as Tom Hazleton once said when he played that it “fills the room nicely”.
Jim, well said. One old theater manger mentioned another possible rationale for the minimal “facilities” using minimal words that will mean nothing to people under a certain age.
I was in the beautiful Tennessee Theatre last week. The renovation is progressing at full speed. The old stage house and dressing rooms are gone, the new under construction. Broken and missing terazzo, plaster, crystal, marble are all being replaced with exacting skill. Whoever thought we’d see brand new book matched verde antique marble going in? The auditorium is scaffolded so that you can “pet the horsey” (the manager is having a ball with that one) that stands at the top of the proscenium. Evergreen Studios has replicated and installed endless moldings and medallions with uncanny sharpness and attention to detail. Axminster carpets has recreated the original patterns. Broken and missing light fixtures, removed decades ago are repaired and going in.
The entire building has been retro-fitted with fire sprinklers. Even standing in the (relatively low-ceilinged) orchestra foyer, with bright work lights on and looking for the sprinkler heads I couldn’t find them until they were pointed out. Evergreen Studios to rescue again!
The current mangement and three major benefactors have been uncompromising in their attention to detail and their dedication to quality.
William, thanks for your response. I saw the Jersey during the renovation. The tri-plex era partition walls had been removed. All the seats had been taken out for refurbishing (?) replacement(?).
Ben Hall mentions “an acre of seats in a garden of splendor.” This was more like an acre of scaffolds, ladders, organ parts and extension cords in a garden of somewhat seedy but still undeniable splendor.
My question about the restrooms is that the Jersey was built without a lower lounge. The ONLY restrooms were the single suite under the balcony. If memory serves, it was something like 16 stalls split equally between men and women. Apparently, in 1929 Loew’s thought the restroom traffic would be a continuous trickle (a-hem) rather than the sort of intermission flood we expect today.
I’m curious if extra facilities have been added: a huge expense and a difficult architectural problem. Who is the architect that’s working on this project?
Having grown up in Lebanon during the 1960’s and 70’s I remember the Capitol quite fondly. Our 3rd grade teacher arranged for a special showing of Gone With the Wind as a field trip. There was a kiddy horror show with a pretty minimal stage presentation followed by Night of the Living Dead. I was afraid to go near the creek after seeing Jaws. I squirmed very uncomfortably sitting next to mom watching The Way We Were.
There was no parking lot so IF you drove, you parked on the town square (a half-block away) or across the street behind the bank. It was just as easy to walk the 7 blocks from our house.
The Capitol had no place to put it’s big yellow trash dumpster so it sat out on the sidewalk under the marquee. Somehow to a little kid in a small town, that didn’t seem strange.
You could (still can) see the Capitol’s vertical sign all the way down West Main Street to Castle Heights. The letters were in dancing white lights with a large disk of of lights at the top. Green neon edged the triange marquee.
There was a storefront adjacent to the lobby built as part of the theater. The green neon marquee edging extended over the storefront windows. For years it was home to Western Auto who displayed their Radio Flyer wagons and Schwinn bicycles on the sidewalk next to the dumpster.
The Capitol was part of the Martin chain. It closed when they opened a tri-plex in a shopping center. There was a restriction on the deed of sale that the Capitol couldn’t be used as a theater for 20 years. That time span is long past.
More history: the Marquee and the giant vertical sign survived the various owners and renovations. The original marquee had milk-glass letters and electric waterfalls cascading on each of the three sides. The name ORPHEUM was spelled out in incandescent lamps on the front.
The vertical sign hangs at the corner of Main and Beale. The bottom of the sign is about 20' above the sidewalk, the sign itself is about 55' tall. It had single stroke neon spelling the name ORPHEUM with an incandescent cascade/surround.
When MALCO bought the hall (on the courthouse steps in 1940) they simply had new neon channel letters put on the vertical sign and a script MALCO covered the original name on the marquee.
During the 1950s the sign boards were replaced with white, back-lit boards and metal letters.
When the Memphis Development Foundation bought the hall in 1976 it was very simple to restore the original designs.
The vertical sign was completely rebuilt in the last renovation and an electronic display replaced the old sign boards.
