Plaza Theatre
5936 Magazine Street,
New Orleans,
LA
70115
5936 Magazine Street,
New Orleans,
LA
70115
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The first ad for the National Theatre appeared in 1920. They installed sound to remain viable. The venue went to art and foreign language films under new operators beginning on June 11, 1965 with Jane Fonda in “Circle of Love” as the Plaza Art Theatre.
The Plaza Art found a very large audience in 1972 with its “Underground Cinema” series that included “Deep Throat.” That brought legal scrutiny, as well, and the Plaza went back to more art centric fare. The Plaza appears to have gone out of business on February 12, 1976 with “Shampoo.” In August of 1976, it was given zoning approval to modify to a church.
No, it hasn’t been demolished. The shell of the building is still there, and it now houses apartments. In its latter days as a movie house, it was named the Plaza, and when the Plaza 4 cinemas opened in Lake Forest, there was some confusion. The “old” Plaza played foreign and art films mostly, roughly comparable to what the Gentilly Orleans showed. I am talking about late sixties and early seventies. I believe it had ceased operating as a cinema by around 1980.
I’m a Three Stooges Fan Club member, trying to confirm a personal appearance by the “3” Stooges (Moe Larry and Shemp), on a bill with Wee Bonnie Baker, the Barretts and Don Hooton, after an appearance by the A.B. Marcus Revue. The movie “Queen of Burlesque” was also shown. I have a display ad, but no dates (or town shown). Believe it was the Summer of 1946, and may have been Shemp’s first appearance after Curly’s strokes. The National was advertised as air cooled and showed a phone number of JA-7863.
Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks Frank Reighter