Bijou Theatre (Knoxville)

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Coordinates: 35°57′44″N83°55′0″W / 35.96222°N 83.91667°W / 35.96222; -83.91667

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Contents

Bijou Theatre
Bijou-theater-lamar-house-tn1.jpg
Exterior view of the theatre (c.2010)
Former namesWells Auditorium (planning/construction)
Wells Bijou Theatre (1909-35)
Bijou Art Theatre (1935-75)
Address803 S Gay St
Knoxville, TN 37902-1711
Location Downtown Knoxville
OwnerBijou Theatre Foundation
Operator AC Entertainment
Capacity 757
Construction
Broke groundMay 1908
OpenedMarch 8, 1909
Closed1975-2005
Construction cost$150,000
($4.09 million in 2017 dollars [1] )
ArchitectOakley of Montgomery
General contractorThomas and Turner, Inc.
Website
Venue Website
Lamar House Hotel-Bijou Theatre
Built1817, 1909
Architectural style Federal; Georgian
NRHP reference # 75001763
Added to NRHPDecember 4, 1975

The Bijou Theatre is a theater located in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Built in 1909 as an addition to the Lamar House Hotel, the theater has at various times served as performance venue for traditional theatre, vaudeville, a second-run moviehouse, a commencement stage for the city's African-American high school, and a pornographic movie theater. The Lamar House Hotel, in which the theater was constructed, was originally built in 1817, and modified in the 1850s. The building and theater were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. [2]

Knoxville, Tennessee City in Tennessee, United States

Knoxville is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Knox County. The city had an estimated population of 186,239 in 2016 and a population of 178,874 as of the 2010 census, making it the state's third largest city in the state after Nashville and Memphis. Knoxville is the principal city of the Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area, which, in 2016, was 868,546, up 0.9 percent, or 7,377 people, from to 2015. The KMSA is, in turn, the central component of the Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette Combined Statistical Area, which, in 2013, had a population of 1,096,961.

Theatre collaborative form of performing and fine art

Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers, typically actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music, and dance. Elements of art, such as painted scenery and stagecraft such as lighting are used to enhance the physicality, presence and immediacy of the experience. The specific place of the performance is also named by the word "theatre" as derived from the Ancient Greek θέατρον, itself from θεάομαι.

Vaudeville genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s

Vaudeville is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 18th century. A vaudeville is a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation. It was originally a kind of dramatic composition or light poetry, usually a comedy, interspersed with songs or ballets. It became popular in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s, but the idea of vaudeville's theatre changed radically from its French antecedent.

The Lamar House Hotel was built by Irish immigrant Thomas Humes (1767–1816) and his descendants, and quickly developed into a gathering place for Knoxville's wealthy. In 1819, Andrew Jackson became the first of five presidents to lodge at the hotel, and in the early 1850s, local businessmen purchased and expanded the building into a lavish 75-room complex. [2] During the Civil War, the Union Army used the hotel as a hospital for its war wounded, among them General William P. Sanders, who died at the hotel in 1863. Following the war, the hotel became the center of Knoxville's Gilded Age extravagance, hosting lavish masquerade balls for the city's elite. [2] [3]

Irish people Ethnic group with Celtic and other roots, native to the island of Ireland, with shared history and culture

The Irish are a Celtic nation and ethnic group native to the island of Ireland, who share a common Irish ancestry, identity and culture. Ireland has been inhabited for about 12,500 years according to archaeological studies. For most of Ireland's recorded history, the Irish have been primarily a Gaelic people. Anglo-Normans conquered parts of Ireland in the 12th century, while England's 16th/17th-century (re)conquest and colonisation of Ireland brought a large number of English and Lowland Scots people to parts of the island, especially the north. Today, Ireland is made up of the Republic of Ireland and the smaller Northern Ireland. The people of Northern Ireland hold various national identities including British, Irish, Northern Irish or some combination thereof.

Andrew Jackson 7th president of the United States

Andrew Jackson was an American soldier and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, Jackson gained fame as a general in the United States Army and served in both houses of Congress. As president, Jackson sought to advance the rights of the "common man" against a "corrupt aristocracy" and to preserve the Union.