I got a tour of the magnificent Jersey while it was under renovation. There’s nothing like a movie palace – even seen at its absolute worst – unwired, unplumbed, undraped, unseated. But even in that sorry state the Loew’s Jersey deserves the title Wonder Theater. Rapp and Rapp at their best.
Three questions guys and girls:
(1) How has the Jersey overcome its SERIOUS lack of restrooms. As built it had no under-lobby lounge and only one men’s and one women’s under the balcony: WOEFULLY inadequate for modern requirements.
(2) One of the “Wonder Morton” theater organs had been found and was to be installed. Was this project completed?
(3) How did you get “Michael’s” comments removed from this page? What can I do to get his comments removed from others? His singleminded and repetitive comments really shouldn’t annoy me (or any of us) but jeez! they sure do.
Michael, the orchestra plays next door at the Orpheum. Rock concerts play across the street at the Saenger. The State Palace is trying to get any booking it can.
C Checo, when talking to your film distributors, just ask for Spanish language editions. They’ll gladly supply you with the appropriate prints (or disks or tapes or what ever format you’re using in your presentation).
I can also suggest you talk with Music Box Theatre Consulting in Chicago. The operators of Chicago’s premier independent theater also provide professional help for other independent operators. You’ll find them at musicboxtheatre.com.
Bob Chaney and Chris Carlo turned the run-down, abandonded, all-but-condemned Music Box into one of the best loved (and most profitable) theaters in Chicago. It can’t hurt to give them a call to find out what they charge for consulting.
Buenas suerte! No puedo esperar a ver su teatro.
Will Dunklin
Knoxville, Tennessee
I really don’t know. These are Regal’s hometown, prestige theaters that are otherwise first rate halls. I have nothing but the highest praise for Regal’s operation. The facilities themselves are far nicer than a town Knoxville’s size would otherwise have. It is indeed a cheap way to get advertising screen: this has replaced the endless slide show of movie trivia and local car-lot specials. I’ll make some phone calls, see if I can find out the equipment make/model and get back to you. But first…
Nice thread folks. As a former theater manager myself I hope you’ll take WGTRay’s Feb 23 posting to heart. He KNOWS what he’s saying. Booking films isn’t too hard, but it is strickly regulated.
There are reasons why there are no small single screen theaters anymore. I wish it were otherwise, since I too would love to own/operate one. If you think paying for the film is rough, wait until you see your insurance bill.
I’d like to chime in on quality issues though. I live in Knoxville Tennessee with the headquarters of Regal Cinemas just down the street. A couple of Regal’s halls here are using digital projection for about 20 minutes before the trailers start. It’s walk-in stuff: some advertising, some music video, some trivia questions, mostly forgettable.
Well call me a snob, but it looks AWFUL. The picture is bright enough, the sound is excellent, but the image resolution makes my skin crawl. The picture quality HAS to improve before they start releasing features in this format. I simply won’t buy a ticket (or any popcorn!) to see an image that bad.
Best wishes and good luck. Prove me wrong on this one and I’ll pat you on the back and buy a ticket (and some popcorn!).
In the days when New York’s Metropolitan Opera toured the country in a leased train, the Fox with its spacious orchestra pit, large stage and copious dressing room facilities was an annual stop. What a change from the grand, formal surroundings of the Met’s home! To have heard the Met perform AIDA in the “Arabian Nights” Fox would have been an experience to remember for a lifetime!
I visited the Palace in the Fall of 1992. Entering through the stage door, or rather, where the stage door once hung, I stepped into a sight which I will not soon forget.
The walls of the Palace are Crab Orchard Stone (a lovely local stone, yellow in color) on the outside and concrete block on the inside. The masonry was in good shape, however the roof was laying on the seats. The steel trusses still crossed from side to side, but the ENTIRE wooden roof deck had collapsed into the auditorium. The wood-framed balcony likewise had sagged to the point where it didn’t look adviseable to walk beneath it.
The little 1-story lobby was more or less intact as was the box office and quite handsome marquee. Since the wooden stairs looked as rotten and the balcony, I didn’t try going upstairs.
