Plaza Theatre
1447 S. Peoria Avenue,
Tulsa,
OK
74120
1447 S. Peoria Avenue,
Tulsa,
OK
74120
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Architects: O. Otto Kubatzky
Styles: Art Deco
Previous Names: Alhambra Theatre, Little Theatre, Premiere Theatre
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Nov 18, 2009 — Happy 50th, "Ben-Hur"
Originally opened on May 4, 1923 as the Alhambra Theatre, a 2 manual Kimball organ was installed in the building. It was closed in 1928. The building was renovated in 1929 and was reopened as the Plaza Theatre on July 25, 1929 with William Boyd in “The Leatherneck”. It was closed in 1960. It briefly re-opened as the Premiere Theatre on October 15, 1960 screening Charlton Heston in “Ben Hur”.
Contributed by
Lauren Grubb
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
From a 2005 calendar ‘TULSA, SEE YA AT THE MOVIES’, ALHAMBRA Theater opened 1924, and closed 1928. Reopend in 1930 with a complete renovation and new name- PLAZA and continued as a movie house until at least 1949. After that it operated as Tulsa Little Theater, a live stage show venue.
Vintage Tulsa World Newspaper ads reveal that this theatre specialized in cheapie B-pictures from low budget producers like William Castle, Roger Corman, Kroger Babb, etc.
The architect for the Alhambra Square and Theatre was O. Otto Kubatzky. Here is a link to a list of his other work:
View link
Look here to see 1940s photos of the Plaza Theatre complete makeover from Spanish Colonial to Streamline Moderne. Type in word “plaza” to view images,
View link
A quicker route to see 1942 interior and exterior shots is to go to above link and type in “Tulsa Plaza Theatre”, under match all words.
Oklahoma State Historical Society now list the Plaza as torn down.
the plaza was still open in the late 50’s. saw “god created woman” with bridget b.
The Plaza is one of dozens of Tulsa theaters featured in the Arcadia book “Tulsa Movie Theaters.” The Plaza was Tulsa’s first suburban theater, opening in the early 1920s as Alhambra. It became the Plaza in 1930 and operated until 1960. After a brief stint as the Premiere, the theatre was demolished for parking for Alhambra Appliances, 15th & Peoria. Palace Cafe occupies that building now in 2021.
Reopened as Plaza on July 25th, 1929
opened as Alhambra on May 4th, 1923 per:
Reopened as Premeire on October 15th, 1960 with “ben hur”