Thanks all. Would anyone be interested in helping me get to the bottom of the mystery theater on Main st. Believe it was located at the old Royal address, closed in 1936. It is known to have operated in the late 40’s and early 50’s, showed cheap movies like the Regent, had no marquee or apparent name and never had an ad in the paper. A real bare-bones operation. Seemed to have some seedy looking characters hanging around it. I know others that remember seeing it there but no one seems to know any more about it than I do. I have a theory but no proof.
I never thought of using theater organ records. Good Show! The Royal 1913 date is still possible. They could have started with a piano in their theater band. In 1913 most theaters had stage shows along with movies. Either way it’s a guess plus or minus a year. Growing up, my elderly neighbor had a theater band in the vaudeville days. He told me a lot about the “good old days”. One of my favorite research sources is the Theater ads in the Kansas City Star/Times of earlier days. It’s amazing what you can find about the entertainment of a time period.
Good work! That date sounds about right. It would put the Newman theaters on a 3 year opening schedule. Royal (1913), Regent (1916), Newman (1919). Sounds Logical. I think 1916 can be used as a probable opening date.There are some mysteries about the Royal too.
There appear to be some inaccuracies in your posting. 109 East 12th. St. is only 1 ½ blocks from 12th. & Main, the historic center of downtown, not on the outskirts. Also, it may have been redecorated in 1945 but it opened around 1920 or before. A picture taken in the early 20’s in The KC Star Book “A Splendid Ride”, Pages 132-133 shows the Regent Marquee clearly in a picture of 12th St. Frank L. Newman built 3 theaters, Royal Theater (1913), Newman (1919) and Regent (?) in the same time period. Born in 1935, I remember before and after re-modeling. The Regent struggled through the 30’s but made a mint during WWII. Showing 3 movies, it was open 24 hrs a day. Servicemen loved it and often used it as a cheap place to sleep between trains.
Thanks all. Would anyone be interested in helping me get to the bottom of the mystery theater on Main st. Believe it was located at the old Royal address, closed in 1936. It is known to have operated in the late 40’s and early 50’s, showed cheap movies like the Regent, had no marquee or apparent name and never had an ad in the paper. A real bare-bones operation. Seemed to have some seedy looking characters hanging around it. I know others that remember seeing it there but no one seems to know any more about it than I do. I have a theory but no proof.
I never thought of using theater organ records. Good Show! The Royal 1913 date is still possible. They could have started with a piano in their theater band. In 1913 most theaters had stage shows along with movies. Either way it’s a guess plus or minus a year. Growing up, my elderly neighbor had a theater band in the vaudeville days. He told me a lot about the “good old days”. One of my favorite research sources is the Theater ads in the Kansas City Star/Times of earlier days. It’s amazing what you can find about the entertainment of a time period.
Good work! That date sounds about right. It would put the Newman theaters on a 3 year opening schedule. Royal (1913), Regent (1916), Newman (1919). Sounds Logical. I think 1916 can be used as a probable opening date.There are some mysteries about the Royal too.
There appear to be some inaccuracies in your posting. 109 East 12th. St. is only 1 ½ blocks from 12th. & Main, the historic center of downtown, not on the outskirts. Also, it may have been redecorated in 1945 but it opened around 1920 or before. A picture taken in the early 20’s in The KC Star Book “A Splendid Ride”, Pages 132-133 shows the Regent Marquee clearly in a picture of 12th St. Frank L. Newman built 3 theaters, Royal Theater (1913), Newman (1919) and Regent (?) in the same time period. Born in 1935, I remember before and after re-modeling. The Regent struggled through the 30’s but made a mint during WWII. Showing 3 movies, it was open 24 hrs a day. Servicemen loved it and often used it as a cheap place to sleep between trains.