American Civil War Civil war in the United States from 1861 to 1865

The American Civil War was a war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North and the South. The Civil War is the most studied and written about episode in U.S. history. Primarily as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people, war broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina shortly after Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated as the President of the United States. The loyalists of the Union in the North proclaimed support for the Constitution. They faced secessionists of the Confederate States in the South, who advocated for states' rights to uphold slavery.

In 1909, the rear wing of the building was replaced by the Bijou Theatre structure, entered through a new lobby cut through the hotel building from Gay Street. The theater opened on March 8, 1909, and over the next four decades would host performers such as the Marx Brothers, Dizzy Gillespie, John Philip Sousa, the Ballets Russes, Ethel Barrymore, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, John Cullum, and Houdini. After a period of decline in the 1960s and early 1970s, local preservationists purchased the building and renovated the theater. [2]

Gay Street (Knoxville) Historical and famous street in Knoxville, Tennessee

Gay Street is a street in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, that traverses the heart of the city's downtown area. Since its development in the 1790s, Gay Street has served as the city's principal financial and commercial thoroughfare, and has played a primary role in the city's historical and cultural development. The street contains Knoxville's largest office buildings and oldest commercial structures. Several buildings on Gay Street have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Marx Brothers American comedy troupe

The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) as among the top 100 comedy films, with two of them in the top twelve. They are widely considered by critics, scholars, and fans to be among the greatest and most influential comedians of the 20th century. The brothers were included in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars list of the 25 greatest male stars of Classic Hollywood cinema, the only performers to be inducted collectively.

Dizzy Gillespie American jazz trumpeter

John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, and singer.

Design

The Bijou orchestra floor, boxes, and stage, viewed from the upper right loggia Bijou-theatre-knoxville-balcony-tn2.jpg
The Bijou orchestra floor, boxes, and stage, viewed from the upper right loggia

The Bijou Theatre building consists of two parts— the original hotel section, completed in 1817, and the rear theater section, built in 1909. The main entrance opens into a foyer, from which the rear theater section and the building's front corner wings are accessed (the south corner wing is occupied by a restaurant, The Bistro). From the foyer, the rear entrance opens into a bar, with passageways to the left and right leading to the theater's orchestra floor, and stairways to the left and right accessing the theater's balconies and the original building's second floor (now offices for the theater).

The building's facade was probably designed in the Georgian style, but its original appearance was extensively altered in the 1850s. Many of these alterations resulted from the macadamizing of Gay Street in 1854. The grading of the street during this period exposed the hotel's cellar, which was subsequently converted into the main entrance. [2]

Georgian architecture set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840

Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, George III, and George IV—who reigned in continuous succession from August 1714 to June 1830. The style was revived in the late 19th century in the United States as Colonial Revival architecture and in the early 20th century in Great Britain as Neo-Georgian architecture; in both it is also called Georgian Revival architecture. In the United States the term "Georgian" is generally used to describe all buildings from the period, regardless of style; in Britain it is generally restricted to buildings that are "architectural in intention", and have stylistic characteristics that are typical of the period, though that covers a wide range.

Macadam type of road construction pioneered by Scottish engineer John Loudon McAdam

Macadam is a type of road construction, pioneered by Scottish engineer John Loudon McAdam around 1820, in which single-sized crushed stone layers of small angular stones are placed in shallow lifts and compacted thoroughly. A binding layer of stone dust may form; it may also, after rolling, be covered with a binder to keep dust and stones together. The method simplified what had been considered state of the art at that point.

The theater has a capacity of approximately 700, with two balcony levels. There are two loggia levels and three box levels on each side of the building. The stage is 35 feet (11 m) deep and 69 feet (21 m) wide. The theater is decorated with notable Classical Revival elements, which include Corinthian columns supporting the box levels, reclining muse pediments above the top box levels, and grape-and-vine motifs adorning the front of the boxes and balconies. [2]

History

Early history

The Bijou stands on Lot 38 of the original survey of Knoxville drawn by Charles McClung in 1791. Thomas Humes, who operated a nearby store on Gay Street, purchased parts of the lot in 1801 and 1805. In 1816, Humes began building the three-story structure on the lot that he planned to operate as a tavern and hotel, but died before the building was completed. Humes's widow, Margaret Russell Cowan, continued construction, however, and the "Knoxville Hotel" opened sometime around July 1817. [2]

