Magic Theatre
421 East Avenue,
Holdrege,
NE
68949
421 East Avenue,
Holdrege,
NE
68949
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The second Erickson Building was home to two entertainment venues in Holdrege: its New Theatre turned Magic Theatre and, on the second floor, Erickson’s Hall. The first Erickson building opened as a retail store in February of 1892. 15 years later, the new Henry Erickson Building was opened in late-March of 1907. Erickson Hall was on the upper floor and hosted events and meetings.
C.C. Porter launched the theatre on March 21, 1927 with “The Magic Garden” with Joyce Coad and Margaret Morris. Porter also had a naming contest for the venue which became the Magic Theatre soon thereafter. The New/Magic was the replacement for the Auditorium Theatre which had been screening movies regularly and operated along with the Sun Theatre.
The Magic Theatre converted to sound in 1930 and discontinued operations on July 11, 1935 with “The Shepherd of Seven Hills”. The theatre was then used for trade screenings including agricultural films and public service screenings until 1938. Erickson Hall continued with live events above the Magic Theatre. The complex was sold at auction in 1944. It was later converted for other retail purposes.
The building was still active in the 2020’s.
Contributed by
dallasmovietheaters
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
Uploaded a current street view photo.
Uploaded an ad from Movie Theaters of Holdrege which I found at www.usgenwebsites.org>NEPhelps>MovieTheaters.
The article also said that there had been some sort of contest to name the theater and some people have referred to it as the Majestic.