Coconut Grove Playhouse
3506 Main Highway,
Miami,
FL
33133
3506 Main Highway,
Miami,
FL
33133
3 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 31 comments
The Coconut Grove theatre opened on January 1st, 1927. Grand opening ad:
Coconut Grove theatre opening Sat, Jan 1, 1927 – 20 · The Miami Herald (Miami, Florida) · Newspapers.com
The mayor’s veto was upheld, as reported in this local channel 10 news video, which includes quick historic photos, a description of the situation, and comments from players in the city’s dispute with Miami-Dade County that is still ongoing and may be settled in court.
Opened on 3/10/1930 with “A Hollywood star” and “Queen high”.
Miami Mayor Suarez has vetoed a plan that would have demolished the auditorium and kept the historic façade.
In hopes that the entire building can be preserved and restored, the mayor and supporters of the veto, Save Our Playhouse, are asking people to attend the next City Commission meeting this Thursday May 23rd at 9am to urge that the veto be upheld and not overturned.
Detailed Miami Herald article from May 18th, 2019 about the current state of the situation and the politics involved:
“Miami Mayor Vetoes Controversial Grove Playhouse Revival Plan. Now What?”
Mayor Suarez announces his veto while standing before the Playhouse in this video.
CBS News report on veto announcement.
Video of full announcement. (Playhouse is off-screen to his left.)
Click here for a local CBS News interview with a preservationist from Save Our Playhouse and a lawyer representing people against the building’s demolition regarding the current state of the Playhouse after plans to redevelop the site were voted down.
There are descriptions of the renovation project’s progress from the county’s point of view on the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs Coconut Grove Playhouse Project webpage.
Miami Herald article from September 5, 2018:
“Florida Moves Toward Seizing Grove Playhouse from Miami-Dade Over Renovation Delays”
Miami Herald article from 4-24-17:
“Don’t Demolish Historic Grove Playhouse Auditorium, Neighbors Say in Appeal”
The latest I’ve read from December 2016 says the plan is to keep the façade of the Playhouse but to construct a different theater inside instead of restoring the interior:
“To Be or Not to Be (small): Is Size Key to Grove Playhouse Revival?”
“Coconut Grove Playhouse Restoration Plans are B.S., Preservationists Say”
I have uploaded photos of a historical marker that was placed next to the Playhouse entrance sometime in the past year or so.
Coconut Grove Playhouse Foundation website.
Wow, back in the 90’s I’d walk past the sort of sealed up parts of the exterior of the façade along the sidewalk and wonder if there had been stores or something there, and if you look at the photo from the 1920’s it turns out they were storefronts.
For a year or so in 2014, the Blue Starlite Mini Urban Drive-in, now in Palmetto Bay near the Deering Estate, was located in the parking lot behind the Playhouse:
“Blue Starlite Drive-in Finds New Home at Old Coconut Grove Playhouse“
Miami New Times article about the current state of the Playhouse:
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/arts/coconut-grove-playhouse-restoration-stuck-in-act-i-8499932
Save Our Playhouse Facebook page.
Wikipedia page.
A NEWS Theatre in Coconut Grove and the Grove overlap from 1941 to 1945, so they must have been different theatres. I assume the News was a newsreel theatre during this period.
Grand opening (or reopening) ad with some pictures from October 3rd, 1930 is at View link
Three plans to rescue the theatre:
View link
Does anybody knows where I could find images and/or architectural drawings of the Coconut Grove Playhouse pre-1950’s renovation?? Beside the historical museum of Florida and Miami-Dade Historic preservation board.
thanks
Feb 2008 shot of the exterior of the auditorium and stage house with scene dock door and stage door to the right in the photo.
View link
A Feb 2008 photo of the Playhouse. From this distance it looks OK but a closer look will show you that it has been left to the elements of late. I spoke to the car park attendant and he said there was all probability that the theatre would be demolished this year!!! i walked away stunned!
View link
I saw Chita Rivera at the Playhouse back in the early 90s in her fantastic show with orchestra , dancers and singers. The theatre is a perfect live venue space and all should be done to reopen this gorgeous theatre. Chitas show had the personalized title of ‘Chita In The Grove’
As an 8th grader, at the then brand new North Miami Jr. High School, Mr. Ashbacher took a lot of students to the Coconut Grove Theater to see the Glass Menagerie and other plays. It was great and I remember it to this day. This was around 1955 or 1956. It was really nice to see a teacher want to have his students expand their horizons and although a day late and a dollar short, thank you very much Mr. Ashbacher.
I wish I could remember the reference,but there was another theater in the Grove.I remember an article referencing it as a silent film house running in the earky 20’s.If I’m wrong or senile,delete this,as I don’t want to appear less sharp than I already may be.
LM, I don’t find a listing for Brue’s New Theater on CT. Is there another, later name?
Interesting! I have been talking to the owner of a disassembled ‘F’ and his story is that it was removed from a Coconut Grove theatre in the early 1960’s. It has been in storage ever since. I’ve been reading David Junchen’s/Jeff Weiler’s “Wurlitzer, A Pictoral History” and infer that when some theatres defaulted on their payments, the organs were never actually removed as the cost of removal and storage would be higher than the resale cost.
Thanks for the tip on the possible original location.
The Wurlitzer factory records show that a Style ‘F’ organ, opus 1322 (2 manuals, 8 ranks, divided between 2 chambers)was shipped to the “New Theatre” in Coconut Grove FL in April 1926. Was that THIS theatre? Was “new theatre” just a generic name used at the factory or was this (or another hall in Coconut Grove) actually called the “New Theatre?”
That’s a great photo, Lost Memory.
The last play I saw at the Coconut Grove Playhouse must’ve been the return of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” in January, 1997. The seats, proscenium, and general atmosphere were still fantastic, although one smelt the decline in the air.
(There was also an annex at the CGP, which one could rent out. A jazz-loving professor of History at the University of Miami, invited his students to a jazz evening there, which sadly, few people came to. I believe it was out of his own pocket, too. This was also around 1997-8)
Right now, the Coconut Grove Playhouse has a dingy look to it, with closed doors, and the marquee above still proclaims the very last play which starred there.
Extract from the official Lucie Arnaz site:
“Sonia Flew” – Lucie stared alongside her daughter, Katharine Luckinbill in this new play by Melinda Lopez. (Coconut Grove Playhouse, Miami, Florida) (April – May, 2006)
Lucie Arnaz' background needs no introduction, of course, but just to note that her father, the late Desi Arnaz Sr., graduated from nearby St. Patrick’s School, in Miami Beach — and since she starred in several plays at the CGP, I’m guessing she might even live in South Florida, or maintains close ties to the area.
It has been closed since April,when the house of cards collapsed.The fun bunch in charge after the fall,tried to get the historical landmark designations tossed out so they could tear the place down,sell off part of the property for a bundle,build 2 smaller theaters(sure).Today’s Herald says they are giving up on that sceme,trying to come up with a plan and start fund raising.I don’t think ANYONE who had a part in running this treasure into the ground should be left in any position of responsibilty.It took a LOT of arrogance,disrespect of the public and plain stupidity to destroy what had been such a sure-fire winner.The effette elitests that tried to cram works down the public throat that weren’t going to be swallowed deserve to be locked out of any future role.
Sad news in recent articles in the Herald.The theater is having major finacial and personnel trouble.Could be some of the weirder works have turned off some regulars?