The subsiquent restoration has been nothing short of phenominal. To restore this all-but-destroyed building and creating a vibrant community theater shows talent, dedication, forsight and exceedingly rare good common sense!
Congratulations to the committee who performed this minor miracle!
(1) the seating capacity after the 1982-83 renovation was 2371 regular seats, 6 wheelchair locations and 120 box seats. The original seating capacity was a little over 2800.
(2) The fire that destroyed the old Orpheum started in the 4th floor “sweatshop” above the lobby after the Monday evening April 16, 1923 show. The headliner that night was Blossom Seeley. Also on the bill was Bert Lahr (best remembered as the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz). The show was over and the audience mostly gone when the fire was discovered. There was time to remove much of the equipment/props/personal effects before the fire breached the auditorium/lobby firewall, raced across the auditorium ceiling and ignited the canvas and oil-painted stage drops in an blast that took down the limestone stage house.
(I’m retelling the story as it appeared in the newspapers the next day. Many thanks to the Memphis Public Library.)
Though the building was a complete loss, there were no injuries. Maybe the Grand Opera House (the old Orpheum) deserves its own listing in this directory.
The organist for the opening night at the Saenger was Rosa Rio. She went on to a respected career as an organist in New York where whe played in radio, television, ball rooms and fine restaurants. She is still living (age 98) and playing the organ quite well in Florida.
I visited and toured the Loew’s State during 1988 and have not seen it since, but these are my recollections.
The State (as well as the Saenger) has a large handsome lobby to direct patrons past the store fronts on Canal Street. The most usual aspect of this (and the Saenger) is that the lobby is “T” shaped with large door ways opening onto each of the side streets. Beyond the head of the “T” is the orchestra foyer with its own doors opening onto the side streets.
Like many other Thomas Lamb Loew’s theaters, there is only a single large balcony, no mezzanine.
I remember the State being tripled at that time, with 2 screens under the balcony and the balcony seats looking onto the proscenium screen.
The stage was hemp.
The one thing that I will always remember about that trip was the carpet in the orchestra aisles. It must have been original to 1926 (?) as it was worn through the pile, through the backing and through the pad all the way down to bare concrete.
There was a photo of the theater soon after it opened showing a cooling tower on the stage-house roof with the words “Loew’s Vaudeville” painted on the slats.
In the old projection booth were the old Ashcraft Super Cinex projection lamps sitting on even older bases. Newer automated equipment was actually running.
The RKO Orpheum dates from the early 1920’s. The architect was G. A. Landsberg (sp?).
The neo-classical facade is continuous with the two adjoining buildings but masks alleys on each side of the auditorium.
The lobby is quite small opening into an orchestra foyer with stairs at each end of the foyer. There is no grand stair.
The first balcony (and it is a full size balcony, not a mezzanine) was for white customers. The second balcony was “colored only” from the regrettable days of Jim Crow laws.
The stairs to the first balcony rise from the orchestra foyer. The stairs to the second balcony rise from the exterior alleys. The racially segregated stairways “helix” around each other with a 3-door (sic!) passenger elevator rising in the middle of the stairwell. The elevator only served the white clients and due to the complex geometry of the stairs, had to open on 3 sides in order to meet the various landings. Even with such a complex arrangement, patrons taking the elevator still face steps up and down getting to their seats.
The rise of the two balconies is QUITE steep. Built before Orpheum Vaudeville was showing films, in the 1920’s a projection booth had to be added. The booth was shoe-horned into the rear of the first balcony.
The Orpheum is completely cove lit with numerous plaster “mushrooms” ringing the ceiling and a large master ‘shroom" in the center. Additional coves line the walls. The orchestra foyer had chandeliers though they are long gone.
There was no provision made for an organ in the original design. In the mid-1920’s a small 2-manual Wurlitzer was added in a single chamber on house left. Space was carved out a half-dome above the 2nd balcony box. The organ shutters were covered with a simple plaster lattice. For appearace sake the half dome on house right was also covered with a lattice, but the ornamental half-dome survives hidden behind the lattice.
