Bijou Theatre
423 4th Avenue N,
Nashville,
TN
37219
423 4th Avenue N,
Nashville,
TN
37219
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Judith: Very interesting and many thanks. From your name I wonder if your father was one of the Starrs mentioned in the case and also mentioned on this site.
If so, would you tell us if Bijou Amusement Co still exists and still operates other theaters.
Thanks again, Dave
JudithStarrWolff:
Found this: http://www.allcourtdata.com/law/case/starr-v-nashville-housing-authority/cz0I4ndI?page=1
Looks like the city demolished this theatre as part of a “Capitol Hill Redevelopment Project”
I don’t find the Ace listed here but I remember it. It was built by Bill James and managed by the Starr brothers- Alfred and Milton. After it closed the building sat unused for years, overgrown with vines and bushes.
When I was a boy the street was called Cedar downtown and changed to Charlotte as you got farther out. I don’t know why the entire street was later changed to Charlotte. I think that was during the 1970s.
I grew up in North Nashville just west of the Capitol at 13th and Pearl street. My brothers and sister attended Head School and watched movies at the old Ace theatre located at 11th and Cedar Street, now called Charlotte. We later heard of the Bijou theater and asked Mother if we could go after church on Sunday. On entering the Bijou we were startled that it was so huge and clean compared to the Ace theater. The Bijou also had a massive refreshment area with lots of goodies. We fell in love with this theater and attended most Sunday’s. I will never forget this Nashville icon for African Americans.
September 14th, 1904 first ad in photo section.
I am doing research about my grandfather Milton Starr. He owned this theater for a long time. The comments above are very interesting. I’d like more information if anyone cares to comment further. Thanks !
The Nashville Bijou was originally built for Jake Wells' Richmond, Virginia, chain the Bijou Theatre Company. Beginning in the mid-1910s, Wells gradually retrenched to his Virginia holdings, selling off houses throughout the south to other firms. The Nashville Bijou was one of several theaters that were picked up by the Starr Family’s Bijou Amusement Company.
The September 15, 1904, issue of the Richmond Times Dispatch ran this item about the opening of the Nashville house the previous night:
During this period when Jake Wells was rapidly expanding his chain, the new theaters being built for the Bijou Theatre Company, including the Nashville Bijou, were designed by architect Fuller Claflin of the New York firm the Amalgamated Theatre Building Association.Linkrot repair: The 1957 Boxoffice article about the closing of the Bijou can now be found at this link.
Bessie Smith played here in 1927. There’s a great story of her chasing Eggie Pitts down the street in a mammy costume.
I just happened to run across a 1916 trade mag with mention of Nashville’s Bijou (recently opened) and Elite (I assume the one on Fifth Ave.
Try this link: http://books.google.com/books?id=1qEbAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA489&lpg=PA489&dq=%22miniature+circus%22+nashville&source=bl&ots=q9nG4E5FpY&sig=RZCwnLFsLaeuOj_UEzjcK1zIcWY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wWIUT9y1AcSstgem2fmNAg&sqi=2&ved=0CDkQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22miniature%20circus%22%20nashville&f=false
I have been in the Bijou building twice: once unsuccessfully to see a stage show and once after the theater was closed and awaiting demolition. My father and I went to see the show with friend who knew Alfred Starr and we thought we could get in but after awhile one of the employees came and told us we had to leave as they had been unable to reach Mr Starr and their orders had been to admit no whites without his okay. Of course the theater was darkened on this occasion and we couldn’t seee very much of the interior, but when I went back into the closed building I could see what was left of a box seat up near the stage. I also went up to the office where the files had been emptied and there were many papers on the floor which I now wish I had looked through.
Thanks Joe and Tlsloews.
According to the Nahville Tennesean the Adelphi/Grand Opera House was built in 1850 and burned down in 1902 as stated above.
Thanks Joe,no wonder I do not remember it as I was born just a month before it closed.Thanks again for the info.
An article headed Final Days of Old Nashville Bijou appeared in Boxoffice of August 10, 1957. It has a brief history of the theater, and some information about the Bijou Amusement Company.
The Bijou circuit served African-American audiences, but was not African-American owned. It was founded by Milton Starr, and various members of the Starr family were involved with its management for several decades. The circuit was quite extensive, operating theaters from the Carolinas all across the south and into Texas and Oklahoma. At its peak there were more than fifty houses in the chain. The headquarters was in Nashville.
I found some info the this was an African-American company that ran a few theatres in Nashville back in the day.Maybe its the same company or just had the same name,I will check it out.
This Company operated the LENOX THEATRE in Augusta.So they had screens all over Dixie.
As stated above this theatre sat were the Municipal Auditorium stands now near the Capital building opened in 1964.
The Bijou was constructed on the site of the former Adelphi Theatre which had burned in December 1902. The Adelphi was known as The Grand when it was destroyed by fire.
When the Bijou opened on September 14th, 1904, as a playhouse, it reportedly (Tennessean 7/19/1957) seated 1,642. The theatre had pink marble wainscoting, a tiled vertibule, soft green interior trimmed with white and gold, a guilded proscenium arch, and hand painted figures on the ceiling. The first production, “Sign of the Four” was an adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel.
When the Bijou converted to motion pictures, it’s seating capacity was reduced to accomodate the screen.
Here is an archive shot of the Bijou from the Will Duncan Collection.