Abalon Theatre
411 Opelousas Avenue,
New Orleans,
LA
70114
411 Opelousas Avenue,
New Orleans,
LA
70114
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Some sort of “church”, but in a high state of disrepair.
A photo of the Abalon Theatre in New Orleans.
Announcing a book about New Orleans Movie Theaters
THEREâ€\S ONE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
The History of the Neighborhood Theaters in New Orleans
is being written by 89-year-old Rene Brunet, the dean of the motion picture industry in Louisiana, and New Orleans historian Jack Stewart. The 160-page,coffee table book will be released in November and is being published by Arthur Hardy Enterprises, Inc. Attention will be focused on 50 major neighborhood and downtown theaters, culled from a list of nearly 250 that have dotted the cityâ€\s landscape since the first “nickelodeon†opened in 1896 at 626 Canal Street. The book will be divided by neighborhoods and will open with a map and a narrative about each area. Each major theater will feature “then and now†photographs, historic information, and a short series of quotes from famous New Orleanians and from regular citizens who will share their recollections.
YOUR HELP IS NEEDED
We are trying to acquire memorabilia and additional photos of this theater for this publication. (deadline July 1.) You will be credited in the book and receive a free autographed copy if we publish the picture that you supply. Please contact Arthur Hardy at or call 504-913-1563 if you can help.
After being closed by United Theatres, the Abalon was dark for nearly a decade until Joseph Costello, owner of radio station WRNO, renovated and reopened the house as a venue for classic movies. A July 3, 1978, Boxoffice item about local protests against Costello’s plan to reopen the Abalon said that the theater was “…a thirty-year-old Algiers landmark….” A later Boxoffice item gave the opening year of the Abalon as 1951.
Boxoffice of April 2, 1979, quoted New Orleans movie and theater critic Al Shae’s comments on the renovated Abalon from his review of “Harold and Maude,” then playing at the house: “The new-old Abalon Theatre is the ideal setting for this fine film. The large 665-seat theatre is as clean as a whistle with expensive Dolby sound. Spacious, deeply cushioned chairs are comfortable with nary a bad seat in the house.”
The Abalon was still operating in 1983, when Boxoffice ran an article about Joseph Costello (He Went Into Films On His Ear, left column, right-hand page.) This article said that Costello, who had begun his career as a disk jockey, had presented live concerts by major rock bands at the Abalon, and frequently offered combined shows featuring movies and live performances by local bands. He also expanded his interests in exhibition, opening several additional theatres so that, by 1983, he operated more screens within the city of New Orleans than any other exhibitor.
This is now the New Home Family Worship Center of Algiers.
I sure do miss the Abalon Theatre, I grew up whatchin movie there in Old Algiers. It is now a church and has been for a number of years now.
Just for the record the Marrero Drive In Theatre in Marrero, La., did have good long life. I was built in 1949 and opended in 1950 and ran until it closed in 1976. Drive In Theatres were starting to go out. I know because I was the one that owned it.
W&K Theaters operated the Abalon in the early sixties. L.W. Watts was president and general manager. W&K was headquartered in Oil City, LA. The chain also operated the Strand in Oil City and the Wakea in Vivian. In Texas, W&K operated the Strand in Jefferson and the Palace in Timpson. The information is from the 1963 motion picture almanac.
I recommend viewing Don’s slide show – many interesting shots of old venues.
My b&w photograph of the ABALON sign in New Orleans.
www.flickr.com/photos/lastpictureshow/314074327
I have some photos from my black and white photograpy days that I am editing and preparing to post on my flickr site soon.
From bestofneworleans.com:
On the East Bank of New Orleans there were dozens of theaters, most of them neighborhood theaters, but theaters on the West Bank were also plentiful.
One of the first ones was the Folly Theater at 501 Opelousas St. It opened in 1940 and closed about twenty years later. Another early theater was the Algy at 440 Vallette St. It spanned the ages from about 1945 to 1961. Then, of course, there was the Algiers Drive-In at 3500 General Myers Ave., a very popular place for about fifteen years in the 1950s and ‘60s. And for almost thirty years, beginning in the 1960s, you could see flicks at the Abalon (not Avalon) at 411 Opelousas.
If you wanted to see a movie in Gretna or Harvey, you also had choices such as the Beverly Theater, which opened and closed in 1950, or the Hollywood Theater at 229 Newton St., opened in 1935 and closed in 1950. The Tower Theater at 122 Huey P. Long Ave. had a pretty long run from 1945 to 1955, and the Gretna Greet Drive-In lasted for twenty years from 1955. In Harvey, a theater named the Gay was popular throughout the 1950s.
Seeing a movie in Marrero was a little more difficult. The Royal Theater was popular from 1940 until 1955, but the Marrero Drive-In on 8th Street had only a brief run.
Oh, and there is one other theater I recall, the Gordon at 4th Street in Westwego. Somehow, I remember that in 1965 the Gordon and the Algiers Drive-In, among others, were running movies featuring a very popular starlet of the day, and you could see playing just about everywhere Annette Funicello in a movie entitled How to Stuff A Wild Bikini.