Gillioz Theatre

Last updated
Gillioz Theater
Gillioz Theater - Springfield MO.jpg
The newly renovated Gillioz Theatre in the Park Central East Street and the neighboring Fine Arts Building
USA Missouri location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location325 Park Central E., Springfield, Missouri
Coordinates 37°12′30″N93°17′20″W / 37.20833°N 93.28889°W / 37.20833; -93.28889 Coordinates: 37°12′30″N93°17′20″W / 37.20833°N 93.28889°W / 37.20833; -93.28889
Arealess than one acre
Built1926 (1926)
ArchitectLarsen, L.P.; Jacobs, Fred
Architectural styleMission/spanish Revival
NRHP reference No. 91000887 [1]
Added to NRHPJuly 9, 1991

The Gillioz Theatre is a historic theater located at Springfield, Missouri, United States. It was built by M. E. Gillioz of Monett, Missouri. Mr. Gillioz was in the business of building bridges, and the theater was built with steel and concrete. Wood was only used for handrails, doors, and doorframes. The original cost of the building was $300,000. Renovation costs totaled approximately $1.9 million. [2]

Contents

The theater opened on October 11, 1926. Gillioz managed to secure a 100-year lease on one 16-foot (4.9 m) wide piece of property which bordered on U.S. Route 66, so that the theater could garner patrons who traveled on that historic highway. After many prosperous years, and many not-so-prosperous years, the "Gillioz, Theatre Beautiful" finally offered its last show in the summer of 1980, an opera. [2]

The theater was originally a transition theater, with a Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ for silent movies and a stage for live performances, such as vaudeville acts. The pipe organ was Wurlitzer's opus 1411 Style D. The organ had 2 manuals and 6 ranks of pipes, 4 tuned percussions, 6 traps, and 9 sound effects. The organ was sold in 1980 when the theatre closed and is currently in private hands. A sound system was installed in 1928 with the advent of talkies. [2]

The theatre is mainly a concert venue. It hosts a variety of entertainment such as Dave Chappelle, Elvis Costello, George Clinton, Parliament Funkadelic, Kacey Musgraves, Billy Ray Cyrus and many more. Capacity for general admission is 1,300 and for reserved seating there is 1,015.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. [1] It is located in the Springfield Public Square Historic District.

Premieres

The Gillioz hosted the premieres of three movies:

Stories

Elvis Presley passed an afternoon watching a movie at the Gillioz after performing sound checks for an evening show at the nearby Shrine Mosque. Questions of the old theatre being haunted are frequent. Factually, the theatre did have a death on New Year's Eve 1962 when the projectionist died at his post prior to starting a midnight screening. It is a favorite spot for paranormal investigation.

Renovation

The Gillioz is now operated by the Gillioz Center For Arts & Entertainment, a 501c-3 non-profit committed to preserving the space and enhancing the quality of life for people in the Ozarks, visitors and residents alike, through music, comedy, film and education. Restoration began in 1990, and was completed in 2006. The lobby and auditorium were restored to the original 1926 appearance. It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Eighty years after first opening its doors, the Gillioz had a grand reopening in October 2006 known as Encore 2006. The historic Gillioz has experienced a strong resurgence, including being named top event venue by both 417 magazine and the Springfield Newsleader. In 2017 the Gillioz was named a top 5 event venue under 4000 seats by the Academy of Country Music. Other venues listed were the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville Tennessee, Austin City Limits in Austin Texas, the PlayStation Theatre in New York and Hoyt Sherman Theatre in Des Moines Iowa.

Reagan Center

The Gillioz Theatre and the Jim D. Morris Building together are known as the Ronald and Nancy Reagan Center. The Gillioz Theatre was chosen due to Ronald Reagan's theatrical contributions.