The hotel was initially managed by a local tavern owner named Archibald Rhea, and was advertised as the largest in East Tennessee. The three-story hotel featured 13 rooms, a saloon, dining room, and had its own granary and stables. Throughout much of the 1820s and 1830s, the hotel was managed by a local hotelier named Joseph Jackson, and developed into a popular gathering place for the city's elite. Humes's children sold the hotel in 1837 to John Pickett and William Belden, who rechristened it the "City Hotel." During this period, each room in the hotel contained two feather beds, a table and chairs, and a washstand and looking glass. The hotel also had its own library, a lounge with a piano, and a dining room that served meals on silver plates and china. [2]

Lamar House and the Civil War

The Lamar House on an 1886 map of Knoxville, showing the original section (facing Gay Street, on the right), and the two early-1850s ell wings Lamar-house-hotel-1886-tn1.jpg
The Lamar House on an 1886 map of Knoxville, showing the original section (facing Gay Street, on the right), and the two early-1850s ell wings

In 1852, Knoxville banker William M. Churchwell purchased the hotel, and closed it in order to carry out renovations. Churchwell added a 100-foot (30 m) by 35-foot (11 m) ell overlooking Cumberland Street, expanding the hotel's capacity to 75, and then added a second ell to the first to serve as the hotel's kitchen, laundry and dining hall/ballroom. The hotel reopened under the name "Coleman House" in 1854, but in 1856 it was renamed "Lamar House" after investor Gazaway Bugg Lamar. That same year, Churchwell was forced to sell the hotel to William H. Sneed to cover bank debts. [2]

In the months leading up to the Civil War, the Lamar House was favored by the city's secessionist leaders (Sneed himself was a staunch secessionist). District Attorney J. C. Ramsey, who ruthlessly prosecuted the city's Unionists during the war, listed the hotel as his business address. In October 1860, ex-Congressman John H. Crozier delivered a pro-secession speech in front of the hotel in which he called the city's pro-Union newspaperman, Parson Brownlow, a "coward." [4] During the Confederate Army's occupation of Knoxville (1861–1863), Confederate officers boarded at the Lamar House. [2]

When the Union Army took control of Knoxville in September 1863, the Lamar House was converted into a hospital. General William P. Sanders died in the hotel's bridal suite from wounds suffered during the Knoxville Campaign on November 19, 1863. His death was kept secret throughout the two-week Siege of Knoxville for fear it would demoralize Union soldiers. After the war, Parson Brownlow filed a lawsuit against Sneed and other ex-Confederates, demanding their property be confiscated. By 1866, however, Sneed had regained control of the hotel. [2]

Gilded Age and decline

Lamar House advertisement, 1884 Lamar-house-hotel-advertisement-1884-tn1.jpg
Lamar House advertisement, 1884

After Sneed died in 1869, his children inherited the Lamar House, and over the next two decades, the hotel once again developed into the preferred gathering place for Knoxville's elite. The hotel's status was enhanced by the construction of Staub's Theatre — Knoxville's first opera house— across the street in 1872. Masquerade balls were held regularly in the hotel's ballroom, with cigars, imported wines, and oysters served. Frequent attendees included author Frances Hodgson Burnett (whose brother worked as a bartender at the hotel) and artist Lloyd Branson. President Rutherford B. Hayes stayed at the hotel during his visit to Knoxville in September 1877. [2] [5] General James Holt Clanton died at the Lamar House on September 27, 1871, after being wounded in a shootout with attorney David Nelson. [6] [7]

In the 1890s, Knoxville's business focus shifted to the Southern Railroad area toward the north end of Gay Street, and the Lamar Hotel began to decline. Sneed's heirs sold the hotel in 1895, and over the next decade, the hotel shifted through six different owners and various new names before being purchased by the Auditorium Company for the construction of the Bijou in 1908. The hotel was known as "Hotel Le Conte" from 1930 until the 1950s, and was called "Hotel Lamarr" in the 1960s. By 1969, the hotel had become notorious for prostitution, and the city ordered it closed. [2]

