Egyptian Theatre, Park City

Last updated
Mary G. Steiner Egyptian Theatre
Egyptian Theatre (2024)-L1004366.jpg
The Egyptian Theatre on the eve of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival
Egyptian Theatre, Park City
Address328 Main Street
Park City, Utah
U.S.
Coordinates 40°38′33″N111°29′42″W / 40.6425°N 111.495°W / 40.6425; -111.495
Capacity 266
OpenedDecember 25, 1926
Website
parkcityshows.com

The Egyptian Theatre is located at 328 Main Street in Park City, Utah in the United States. It has also been referred to as the Mary J. Steiner Egyptian Theatre or Egyptian Theatre in Park City and is built in the style of Egyptian-themed theatres from the 1920s that followed the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun.

Contents

History

The Egyptian Theatre was built on the location of the old Dewey Theatre, which collapsed under a snow load in January 1916. Construction began in 1926, [1] and the first production, by John Alphonso Rugar (1883–1970), debuted on Christmas Day of 1926. It was built with a stage for potential vaudeville acts but was used primarily as a movie house. The design of the building was a replica of Warner's Egyptian Theatre in East Pasadena, California, and Egyptologist C.R. Berg of Seattle was consulted on the theater's theme and decor.

The Christmas opening featured a performance of "A Wonderful Sign of a Magical Time". The theatre was used as a saloon, a cinema house and live performance theatre during the Great Depression, the Second World War and a period of severe local emigration in the 1950s.

The theatre was eventually renamed the Silver Wheel Theatre in 1963, just in time for the town to rebound as a ski and resort city. Live theatre continued to be presented through this period, and in 1981, it became the home to Park City Performances after a renovation process. The increased diversity in productions helped the theatre carry on as an active venue well into the 1990s.

The Save our Stage community group was formed during this period, and on February 14, 1998, the Egyptian Theatre reopened after the completion of a major reconstruction and refurbishment effort. The cost of the renovation is estimated to be at $1.5 Million.

Significance

The Egyptian Theatre was part of a national and worldwide fascination with the contemporary discovery of the tomb of King Tut in Egypt. Many cinema and performance theatres around the nation were either refurbished or constructed with the Egyptian theme in mind.

The design and construction of the theatre was supervised by an Egyptologist from Seattle, WA. The result of the accurate use of the historic details was a beautiful theatre with many of the most recognizable symbols of Egypt, including the lotus leaf, scarabs, hieroglyphics and symbols of life and happiness.

Originally the theatre was built to seat 400, but later renovations reduced that number to the present capacity of 310.

The Egyptian Theatre was the first sound movie cinema house in Park City, Utah.

The Sundance Film Festival has used The Egyptian Theatre as a cinematic house for almost as long as the festival has existed; one of its oldest and most recognizable venues.

This theatre is one of only two Egyptian-style theatres in Utah. The other example is that of Peery's Egyptian Theatre in Ogden, Utah. Besides these two theaters, the Salt Lake Masonic Temple is the only other Egyptian Revival building still extant in Utah.

See also

Mary G. Steiner Egyptian Theatre in Park City, Utah during the Sundance Film Festival 2024
(view as a 360deg interactive panorama) Sundance 2024 parkcity mainstreet egyptian 20240124 065740 971.jpg
Mary G. Steiner Egyptian Theatre in Park City, Utah during the Sundance Film Festival 2024
( view as a 360° interactive panorama )

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seattle International Film Festival</span> Annual film festival in Washington, US

The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is a film festival held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States since 1976. It usually takes place in late May and/or early June. It is one of the largest festivals in the world, and features a diverse assortment of predominantly independent and foreign films, and a strong contingent of documentaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grauman's Egyptian Theatre</span> Movie theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California

Grauman's Egyptian Theatre is a historic movie theater located on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Opened in 1922, it is an early example of a lavish movie palace and is noted as having been the site of the first-ever Hollywood film premiere. From 1998 until 2020, it was owned and operated by the American Cinematheque, a member-based cultural organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grauman's Chinese Theatre</span> Movie theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles

The TCL Chinese Theatre, colloquially referred to as Grauman's Chinese Theatre, is a movie palace on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Movie palace</span> Type of movie theater

A movie palace is any of the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opening every year between 1925 and 1930. With the advent of television, movie attendance dropped, while the rising popularity of large multiplex chains in the 1980s and 1990s signaled the obsolescence of single-screen theaters. Many movie palaces were razed or converted into multiple-screen venues or performing arts centers, though some have undergone restoration and reopened to the public as historic buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Capitan Theatre</span> Cinema in Hollywood

El Capitan Theatre is a fully restored movie palace at 6838 Hollywood Boulevard in the Hollywood neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, United States. The theater and adjacent Hollywood Masonic Temple is owned by The Walt Disney Company and serves as the venue for a majority of the Walt Disney Studios' film premieres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trocadero Theatre</span> Historic theater in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US

The Trocadero Theatre is a historic theater located in Chinatown in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It offered musical comedies, vaudeville, opera, and burlesque. The Trocadero Theatre was refurbished for use as an art house cinema and fine arts theatre in 1970s, and by the 1990s had become an iconic venue for rock and punk concerts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peery's Egyptian Theater</span>

Peery's Egyptian Theater is a movie palace located in Ogden, Utah, United States. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egyptian Theatre</span> Type of cinema

