Will Rogers Theater
4500 E. 11th Street,
Tulsa,
OK
74112
4500 E. 11th Street,
Tulsa,
OK
74112
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Newspaper listings for the Will Rogers theatre ended in 1977
The Will Rogers theatre opened on July 21st, 1941. Grand opening ad posted.
I worked at the Will Rogers Theater in Tulsa with Ben Kehe, Frank Pyro, Mickey Drake, J.C. Duncan and Margaret Wellman from 1969 to 1974 first as a ticket taker and later as the house manager. I have very fond memories of my time there because they were an extraordinary group of people to work with.
The auditorium was almost unaltered from the time the theater opened until it closed in 1976. The lobbies were updated multiple times. A very large oil painting of Will Rogers had at one time hung in the lobby but after being vandalized had been moved upstairs to the house managers office. I hope that painting was donated to either Will Rogers High School or the Will Rogers museum in Claremore.
Respectfully Submitted, Dale Catlin, Wichita, Kansas
This is the only movie theater I was ever kicked out of and I was only nine years old!
My “boyfriend” took me to see “The Girl He Left Behind” starring Tab Hunter and Natali Woods. When the kissing started on the screen, Gene began whistling and stomping his feet. Less than two minutes later we were standing on the corner waiting for my mother to pick us up after a call from management.
Needless to say, that was the end of our “courtship”.
I attended the church (across the street) from this theater. The church eventually bought the building and used it for several years. They then tore it down and made a parking lot out of it, mostly because they couldn’t afford the upkeep and cost of renovations.
Cool looking marquee and vertical.
View of WRT auditorium seating arrangement –
View link
Vintage images illustrate interior motifs for the Will Rogers as decorated in unique Western Impressionist Styling.
These dull B&W photos cannot bring out how auditorium hues were rich earth tones, with splashes of bright colour thrown in here and there for dramatic effect. All together it created an exciting setting in which to view a movie.
SEE 1941 interior photos. SEE exterior shots, by typing in word “Theatre”,
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Though it has been rumored that Griffith Amusement neglected their theatre interiors. It is also known that Griffith Amusement usually kept exteriors up to date, utilizing them as oversized billboards.
Long before the Will Rogers Theatre was to be torn down it was allowed to fall into decay -
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/E0145.jpg
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/E0146.jpg
The Beryl Ford Photograph Collection traces Tulsa history from a tough wild west town to a sprawling city. Depending on how far away you are from the date posted here, a blurry demolition picture of the Will Rogers Theatre can be found on page 63, image #752. This collection is constantly evolving and image numbers do change regularly, so you may need to browse around a bit,
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/BFC/index.htm
When OKC’s Will Rogers Theater opened in 1946 it was billed as sister to Tulsa’s WILL ROGERS. Though both structures were designed by Dallas Arhitect Jack Corgan, and were very similar in design, they were in no way identical.
I was a projectionist at the Will Rogers in Tulsa from 1965 – 1976.
I worked with Mr. Frank Piro who was a projectionist at this theatre from the first show in 1942 through the last show in 1976. Frank was the finest booth partner any one could wish for.
Style – Southwest. Auditorium walls were murals of cowboys roping steers. Walls were beige and the seats were cloth with red cushions.
Function – 35mm motion picture theatre. Brenkert BX60 projectors, RCA 9030 optical sound heads, Brenkert/Enarc carbon arc lamps burning 7mm negative and 8mm positive carbons at 70 amps. The theatre was equipped to run full four channel magnetic sound if needed with RCA four track magnetic sound heads.
Seats – 719
Respectfully Submitted,
Ben Kehe, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
The Will Rogers, Tulsa, was built by Griffith Theatres, later called Video Indpendent Theatres of Oklahoma City. It had a sister theatre—the Will Rogers—in Oklahoma City.