The auditorium is nearly intact. The orchestra boxes which lined both sides of the “main” floor have been cut up in an attempt at accessibility. The step-down boxes still line both sides of both balconies. The lobbies and restrooms have been remodeled beyond recognition. The original (1-story) lobby was faced with ornamental white terra-cotta, much of which has been lost. None of the theater’s art or furniture survive.
The stage is rigged and spacious with dressing rooms provided. The very deep orchestra pit has been floored over creating a storage room with a curved front in the basement.
In the basement is/was a large open tank which originally held ice for air conditioning.
It is a lovely hall in the company of 2 other lovely halls in downtown New Orleans. The atmospheric Saenger and the grand Thomas Lamb Adam-style Loew’s State (now known as the State Palace) just behind the Orpheum’s stage door.
The Loew’s State auditorium was built into an older warehouse which fronted Second Street. Second Street wasn’t a suitable address for such a prestigious theater so Loew’s aquired a single storefront on Main Street which aligned with the warehouse/auditorium on 2nd. Unfortunately, there was an alley between the two building which the City of Memphis would not allow Loew’s to close off. The solution? The storefront was gutted and turned into a lovely half-block-long lobby which ended in a single grand stairway. This stairway rose to a level high enough to allow a bridge over the alley and entered the auditorium at balcony level.
When the LS was not at peak capacity, the sign on the stairs said “downstairs closed” instead of the usual “balcony closed” so familiar to those going to the movies in the 1960’s.
The State had a vaudeville stage and pit. The hall was never renovated during its life and so retained all it’s Thomas Lamb “Loew’s Adam” decor to the end.
The first organ in the Loew’s State was a Moller. It was replaced by a Wurlitzer in the mid-1920’s. The 2 big Loew’s theaters in downtown Memphis were under construction at the same time and both the Mollers and the Wurlitzers were consecutive opus numbers.
There are photos of the Loew’s State and some vaudville “playbills” in the archives of the Memphis Pubilc Library.
Lest anyone panic, the 2nd screen was added by opening into retail space adjacent to the lobby. The main auditorium remains in excellent condition thanks to the talent, forsight and hard work of the current management (who cannot be commended enough!).
The Music Box never had an organ until an electronic theatre style organ was installed in the early 1980’s. As with many smaller theaters built at the end of the 1920’s provision was made for installing an organ later, should talkies have proven to be only a fad. Later, air conditioning equipment was installed in the organ chambers.
Both lobby and auditorium were built in atmospheric style, with a Spanish flavor to the side wall architecture.
The Music Box projection booth is a technical tour-de-force equipped to show 16mm, 35mm, and 70mm film as well as 3-D and silent at original speed. Sound equipment includes regular optical, magentic stereo and digital.
The Plains Theatre was designed by Jack Corgan in 1946 for Theatre Enterprises. It was built of reinforced concrete. The Plains seated approximately 1000 on its main floor. At one side of the projection booth was a cry room and on the other -due to the regrettable segregation laws of the time- were 30 seats for “colored” patrons.
A triangle marquee and an elegant vertical sign were the main architectural features.
It was in the Brooklyn Paramount in 1930 that Ethel Merman really hit the big time. Obviously, Merman was alread on the way to being a star or she wouldn’t have been performing in such a first rate venue, but her voice and personality filling that 4000 seat hall got her some serious attention. Can you image the Paramount orchestra, the organ and Ethel Merman belting out an Irving Berlin tune? Really, I was born 60 years too late.
Warren, thanks for the clarification. Do you accept personal e-mails?
The 1989 film “Great Balls of Fire” about Jerry Lee Lewis includes a scene set in the Brooklyn Paramount. (Remember that incident when JLL set the piano on fire?) The Memphis Orpheum was the stand-in hall. Maybe I should say the Orpheum acted the part of the Paramount. Of course the Orpheum looks nothing like the Brooklyn Paramount, but the film was made in Memphis and the it’s a big, pretty hall so in the eyes of the director, close enough. They used the Orpheum’s marquee with the Orpheum name covered. There were a couple of absolutely ridiculous changes to the interior which are, mercifully, only briefly seen and were taken down after filming. The director appearantly had never been in a movie palace before: he certainly didn’t know ANYTHING about basic cinema presentation. He didn’t even know that the Brooklyn Paramount had had anything to do with Paramount Pictures. Clueless. CLUELESS! The whole film was awful beyond words.