Egyptian-style theatres are based on the traditional and historic design elements of Ancient Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">5th Avenue Theatre</span> Landmark theatre in Seattle, Washington

The 5th Avenue Theatre is a landmark theatre located in the Skinner Building, in the downtown core of Seattle, Washington, United States. It has hosted a variety of theatre productions and motion pictures since it opened in 1926. The building and land are owned by the University of Washington and were once part of the original campus. The theatre operates as a venue for nationally touring Broadway and original shows by the non-profit 5th Avenue Theatre Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rialto Theatre (Tucson, Arizona)</span> Historic performance venue

The Rialto Theatre is a performance theater and concert venue located on Congress Street in downtown Tucson, Pima County, southern Arizona. The cinema−theater and surrounding Rialto Building commercial block were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Egyptian Theatre (Boise, Idaho)</span> United States historic place

The Egyptian Theatre is a theatre and concert venue in the western United States, located in Boise, Idaho. It has also been known as the Ada Theater. Inaugurated after its erection 97 years ago in 1927, it is the oldest theatre in the city. When it opened, the local press wrote that it "embodies the characteristic features of the land of the Nile, from the truncated pyramids which form the great pylons, to the lotus bud pillars with their ornate frescoes." The great lotus pillars flanking the screen are based on those of Karnak. The theatre has been renovated by Conrad Schmitt Studios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egyptian Theatre (DeKalb, Illinois)</span> United States historic place

The Egyptian Theatre in DeKalb, Illinois, United States, is an Egyptian Revival theatre that is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The theatre was built in 1928 and 1929 as part of a much larger wave of national fascination with Ancient Egypt throughout the United States, due, in large part, to the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. The theatre was added to the National Register in 1978 and its 1,430-seat auditorium is currently DeKalb County's largest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moore Theatre</span> Theater in Seattle, Washington, U.S.

Moore Theatre is an 1,800-seat performing arts venue in Seattle, Washington, United States, located two blocks away from Pike Place Market at the corner of 2nd Avenue and Virginia Street. It opened in 1907 and is Seattle's oldest active theater, hosting a variety of theatrical productions, concerts and lectures. The Moore is currently operated by the Seattle Theatre Group, which also runs the 2,803-seat Paramount Theatre and the Neptune Theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egyptian Theatre (Coos Bay, Oregon)</span> United States historic place

The Egyptian Theatre is a historic movie theatre in Coos Bay, Oregon, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atmospheric theatre</span> Type of movie theater

An atmospheric theatre is a type of movie palace design which was popular in the late 1920s. Atmospheric theatres were designed and decorated to evoke the feeling of a particular time and place for patrons, through the use of projectors, architectural elements and ornamentation that evoked a sense of being outdoors. This was intended to make the patron a more active participant in the setting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gramercy Theatre</span> Music venue in Manhattan, New York

The Gramercy Theatre is a music venue in New York City. It is located in the Gramercy neighborhood of Manhattan, on 127 East 23rd Street. Built in 1937 as the Gramercy Park Theatre, it is owned and operated by Live Nation as one of their two concert halls in New York City, the other being the nearby Irving Plaza.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincoln Theatre (Columbus, Ohio)</span> United States historic place

The Lincoln Theatre is a 582-seat performing arts venue located at 769 E. Long Street in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. The theater is owned by the City of Columbus under the auspices of the Lincoln Theatre Association. Operation of the facility is managed by CAPA. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paramount Theater (Springfield, Massachusetts)</span> United States historic place

The Paramount Theater is an historic theater located at 1676-1708 Main Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1926 out of part of the grand Massasoit House hotel at a cost of over $1 million, the Paramount Theater was the most ornate picture palace in Western Massachusetts. As of 2011, The Paramount is in the midst of a $1.725 million renovation to once again become a theater after decades as a disco and concert hall,, when it was the center of Springfield's club scene. In 2018 the building's owners, the New England Farm Workers Council, announced plans to redevelop it in tandem with a new adjacent hotel building. In a push to renovate the Paramount along with Holyoke's Victory Theater, in October 2018, the administration of Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced a $2.5 million grant to assist the project, on top of a $4 million federal loan guarantee. Pending finalizing funding for the combined restoration and new hotel, no construction timeline has been presented as of 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neptune Theatre (Seattle)</span> Performing arts venue in Seattle, Washington

The Neptune Theatre, formerly known as U-Neptune Theatre, is a performing arts venue in the University District neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. Opened in 1921, the 1,000 capacity venue hosts a variety of events, including dance and music performances, film screenings, and arts education. It was primarily used for screening classic films prior to a 2011 renovation. In 2014, the theater and building were designated a Seattle landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theater am Aegi</span> German theatre

The Theater am Aegi is an event venue on Aegidientorplatz square in Hannover, the capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. Like the square, it is often referred to as Aegi. The building was opened in 1953 mainly as a cinema, with a versatile stage also for other performances. It has been a Gastspieltheater for local and touring companies, without its own personnel. After a fire, it was rebuilt as a theatre only, opened in 1967, and then mainly as a venue for drama performances of the state-run Staatstheater Hannover. After a new theatre was built for that company in 1992, Theater am Aegi returned to its traditional role of a venue for various events, including congress, private functions and representation of the city.

References

  1. "New Theater Will Be On Dewey Site". Park Record. July 2, 1926.