Related Research Articles

Tennessee Theatre United States historic place

The Tennessee Theatre is a movie palace in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee. The theater was built in 1928 in the 1908 Burwell Building, considered Knoxville's first skyscraper. The theater and Burwell Building were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and the theater was extensively restored in the early 2000s. The Tennessee Theatre currently focuses on hosting performing arts events and classic films, and is home to the Knoxville Opera and the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. The theater is managed by AC Entertainment.

Theatre organ Type of pipe organ

A theatre organ is a distinct type of pipe organ originally developed to provide music and sound effects to accompany silent films during the first 3 decades of the 20th century.

Alabama Theatre

The Alabama Theatre is a movie palace in Birmingham, Alabama. It was built in 1927 by Paramount's Publix Theatre chain as its flagship theater for the southeastern region of the United States. Seating 2,500 people at the time, it was the largest in the Birmingham Theatre district. The district was once home to a myriad of large theaters that featured vaudeville, performing arts, nickelodeons, and large first-run movie palaces. The Alabama is the only district theater still operating today. Built to show silent films, the Alabama still features its original Wurlitzer theater organ. Other than the Alabama, the Lyric Theatre is the only theater still standing in the district.

Fox Theatre (Atlanta) Movie theater in Atlanta, Georgia, United States

The Fox Theatre, a former movie palace, is a performing arts venue located at 660 Peachtree Street NE in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, and is the centerpiece of the Fox Theatre Historic District.

Fox Theatre (Detroit) Theater and former movie theater in Detroit, Michigan, US

The Fox Theatre is a performing arts center located at 2211 Woodward Avenue in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, near the Grand Circus Park Historic District. Opened in 1928 as a flagship movie palace in the Fox Theatres chain, it was at over 5,000 seats the largest theater in the city. Designed by theater architect C. Howard Crane, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989 for its architecture. The area surrounding the Fox is nicknamed Foxtown. The city's major performance centers and theatres emanate from the Fox Theatre and Grand Circus Park Historic District and continue along Woodward Avenue toward the Fisher Theatre in the city's New Center.

Byrd Theatre United States historic place

The Byrd Theatre is a cinema in the Carytown neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia. It was named after William Byrd II, the founder of the city. The theater opened on December 24, 1928 to much excitement and is affectionately referred to as "Richmond’s Movie Palace". It was the first cinema in Virginia to be outfitted when built with a sound system.

Al. Ringling Theatre United States historic place

The Al. Ringling Theatre in Baraboo, Wisconsin, United States, opened its doors in November 1915 and has been operating continuously ever since. Designed by the architectural firm Rapp and Rapp, it was built by Albert Ringling, one of the circus Ringling Brothers, for $100,000. Over the years, it has featured performances from vaudeville and silent movies to grand opera starring such notables as Lionel Barrymore and Mary Pickford.

Chicago Theatre Theater and former movie theater in Chicago, Illinois, United States

The Chicago Theatre, originally known as the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theatre, is a landmark theater located on North State Street in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Built in 1921, the Chicago Theatre was the flagship for the Balaban and Katz (B&K) group of theaters run by A. J. Balaban, his brother Barney Balaban and partner Sam Katz. Along with the other B&K theaters, from 1925 to 1945 the Chicago Theatre was a dominant movie theater enterprise. Currently, Madison Square Garden, Inc. owns and operates the Chicago Theatre as a performing arts venue for stage plays, magic shows, comedy, speeches, sporting events and popular music concerts.

Fox Theatre (St. Louis)

The Fox Theatre, a former movie palace, is a performing arts center located at 527 N. Grand Blvd. in St. Louis, Missouri. Also known as "The Fabulous Fox", it is situated in the arts district of the Grand Center area in Midtown St. Louis, one block north of Saint Louis University. It opened in 1929 and was completely restored in 1982.

Lafayette Theatre (Suffern)

The Lafayette Theatre is a nationally acclaimed movie palace located in downtown Suffern, New York, built in 1923. Its primary function is first-run movies, but it also houses special events like its popular weekly Big Screen Classics film shows. It is also notable for housing a Wurlitzer theatre organ, which is played before Big Screen Classics shows.

