Wahoo Theatre
556 Linden Street,
Wahoo,
NE
68066
556 Linden Street,
Wahoo,
NE
68066
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The Wahoo Theatre actually did reopened later on in 1959 under new operators without even a single notice. The Wahoo continued operations into as late as 1965, but its closure hasn’t been found yet due to lost information.
The Rex Theatre was one of the town’s two silent-era theaters. Fred Smith of Smith & Crawford operated it for many years before selling out to Charles Prokop. Prokop had run the Wahoo Opera House since 1909 and the other silent theater in town since 1913. Both theaters were sold by Prokop to the Interstate Theatre Circuit late in 1929. Interstate closed the Rex for a week to install Vitaphone for sound films reopening it as the Wahoo Theatre on November 17, 1929 with Ted Lewis in “Is Everybody Happy?”
The Wahoo at 556 Linden Street was joined by the Chief Theatre opened in 1947 at 445 Linden Street. The Wahoo closed at the end of a 30-year lease in 1959. It may have reopened under new operators thereafter without advertising. The building was auctioned off in 1972. It is still standing as a converted retail building. The Chief continued as a movie house until controversy closed it in 1982 although briefly relaunching with repertory fare in 1986. The town has not had a movie house since.
From Boxoffice magazine, October 1947:
Jeanette Shoeneman has announced an October 18 opening for her new Chief Theater in Wahoo. It is a remodeled building located just across from the Wahoo Theater, which Miss Shoeneman also owns.