Bijou Theatre

The Auditorium Company, headed by businessman C. B. Atkin and theater manager Jake Wells, purchased the hotel in 1908 with the intention of adding a theater. The hotel's ell wings were torn down, and the brick theater wing was built in their place, with entrances added to the hotel's lobby. The theater, built at a cost of $50,000, originally had a capacity of 1,500, and featured electric lighting. The theater's backstage was equipped with a two-story scene dock and an Otis elevator to move sets. [2]

Orchestra floor, looking toward the stage Bijou-theatre-knoxville-stage-tn1.jpg
Orchestra floor, looking toward the stage

On March 8, 1909, the theater's opening night production of George Cohan's Little Johnny Jones was viewed by a sold-out audience. Traditional theater played a major role in the Bijou's early success, with performances that included Mr. Green's Reception, which starred the Marx Brothers. Between 1914 and 1921, B. F. Keith's company managed the Bijou, and vaudeville became the theater's primary attraction. While African-Americans were only allowed in the theater's gallery (now the upper balcony) on main performance nights, Knoxville Colored High School used the theater for commencement ceremonies in the 1910s, and Knoxville College performed plays at the theater. [2]

Performers at the Bijou during the 1920s included John Philip Sousa and his band, Anna Pavlova and the Ballet Russe, and magician Harry Blackstone. In 1935, Kincy Theaters purchased the Bijou for use as a second-run moviehouse (the Tennessee Theatre, which opened in 1928, was Knoxville's first-run moviehouse). Live performances continued, however, among them Dorothy Gish in Life with Father in 1941, Lunt and Fontanne in Robert Sherwood's There Shall Be No Night in 1941, and Ethel Barrymore in Emlyn Williams's The Corn Is Green in 1943. The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra used the Bijou for its performances between 1936 and 1941. [2]

Restoration

Gallery on the second floor of the original hotel section Bijou-theatre-knoxville-gallery-tn1.jpg
Gallery on the second floor of the original hotel section

By the late 1960s and early 1970s, Knoxville's downtown area had deteriorated, and various companies were using the Bijou to show pornographic movies. In 1974, after its owner was evicted for unpaid property taxes, the building was threatened with demolition, and a group of concerned citizens (the forerunner of Knox Heritage) organized a successful campaign to save the building. The theater was renovated as a center for the performing arts. Another partial renovation followed 20 years later, but funding remained a problem, and maintenance suffered. By 2005, the theater was in danger of defaulting on its mortgage, and was saved once again by two Knoxville businessmen, who held off foreclosure while the loan was renegotiated. After a fundraising campaign spearheaded by Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam and the award of a federal grant, another renovation followed, repairing water damage, renovating the theater seats, and upgrading the stage with modern lighting, sound, and fly equipment.

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Gazaway Bugg Lamar (1798-1874) was an American merchant in cotton and shipping in Savannah, Georgia, and a steamboat pioneer. He was the first to use a prefabricated iron steamboat on local rivers, which was a commercial success. In 1846 he moved to New York City for business, where in 1850 he founded the Bank of the Republic on Wall Street and served as its president. He served both Southern businesses and state governments. After the start of the American Civil War, Lamar returned to Savannah, where he became active in banking and supporting the war effort in several ways. With associates, he founded the Importing and Exporting Company of Georgia, which operated blockade runners.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee, USA.

References

  1. ↑ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Community Development Project. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Dean Novelli, "On a Corner of Gay Street: A History of the Lamar House—Bijou Theater, Knoxville, Tennessee, 1817 – 1985." East Tennessee Historical Society Publications, Vol. 56 (1984), pp. 3-45.
  3. ↑ Knoxville: Fifty Landmarks. (Knoxville: The Knoxville Heritage Committee of the Junior League of Knoxville, 1976), p. 15.
  4. ↑ Robert McKenzie, Lincolnites and Rebels: A Divided Town in the American Civil War (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 45.
  5. ↑ Jack Neely, Knoxville's Secret History (Scruffy Books, 1995), pp. 13, 70-71.
  6. ↑ Thomas Alexander, Thomas A. R. Nelson of East Tennessee (Nashville: Tennessee Historical Commission, 1956), p. 152.
  7. ↑ Knoxville Press and Herald, 28 September 1871.
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