For those knowledgeable with the independent music scene in the late 1970s through mid-1980s, the Boomer Theatre was a dynamite concert venue in Norman. I worked at a south Oklahoma City mall then that sold tickets for the hall, and I attended many shows there. Talking Heads, The Specials, XTC, Buzzcocks, The Cramps, George Thorogood, Al DiMeola, Gentle Giant are a few of the shows I recall – not a bad seat in the house, but no air conditioning to speak of in the summer.
For those of us in the vicinity of eastern Colorado – like me – please post any upcoming events! It would be a treat to see your work and take in a show.
Read it and weep…scroll down past the story on Stillwater’s Hideaway Pizza’s 50th anniversary to the timeline, and there is the answer. My photo above was taken during the final year of the building’s existence. View link
Affirmative, Stagehandguy – the two rooms were nearly identical and had around 600 seats each, with very large screens. My memory is faulty here, but I don’t believe it was a stereo sound setup; there were curtains (which we never utilized). The auditoriums had separate projection booths – offices were in between.
The Apollo was my first managerial assignment for Commonwealth Theaters in Oklahoma City. The Commonwealth city manager’s office was located upstairs along with the projection booths and the manager’s office – it was crowded! All the local advertising and marketing materials prep was handled there (loads of old movie pressbooks overflowed from file cabinets – how I wish I grabbed a few of those!). And the local theater managers made a weekly stop-in to deliver paperwork, pick up memos, etc (remember, this is pre-computer days (Commonwealth was cheap) – no internet, no faxes, all accounting at the theater level done with pencil and paper and a checkbook for each location.
I was there when we had really big hits (like Beverly Hills Cop), but mainly we played lots forgotten exploitation titles (like Hollywood Vice Squad, Night Patrol, Chuck Norris films from Cannon Studios, owners of Commonwealth at one point). During my tenure, the original 18x36 poster frames were replaced with snap-lock one-sheet cases. In turn, when those were replaced with lighted one-sheet holders, I managed to acquire the older one sheet frames, which now adorn my office at work. So a little of the Apollo continues with me to this day.
At one point the theater was converted into a shooting range. Looking today on Google Earth, it appears the building is still there and serving some business function – furniture showroom as listed above?
Unfortunately, I never took any photos of the Apollo, or many of the other dead theaters I managed – French Market Twin, Shepherd Twin, Reding 4 while they were in operation. I do have a few pics of the Heritage Plaza 5 and Almonte 6 (two other locations I managed) available through this site.
Affirmative, Stagehandguy – during the time I was with Commonwealth in OKC (1984-1988), all projectionists were union members.
I’m pretty sure that was the case with the General Cinema locations in town as well. When AMC built their first theater in OKC, it was not union (we hired a former AMC assistant manager for the Heritage Plaza, and he told us).
And here’s another stray photo I located – a view of the box office at the Almonte Cinemas 6 as it appeared in summer 1988. Note the standee advertising Tom Cruise in “Cocktail”, a big hit for us that summer.
Ticketing was a purely manual, paper and pencil operation – no computers. Six ticket machines loaded with three different color tickets, a cheat sheet to price multiple sales taped to the counter, and a hand-held calculator for backup. A far cry from today’s operations!
I am almost positive this is a shot of the concession stand – newly renovated at the time – at the Cooper Twin, circa 1993. If anyone can verify that from this unfortunately dark exposure, I’d appreciate it! View link
Here are some photos I took of the Heritage Plaza Cinemas 5 while it was nearing completion in early spring 1986. As noted earlier, I was the location’s first manager, and the city manager and myself visited the theater many times before it opened, as best I can remember, in either March or April 1986.
Commonwealth was very cost-conscious with this theater – it was plain and utilitarian through and through. Only two auditoriums were outfitted for stereo if memory serves, and the manager’s office and storage rooms were barely larger than closets.
The place was an instant hit and we had all the top films (being the newest location in the zone) come our way. Commonwealth built this theater, it was folded into the United Artists chain, and I guess Dickinson Theaters was the final operator. A quick internet search showed no showtimes or business listing for the Heritage 5, so it appears to be closed now.
Especially since I met my wife there, the site holds some special memories for me. I know pics were taken of a special promotion we held around the premiere of “Short Circuit 2” that show the theater in action, so I’ll try to locate those as well.
If you get to the first pic here in the Movie Theaters Set, the other four should follow in order.
Here’s a small mystery – the Zia Theater photos here for Springer, NM appear to show two different venues. The photos from 1995, 1981, 1984 show a building with windows and a box office set back from the sidewalk, not to mention a semi-modern marquee and neighboring storefronts.
The first two photos posted above – one from 1987 – look to be a different venue, with smaller, windowless building, no marquee and a much different sign. Is this the Zia Theater in Los Lunas, NM that is listed elsewhere on Cinema Treasures?
The Oriental in 1995, when shows were sporadic and the venue was dark most of the time:
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The Gothic in 1995 – looking for a buyer:
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For those knowledgeable with the independent music scene in the late 1970s through mid-1980s, the Boomer Theatre was a dynamite concert venue in Norman. I worked at a south Oklahoma City mall then that sold tickets for the hall, and I attended many shows there. Talking Heads, The Specials, XTC, Buzzcocks, The Cramps, George Thorogood, Al DiMeola, Gentle Giant are a few of the shows I recall – not a bad seat in the house, but no air conditioning to speak of in the summer.
For those of us in the vicinity of eastern Colorado – like me – please post any upcoming events! It would be a treat to see your work and take in a show.