Gary Smith responded privately to my question about the Tivoli’s Wurlitzer organ. He consented to have his note posted here. Thanks Gary.
Will,
Didn’t know if anyone has responded to your inquiry about the Tivoli Wurlitzer but here is what I know about;
Opus Number 780, a 3-manual 12-rank 235 Special. A Post Horn rank was added when the theater was remodeled in the late 80’s. The electronics were upgraded at the same time under the technical assistance of theater organist Tom Hazleton to make the organ more user friendly. Although the organ is not used it is still playable and checked about twice a year by Larry Donaldson from Birmingham, AL. who is the crew chief for the wonderful organ at the Alabama Theater. Presently the organ is stored backstage.
I have had the opportunity to play this organ (although not a
professional). It will not blow your socks off with sound but as Tom Hazleton once said when he played that it “fills the room nicely”.
Gary Smith
Jim, well said. One old theater manger mentioned another possible rationale for the minimal “facilities” using minimal words that will mean nothing to people under a certain age.
He simply said “This is where we came in.”
And I think this is where I came in. Gotta go….
I was in the beautiful Tennessee Theatre last week. The renovation is progressing at full speed. The old stage house and dressing rooms are gone, the new under construction. Broken and missing terazzo, plaster, crystal, marble are all being replaced with exacting skill. Whoever thought we’d see brand new book matched verde antique marble going in? The auditorium is scaffolded so that you can “pet the horsey” (the manager is having a ball with that one) that stands at the top of the proscenium. Evergreen Studios has replicated and installed endless moldings and medallions with uncanny sharpness and attention to detail. Axminster carpets has recreated the original patterns. Broken and missing light fixtures, removed decades ago are repaired and going in.
The entire building has been retro-fitted with fire sprinklers. Even standing in the (relatively low-ceilinged) orchestra foyer, with bright work lights on and looking for the sprinkler heads I couldn’t find them until they were pointed out. Evergreen Studios to rescue again!
The current mangement and three major benefactors have been uncompromising in their attention to detail and their dedication to quality.
Reopening is scheduled for January 2005.
William, thanks for your response. I saw the Jersey during the renovation. The tri-plex era partition walls had been removed. All the seats had been taken out for refurbishing (?) replacement(?).
Ben Hall mentions “an acre of seats in a garden of splendor.” This was more like an acre of scaffolds, ladders, organ parts and extension cords in a garden of somewhat seedy but still undeniable splendor.
My question about the restrooms is that the Jersey was built without a lower lounge. The ONLY restrooms were the single suite under the balcony. If memory serves, it was something like 16 stalls split equally between men and women. Apparently, in 1929 Loew’s thought the restroom traffic would be a continuous trickle (a-hem) rather than the sort of intermission flood we expect today.
I’m curious if extra facilities have been added: a huge expense and a difficult architectural problem. Who is the architect that’s working on this project?
Having grown up in Lebanon during the 1960’s and 70’s I remember the Capitol quite fondly. Our 3rd grade teacher arranged for a special showing of Gone With the Wind as a field trip. There was a kiddy horror show with a pretty minimal stage presentation followed by Night of the Living Dead. I was afraid to go near the creek after seeing Jaws. I squirmed very uncomfortably sitting next to mom watching The Way We Were.
There was no parking lot so IF you drove, you parked on the town square (a half-block away) or across the street behind the bank. It was just as easy to walk the 7 blocks from our house.
The Capitol had no place to put it’s big yellow trash dumpster so it sat out on the sidewalk under the marquee. Somehow to a little kid in a small town, that didn’t seem strange.
You could (still can) see the Capitol’s vertical sign all the way down West Main Street to Castle Heights. The letters were in dancing white lights with a large disk of of lights at the top. Green neon edged the triange marquee.
