West End Theatre
4819 Delmar Boulevard,
St. Louis,
MO
63107
4819 Delmar Boulevard,
St. Louis,
MO
63107
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Additional Info
Architects: Charles Green
Previous Names: Colonial Theatre, Majestic Theatre, Monarch Theatre, West End Lyric Theatre, West End Art Theatre, Midtown Theatre, Midtown Art Theatre, Paris Art Theatre, Expo Art Theatre, Studio Cinema, Studio World, Comet West End Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Colonial Theatre was opened in 1910 with 990 seats. It was operated by the Arthur Chain (Franchon & Marco) in 1927 and seated 773. It was a neighborhood house located just east of Kings Highway in a small shopping center about 10 blocks east of the more opulant Pageant Theatre. The West End Theatre was a two story theatre with a small balcony. Nothing impressive about this popular neighborhood house.
It thrived until 1956 and the Arthur chain sold it to a private individual who renamed it the West End Art Theatre. It started playing adult fare and the balcony was made into a second screen. Operating under various names, the theatre lasted until 1964 when a storm caused the back part of the roof to collapse. The theatre was demolished in August 1985 after the city condemned the building.
Contributed by
Charles Van Bibber
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
Theatre opened in 1910 with popular priced vaudeville and known as the Colonial Theatre. Architect was Charles Green. Seating capacity at that time was 990.
This policy was not successful. Went to a stock company policy and the name of the theatre was changed to MAJESTIC. In 1913 theatre was sold at foreclosure to Fred Block by the Colonial Amusement Co. Theatre again renamed to MONARCH.
In 1914, theatre policy changed to movies and name changed once again, this time to WEST END LYRIC. (At the time, the owner had a theatre downtown, the LYRIC.)
In 1917, theatre was taken over by the Skouras Brothers as a first-run (multiple) house.
In 1927 theatre became a 2nd run house.
An extensive remodeling took place in 1937, at which point theatre
became known as the WEST END.
In his Memoirs, famed playwright Tennessee Williams recalled going as a youth to the West End Lyric on Delmar Boulevard, a block away from Westminster Place where his family lived. He wrote of going with a girl named Hazel:
“I believe it was at puberty that I first knew that I had a sexual desire for Hazel and it was in the West End Lyric, the movie house on Delmar Boulevard. Sitting beside her before the movie began, I was suddenly conscious of her bare shoulders and I wanted to touch them and I felt a genital stirring.”
In fact Williams was homosexual and wrote extensively about his gay relationships in that quite excellent autobiography.
In addition to the names I mentioned earlier, theatre also known as the MIDTOWN, the MIDTOWN ART, the PARIS ART and the EXPO ART. These all date from the late-1950s and after.
Still more names: in the 70s theatre known as the Studio Cinema, Studio World. Finally, in the early 80s became the Comet West End, after the Comet on Finney had closed.
An article in the Post-Dispatch on August 5, 1985 told of its being demolished.
To avoid confusion:
An article in the Post-Dispatch on August 5, 1985 told of the demolishment taking place of the Comet West End.
11 names for this theatre. that is a lot.
The Skouras Brothers took over the theatre in 1919. The 1917 date was in error.
Here is a brief item describing the West End Lyric Theatre, from the November 14, 1914, issue of Motion Picture News: