I’m not sure where Bibbler got his info, but the Esquire never had a balcony or starcases like is described. There was one tiny starcase up to the booth and storage and that’s it. The concession stand and boxoffice were part of the east wall.
In 1979 I was managing the theatre and Dubinsky Bros. put in new seats, it didn’t help much, the new cinemas with multi-screens were going up and single screens were dying.
But we made history (and got news time) when “Life of Brian” came out, we had people all upset over “this evil movie” and we even got pickets, it boosted ticket sales highly!
There’s a HUGE basement underneath the building that stretches from under the sidewalk all the way back to the rear. There are numerous dressing and storage rooms for when the threatre had live shows in the 1920s and 30s. There is also a small set of rooms above the enterance that were either offices or an apartment.
The balcony was abandoned in the 1970s and the chairs were removed shortly after from the upper level.
Keresotes Theatres has always been a “penny-pincher” type of company. Upkeep and maintenance is NOT part of their language.
I remember the Varsity well… Saw Animal House there in the late 1970s, my friends and I loved it (we also had been drinking at the American Pub, PKs, and Merlins prior).
I’m not sure where Bibbler got his info, but the Esquire never had a balcony or starcases like is described. There was one tiny starcase up to the booth and storage and that’s it. The concession stand and boxoffice were part of the east wall.
In 1979 I was managing the theatre and Dubinsky Bros. put in new seats, it didn’t help much, the new cinemas with multi-screens were going up and single screens were dying.
But we made history (and got news time) when “Life of Brian” came out, we had people all upset over “this evil movie” and we even got pickets, it boosted ticket sales highly!
This was also the only theatre in town where the “colored” people could go, they had a “special enterance” in the alleyway.
The Rialto is now a part of Horizon Printing which is owned by the Southeast Missourian newspaper.
There’s a HUGE basement underneath the building that stretches from under the sidewalk all the way back to the rear. There are numerous dressing and storage rooms for when the threatre had live shows in the 1920s and 30s. There is also a small set of rooms above the enterance that were either offices or an apartment.
The balcony was abandoned in the 1970s and the chairs were removed shortly after from the upper level.
Keresotes Theatres has always been a “penny-pincher” type of company. Upkeep and maintenance is NOT part of their language.
I remember the Varsity well… Saw Animal House there in the late 1970s, my friends and I loved it (we also had been drinking at the American Pub, PKs, and Merlins prior).
I went to SIU-C in the late 70s and I remember the Fox well. Rven saw the now-infamous Andrea True X-rated MASH ripoff film there!