There was a storefront adjacent to the lobby built as part of the theater. The green neon marquee edging extended over the storefront windows. For years it was home to Western Auto who displayed their Radio Flyer wagons and Schwinn bicycles on the sidewalk next to the dumpster.
The Capitol was part of the Martin chain. It closed when they opened a tri-plex in a shopping center. There was a restriction on the deed of sale that the Capitol couldn’t be used as a theater for 20 years. That time span is long past.
More history: the Marquee and the giant vertical sign survived the various owners and renovations. The original marquee had milk-glass letters and electric waterfalls cascading on each of the three sides. The name ORPHEUM was spelled out in incandescent lamps on the front.
The vertical sign hangs at the corner of Main and Beale. The bottom of the sign is about 20' above the sidewalk, the sign itself is about 55' tall. It had single stroke neon spelling the name ORPHEUM with an incandescent cascade/surround.
When MALCO bought the hall (on the courthouse steps in 1940) they simply had new neon channel letters put on the vertical sign and a script MALCO covered the original name on the marquee.
During the 1950s the sign boards were replaced with white, back-lit boards and metal letters.
When the Memphis Development Foundation bought the hall in 1976 it was very simple to restore the original designs.
The vertical sign was completely rebuilt in the last renovation and an electronic display replaced the old sign boards.
I got a tour of the magnificent Jersey while it was under renovation. There’s nothing like a movie palace – even seen at its absolute worst – unwired, unplumbed, undraped, unseated. But even in that sorry state the Loew’s Jersey deserves the title Wonder Theater. Rapp and Rapp at their best.
Three questions guys and girls:
(1) How has the Jersey overcome its SERIOUS lack of restrooms. As built it had no under-lobby lounge and only one men’s and one women’s under the balcony: WOEFULLY inadequate for modern requirements.
(2) One of the “Wonder Morton” theater organs had been found and was to be installed. Was this project completed?
(3) How did you get “Michael’s” comments removed from this page? What can I do to get his comments removed from others? His singleminded and repetitive comments really shouldn’t annoy me (or any of us) but jeez! they sure do.
Michael, the orchestra plays next door at the Orpheum. Rock concerts play across the street at the Saenger. The State Palace is trying to get any booking it can.
C Checo, when talking to your film distributors, just ask for Spanish language editions. They’ll gladly supply you with the appropriate prints (or disks or tapes or what ever format you’re using in your presentation).
I can also suggest you talk with Music Box Theatre Consulting in Chicago. The operators of Chicago’s premier independent theater also provide professional help for other independent operators. You’ll find them at musicboxtheatre.com.
Bob Chaney and Chris Carlo turned the run-down, abandonded, all-but-condemned Music Box into one of the best loved (and most profitable) theaters in Chicago. It can’t hurt to give them a call to find out what they charge for consulting.
Buenas suerte! No puedo esperar a ver su teatro.
Will Dunklin
Knoxville, Tennessee
I really don’t know. These are Regal’s hometown, prestige theaters that are otherwise first rate halls. I have nothing but the highest praise for Regal’s operation. The facilities themselves are far nicer than a town Knoxville’s size would otherwise have. It is indeed a cheap way to get advertising screen: this has replaced the endless slide show of movie trivia and local car-lot specials. I’ll make some phone calls, see if I can find out the equipment make/model and get back to you. But first…
I’m ready for my nap now Mr. DeMille.
Nice thread folks. As a former theater manager myself I hope you’ll take WGTRay’s Feb 23 posting to heart. He KNOWS what he’s saying. Booking films isn’t too hard, but it is strickly regulated.
There are reasons why there are no small single screen theaters anymore. I wish it were otherwise, since I too would love to own/operate one. If you think paying for the film is rough, wait until you see your insurance bill.
I’d like to chime in on quality issues though. I live in Knoxville Tennessee with the headquarters of Regal Cinemas just down the street. A couple of Regal’s halls here are using digital projection for about 20 minutes before the trailers start. It’s walk-in stuff: some advertising, some music video, some trivia questions, mostly forgettable.
Well call me a snob, but it looks AWFUL. The picture is bright enough, the sound is excellent, but the image resolution makes my skin crawl. The picture quality HAS to improve before they start releasing features in this format. I simply won’t buy a ticket (or any popcorn!) to see an image that bad.