Peerys Egyptian Theater

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.

Stambaugh Auditorium

Stambaugh Auditorium is located in Youngstown, Ohio in the United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Paramount Theatre (Seattle)

The Paramount Theatre is a 2,807-seat performing arts venue located at 9th Avenue and Pine Street in Seattle, Washington, United States. The theater originally opened on March 1, 1928 as the Seattle Theatre, with 3,000 seats. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 9, 1974, and has also been designated a City of Seattle landmark.

Fargo Theatre Theater and movie theater in Fargo, North Dakota, United States

The Fargo Theatre is an art deco movie theater in downtown Fargo, North Dakota, United States. Construction on the building began in the fall of 1925 and the theatre opened on March 15, 1926. It was restored in 1999 to its historic appearance and now is a center for the arts in the Fargo-Moorhead metropolitan area. The Fargo Theatre is home to a 4-manual, 32-rank Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ, known as the "Mighty Wurlitzer," which is owned and maintained by the Red River Theatre Organ Society, a non-profit organization and local chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society.

Bartola Musical Instrument Company

The Bartola Musical Instrument Company of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA, was a producer of theater pipe organs during the age of silent movies.

Pacific Building (Salem, Oregon) United States historic place

The Capitol Theater was located at 542 State Street in Salem, Oregon, United States. Part of the Bligh Building, it was built in the 1920s for vaudeville. During its heyday, it housed a Wurlitzer pipe organ, which is now in private ownership in Washington. The theater was demolished in 2000, but the retail portion of the building, now known as the Pacific Building, still stands.

Paramount Theatre (Denver) United States historic place

The Paramount Theatre is a concert venue in Denver, Colorado, located on Glenarm Place, near Denver's famous 16th Street Mall. The venue has a seating capacity of 1,870 but is a popular destination for large acts looking for a smaller concert setting. With spelling as Paramount Theater, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Plaza Theatre (El Paso)

The Plaza Theatre is a historic building in El Paso, Texas built in 1930. The theater stands as one of the city's most well-known landmarks, and remains operational today. The theatre is a National Historic Building of Significance featuring the 2,050-seat Kendall Kidd Performance Hall, and the smaller 200-seat Philanthropy Theatre. It hosts Broadway productions, musical concerts, individual performers and the annual Plaza Classic Film Festival.

Riviera Theatre (North Tonawanda, New York) Music venue and movie theater in North Tonawanda, New York, United States

The Riviera Theatre is a historic, 1140 seat entertainment venue in North Tonawanda, New York. The theatre hosts a multitude of performing arts events per year, including live concerts, theatre, dance shows, and movies. The Riviera's “Mighty Wurlitzer” theatre organ has been fully restored, is continually maintained by volunteers, and is famed as being one of two original Wurlitzer demonstrator organs, which the company would use to show off to potential clients in the height of the silent film era.

Sarasota Opera House

The Sarasota Opera House is an historic theatre, now opera house, located at 61 North Pineapple Avenue in Sarasota, Florida. The building was the vision of A.B. Edwards, the first mayor of Sarasota. It opened on April 10, 1926, with a three-story entrance containing eight shops on the ground floor, 12 offices on the second floor, and 12 furnished apartments on the third. The theatre's auditorium contained an orchestral pipe organ. As noted on the Sarasota Opera's website, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune hailed Edwards for "having admitted Sarasota into a fairyland of costly decoration, rich furnishings and never to be forgotten artistry."

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 Philip Thomason/Kimberley Murphy (March 1991). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Gillioz Theatre" (PDF). Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved 2016-12-01. (includes 11 photographs from 2001)

Baumlin, James S., ed. (October 2006). The Gillioz "Theatre Beautiful": Remembering Springfield's Theatre History, 1926-2006. Moon City Press. ISBN   0-913785-05-9.