Ace Theatre
323 S. Rampart Street,
New Orleans,
LA
70112
323 S. Rampart Street,
New Orleans,
LA
70112
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The Ace Theatre dated back to the silent era of film exhibition as the Othello turned Charleston. The 323 South Rampart location housed a post-Civil War era Livery and Blacksmith in the Central Business District. Shortly after the War, those services weren’t a big need and Frank Rousca - an auctioneer of horses and mules - was trying to figure out how to deal with the livery at Rampart. Liveries were commonly transitioned to theatres and that appears to have happened at 323 Rampart.
In 1920 and 1921, Rousca rebuilt the structure as a theatre likely using the frame of the livery and opened the Othello Theatre on October 23, 1921. This didn’t work out as the first lien was reported within a month. The next item was Mrs. Frank Rousca suing Mr. Rousca followed by an auction of his theatre and his, then current, livery elsewhere in NOLA. So new operators took on the venue (reportedly $6,500 for everything). Under its new operators, it would be one of the original theaters of E.L. Cummings new circuit for African American vaudeville formed in 1922, the fledgling Managers and Owners Co-Operative or M&P Circuit. (In 1921, Cummings’ Southern Consolidated Theater Circuit had fused together with the Theatre Owner Booking Association - TOBA - but Cummings decided competition was a good thing.)
The M&P Othello became the TOBA-booked venue when the two companies came together. The Othello got new operators and was changed to the Charleston Theatre on Valentine’s Day 1926. It reopened with Buffalo Bill Jr. in “On the Go” supported by the Jack White comedy short, “Wide Awake.” The building was sold five months later and would be renamed as the Savoy Theatre & Ballroom. The South Rampart Street African American business and entertainment district in downtown New Orleans was vibrant and adjacent to the city’s historic Tremé neighborhood.
New sublessees Iberville Amusement Circuit created a more traditional sound era for At a modest price point, it became a streamline moderne movie house complete with new neon signage now called the Ace Theatre - “where the ocean breeze blows (likely air conditioned).” The Bijou Entertainment Circuit took on the venue operated though showtimes of April 5, 1939 when fire gutted the building.
The repair bill was $8,000 and included a new interior by architects Weiss, Dreyfus and Seiferth at its relaunch on July 4, 1939 with Bing Crosby in “Sing, you Sinners.” Othello Corporation acquired the building and created on last 15-year subleasing agreement for the theater’s operation. The Ace was discarded on September 1, 1956 with Kent Taylor in ”Secret Venture” and Bill Hickok as the “Two Gun Teacher.” The lease expired in 1957 and Othello Theatre Corporation sold off the property to Parking Services for $40,0000 cash. They demolished the livery turned theatre for a parking lot.
The Ace began as the Othello Theater for colored people, opening October 23, 1921. On Feb. 14, 1926 the opening of the Charleston Theatre under new management was announced. By March 22, 1929 the building was leased as a dance hall for negroes. On Dec. 1, 1937 renovations were announced by the Othello Theatre Corporation to reopen a movie theater. The Ace burned in the early morning of April 6, 1939. It was rebuilt and back in operation by the fall of 1940.
The Othello Theatre Corporation purchased the property in March 1942. The last references I could find to it in the Times-Picayune archive were a holdup in June 1954 and a death there in November 1955. The Othello Theatre Corp. was dissolved in November 1957.