Best wishes and good luck. Prove me wrong on this one and I’ll pat you on the back and buy a ticket (and some popcorn!).
Will Dunklin
Knoxville, Tennessee
In the days when New York’s Metropolitan Opera toured the country in a leased train, the Fox with its spacious orchestra pit, large stage and copious dressing room facilities was an annual stop. What a change from the grand, formal surroundings of the Met’s home! To have heard the Met perform AIDA in the “Arabian Nights” Fox would have been an experience to remember for a lifetime!
I visited the Palace in the Fall of 1992. Entering through the stage door, or rather, where the stage door once hung, I stepped into a sight which I will not soon forget.
The walls of the Palace are Crab Orchard Stone (a lovely local stone, yellow in color) on the outside and concrete block on the inside. The masonry was in good shape, however the roof was laying on the seats. The steel trusses still crossed from side to side, but the ENTIRE wooden roof deck had collapsed into the auditorium. The wood-framed balcony likewise had sagged to the point where it didn’t look adviseable to walk beneath it.
The little 1-story lobby was more or less intact as was the box office and quite handsome marquee. Since the wooden stairs looked as rotten and the balcony, I didn’t try going upstairs.
The subsiquent restoration has been nothing short of phenominal. To restore this all-but-destroyed building and creating a vibrant community theater shows talent, dedication, forsight and exceedingly rare good common sense!
Congratulations to the committee who performed this minor miracle!
A correction and comment please:
(1) the seating capacity after the 1982-83 renovation was 2371 regular seats, 6 wheelchair locations and 120 box seats. The original seating capacity was a little over 2800.
(2) The fire that destroyed the old Orpheum started in the 4th floor “sweatshop” above the lobby after the Monday evening April 16, 1923 show. The headliner that night was Blossom Seeley. Also on the bill was Bert Lahr (best remembered as the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz). The show was over and the audience mostly gone when the fire was discovered. There was time to remove much of the equipment/props/personal effects before the fire breached the auditorium/lobby firewall, raced across the auditorium ceiling and ignited the canvas and oil-painted stage drops in an blast that took down the limestone stage house.
(I’m retelling the story as it appeared in the newspapers the next day. Many thanks to the Memphis Public Library.)
Though the building was a complete loss, there were no injuries. Maybe the Grand Opera House (the old Orpheum) deserves its own listing in this directory.
I have been told that the Paramount was razed in the early 1990’s. Is this true?
I have been told that the Paramount was razed in the early 1990’s. Is this true?
The organist for the opening night at the Saenger was Rosa Rio. She went on to a respected career as an organist in New York where whe played in radio, television, ball rooms and fine restaurants. She is still living (age 98) and playing the organ quite well in Florida.
I visited and toured the Loew’s State during 1988 and have not seen it since, but these are my recollections.
The State (as well as the Saenger) has a large handsome lobby to direct patrons past the store fronts on Canal Street. The most usual aspect of this (and the Saenger) is that the lobby is “T” shaped with large door ways opening onto each of the side streets. Beyond the head of the “T” is the orchestra foyer with its own doors opening onto the side streets.
Like many other Thomas Lamb Loew’s theaters, there is only a single large balcony, no mezzanine.
I remember the State being tripled at that time, with 2 screens under the balcony and the balcony seats looking onto the proscenium screen.
The stage was hemp.
The one thing that I will always remember about that trip was the carpet in the orchestra aisles. It must have been original to 1926 (?) as it was worn through the pile, through the backing and through the pad all the way down to bare concrete.
There was a photo of the theater soon after it opened showing a cooling tower on the stage-house roof with the words “Loew’s Vaudeville” painted on the slats.
In the old projection booth were the old Ashcraft Super Cinex projection lamps sitting on even older bases. Newer automated equipment was actually running.
The RKO Orpheum dates from the early 1920’s. The architect was G. A. Landsberg (sp?).
The neo-classical facade is continuous with the two adjoining buildings but masks alleys on each side of the auditorium.
