Circle Theatre
1756 E. Cecil Street,
Waynoka,
OK
73860
1756 E. Cecil Street,
Waynoka,
OK
73860
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The Circle Theatre opened its doors on May 1, 1946 with Judy Garland in “The Harvey Girls” (unknown if extras added), and was a replacement of the Majestic Theatre nearby which closed the previous day.
Some of the original installations include two 22,000 blowers placed in penthouse structures behind the main building as well as two 42in exhaust fans being placed on the roof. The building combines a cream and brown varying both light and dark, with the principal color accent in both red and green. The lobby space includes the ticket booth, refreshment stand, restrooms, and office which all have direct access to the seating space. The candy room west of the booth is decorated in red, green, and brown with deep ivory ceiling. The lower part of the auditorium was painted in light oak with the upper walls being decorated in a light shade of cream. The seats feature individual arm rests and 36in between rows to assure comfort. The carpeting used in the building was designed in varying shades of red, blue, green, and gold. The curtains are draped with gold rayon and both exits are built on both sides of the stage. Two aisles lead to the two sections of the balcony where each row of seats are raised above the one on front. And lastly, the main floor of the auditorium slopes to the screen with three different sections of seats.
The building currently houses Zooks Veterinary Clinic and the next door cafe is also reopened.
Circle Theater closed in the fall of 1981. It reopened for a few weeks during the summer in 1982, some of the movies featured were Porky’s, Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Kahn, Grease 2 and The Cat People. It then closed permanently with the exception of a free single showing of the film Tex at Christmas. In Jan 1983 projection & sound equipment was removed. For the next 15 years the auditorium was used as a community live theater and for the annual Miss Waynoka pageant. In the late 1990s the building was remodeled and became a Duckwalls retail store. It closed in 2010. The store reopened in 2011 as Mike’s Variety which has since gone through several name changes under the same owner. As of April 2020 it is still in business although a “store closing” sign is displayed in the window.
1971 photo added via Steve Larrick.
This should be listed as closed since it’s now a retail store.