The photo on the May 2009 message was taken in 1989 – so sometime after then for the renovation.
Splitting an approximately 750-seat auditorium into five separate rooms – that’s an interesting puzzle!
Thanks Chuck…here’s a photo of the Crest I just replaced, but maybe I had never posted it here before?
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A 1995 view of the Kiva – this was linked earlier (message posted 4/25/09), but that shot has been deleted and replaced with this one:
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A previous view of the Barron from 1991 (listed above) was deleted – and a new version of the same photo is now in its place:
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Sorry, the previous link did not take you the photo of the Waimea…I’ll work on that. Apologies!
The Waimea from 2007:
View link
Read it and weep…scroll down past the story on Stillwater’s Hideaway Pizza’s 50th anniversary to the timeline, and there is the answer. My photo above was taken during the final year of the building’s existence.
View link
Affirmative, Stagehandguy – the two rooms were nearly identical and had around 600 seats each, with very large screens. My memory is faulty here, but I don’t believe it was a stereo sound setup; there were curtains (which we never utilized). The auditoriums had separate projection booths – offices were in between.
The Apollo was my first managerial assignment for Commonwealth Theaters in Oklahoma City. The Commonwealth city manager’s office was located upstairs along with the projection booths and the manager’s office – it was crowded! All the local advertising and marketing materials prep was handled there (loads of old movie pressbooks overflowed from file cabinets – how I wish I grabbed a few of those!). And the local theater managers made a weekly stop-in to deliver paperwork, pick up memos, etc (remember, this is pre-computer days (Commonwealth was cheap) – no internet, no faxes, all accounting at the theater level done with pencil and paper and a checkbook for each location.
I was there when we had really big hits (like Beverly Hills Cop), but mainly we played lots forgotten exploitation titles (like Hollywood Vice Squad, Night Patrol, Chuck Norris films from Cannon Studios, owners of Commonwealth at one point). During my tenure, the original 18x36 poster frames were replaced with snap-lock one-sheet cases. In turn, when those were replaced with lighted one-sheet holders, I managed to acquire the older one sheet frames, which now adorn my office at work. So a little of the Apollo continues with me to this day.
At one point the theater was converted into a shooting range. Looking today on Google Earth, it appears the building is still there and serving some business function – furniture showroom as listed above?
Unfortunately, I never took any photos of the Apollo, or many of the other dead theaters I managed – French Market Twin, Shepherd Twin, Reding 4 while they were in operation. I do have a few pics of the Heritage Plaza 5 and Almonte 6 (two other locations I managed) available through this site.
Affirmative, Stagehandguy – during the time I was with Commonwealth in OKC (1984-1988), all projectionists were union members.
I’m pretty sure that was the case with the General Cinema locations in town as well. When AMC built their first theater in OKC, it was not union (we hired a former AMC assistant manager for the Heritage Plaza, and he told us).
And here’s another stray photo I located – a view of the box office at the Almonte Cinemas 6 as it appeared in summer 1988. Note the standee advertising Tom Cruise in “Cocktail”, a big hit for us that summer.
Ticketing was a purely manual, paper and pencil operation – no computers. Six ticket machines loaded with three different color tickets, a cheat sheet to price multiple sales taped to the counter, and a hand-held calculator for backup. A far cry from today’s operations!
View link
I am almost positive this is a shot of the concession stand – newly renovated at the time – at the Cooper Twin, circa 1993. If anyone can verify that from this unfortunately dark exposure, I’d appreciate it!
View link
Here are some photos I took of the Heritage Plaza Cinemas 5 while it was nearing completion in early spring 1986. As noted earlier, I was the location’s first manager, and the city manager and myself visited the theater many times before it opened, as best I can remember, in either March or April 1986.
Commonwealth was very cost-conscious with this theater – it was plain and utilitarian through and through. Only two auditoriums were outfitted for stereo if memory serves, and the manager’s office and storage rooms were barely larger than closets.
The place was an instant hit and we had all the top films (being the newest location in the zone) come our way. Commonwealth built this theater, it was folded into the United Artists chain, and I guess Dickinson Theaters was the final operator. A quick internet search showed no showtimes or business listing for the Heritage 5, so it appears to be closed now.
Especially since I met my wife there, the site holds some special memories for me. I know pics were taken of a special promotion we held around the premiere of “Short Circuit 2” that show the theater in action, so I’ll try to locate those as well.
If you get to the first pic here in the Movie Theaters Set, the other four should follow in order.
View link
The Alliance looking sharp in 1989 – how did this single screen venue acquire four more auditoriums by 2009?
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A new entry for another Zia Theater – Fort Sumner, NM is in order?
Here’s a small mystery – the Zia Theater photos here for Springer, NM appear to show two different venues. The photos from 1995, 1981, 1984 show a building with windows and a box office set back from the sidewalk, not to mention a semi-modern marquee and neighboring storefronts.
The first two photos posted above – one from 1987 – look to be a different venue, with smaller, windowless building, no marquee and a much different sign. Is this the Zia Theater in Los Lunas, NM that is listed elsewhere on Cinema Treasures?
The community playhouse formerly known as the Lyric – a rainy day in Tupelo, summer 1996:
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The Flag in 1996:
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The Sunset Drive-In in July 1998:
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The Campus is still a striking presence on the campus corner area of Stillwater – here it is in 2000:
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The Moon as it appeared in 1996, a couple of years post-closure – I wonder if the interior has been kept up?
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Detail of the neon and light set up under the marquee of the Crest:
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