The lobby is quite small opening into an orchestra foyer with stairs at each end of the foyer. There is no grand stair.
The first balcony (and it is a full size balcony, not a mezzanine) was for white customers. The second balcony was “colored only” from the regrettable days of Jim Crow laws.
The stairs to the first balcony rise from the orchestra foyer. The stairs to the second balcony rise from the exterior alleys. The racially segregated stairways “helix” around each other with a 3-door (sic!) passenger elevator rising in the middle of the stairwell. The elevator only served the white clients and due to the complex geometry of the stairs, had to open on 3 sides in order to meet the various landings. Even with such a complex arrangement, patrons taking the elevator still face steps up and down getting to their seats.
The rise of the two balconies is QUITE steep. Built before Orpheum Vaudeville was showing films, in the 1920’s a projection booth had to be added. The booth was shoe-horned into the rear of the first balcony.
The Orpheum is completely cove lit with numerous plaster “mushrooms” ringing the ceiling and a large master ‘shroom" in the center. Additional coves line the walls. The orchestra foyer had chandeliers though they are long gone.
There was no provision made for an organ in the original design. In the mid-1920’s a small 2-manual Wurlitzer was added in a single chamber on house left. Space was carved out a half-dome above the 2nd balcony box. The organ shutters were covered with a simple plaster lattice. For appearace sake the half dome on house right was also covered with a lattice, but the ornamental half-dome survives hidden behind the lattice.
The auditorium is nearly intact. The orchestra boxes which lined both sides of the “main” floor have been cut up in an attempt at accessibility. The step-down boxes still line both sides of both balconies. The lobbies and restrooms have been remodeled beyond recognition. The original (1-story) lobby was faced with ornamental white terra-cotta, much of which has been lost. None of the theater’s art or furniture survive.
The stage is rigged and spacious with dressing rooms provided. The very deep orchestra pit has been floored over creating a storage room with a curved front in the basement.
In the basement is/was a large open tank which originally held ice for air conditioning.
It is a lovely hall in the company of 2 other lovely halls in downtown New Orleans. The atmospheric Saenger and the grand Thomas Lamb Adam-style Loew’s State (now known as the State Palace) just behind the Orpheum’s stage door.
The Loew’s State auditorium was built into an older warehouse which fronted Second Street. Second Street wasn’t a suitable address for such a prestigious theater so Loew’s aquired a single storefront on Main Street which aligned with the warehouse/auditorium on 2nd. Unfortunately, there was an alley between the two building which the City of Memphis would not allow Loew’s to close off. The solution? The storefront was gutted and turned into a lovely half-block-long lobby which ended in a single grand stairway. This stairway rose to a level high enough to allow a bridge over the alley and entered the auditorium at balcony level.
When the LS was not at peak capacity, the sign on the stairs said “downstairs closed” instead of the usual “balcony closed” so familiar to those going to the movies in the 1960’s.
The State had a vaudeville stage and pit. The hall was never renovated during its life and so retained all it’s Thomas Lamb “Loew’s Adam” decor to the end.
The first organ in the Loew’s State was a Moller. It was replaced by a Wurlitzer in the mid-1920’s. The 2 big Loew’s theaters in downtown Memphis were under construction at the same time and both the Mollers and the Wurlitzers were consecutive opus numbers.
There are photos of the Loew’s State and some vaudville “playbills” in the archives of the Memphis Pubilc Library.
Lest anyone panic, the 2nd screen was added by opening into retail space adjacent to the lobby. The main auditorium remains in excellent condition thanks to the talent, forsight and hard work of the current management (who cannot be commended enough!).
The Music Box never had an organ until an electronic theatre style organ was installed in the early 1980’s. As with many smaller theaters built at the end of the 1920’s provision was made for installing an organ later, should talkies have proven to be only a fad. Later, air conditioning equipment was installed in the organ chambers.
Both lobby and auditorium were built in atmospheric style, with a Spanish flavor to the side wall architecture.
The Music Box projection booth is a technical tour-de-force equipped to show 16mm, 35mm, and 70mm film as well as 3-D and silent at original speed. Sound equipment includes regular optical, magentic stereo and digital.