Majestic Theatre (Dallas)

Last updated

Majestic Theatre
Majestic Dallas Exterior.jpg
Majestic Theatre
Majestic Theatre (Dallas)
Address1925 Elm St.
Dallas, Texas
United States
Coordinates 32°47′1″N96°47′40″W / 32.78361°N 96.79444°W / 32.78361; -96.79444
Owner City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture
OperatorCity of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture
TypeTheatre
Capacity 1,704
Acreage less than one acre
Screens1
Current usePerforming Arts Center
Construction
Built1921 (1921)
OpenedApril 11, 1921
Years active1921-1973, 1983-present
Architect John Eberson
Website
The Majestic
Majestic Theatre
Relief map of Texas.png
Red pog.svg
Majestic Theatre
Usa edcp relief location map.png
Red pog.svg
Majestic Theatre
Architectural style Renaissance Revival
Part of Dallas Downtown Historic District (ID04000894 [1] )
NRHP reference No. 77001437 [1]
TSAL No. 8200000215
RTHL No. 6779
DLMK No. H/21 (individually)
H/48 (Harwood HD)
Significant dates
Added to NRHPNovember 14, 1977
Designated CPAugust 11, 2006
Designated TSALJanuary 1, 1981
Designated RTHL1983
Designated DLMKApril 22, 1992 [2] (individually)
February 28, 1990 [3] (Harwood HD)

The Majestic Theatre is a performing arts theater in the City Center District of Downtown Dallas. It is the last remnant of Theater Row, the city's historic entertainment center on Elm Street, and is a contributing property in the Harwood Street Historic District. The structure is a Dallas Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Contents

History

The Majestic Theatre in 2009 MajesticDallas.jpg
The Majestic Theatre in 2009

Designed by John Eberson under direction of Karl Hoblitzelle, the Majestic Theatre was constructed in 1920 as the flagship theater for Interstate Amusement Company, a chain of vaudeville houses. [4] The $2 million Renaissance Revival structure opened on April 11, 1921 with a seating capacity of 2,800. [5] It replaced a previous theater of the same name (located at Commerce Street and St. Paul Street) which burned down December 12, 1917. Operations of the Majestic were moved to the Dallas Opera House which was renamed the Majestic Theater until the new Majestic was completed.

The interior was originally divided into theater and office space, with 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2) of the upper four floors used as the headquarters of the Interstate Amusement Company. The interior lobby and auditorium was of baroque design with decorative detailing consisting of Corinthian columns, egg-and-dart molding, cartouches, and Roman swags and fretwork. The lobby contained a magnificent black-and-white Italian-style Vermont marble floor and twin marble staircases. Other features included an ornate cage elevator serving the two balconies, crystal chandeliers, brass mirrors, ferns, and a marble fountain. [4] A concession stand was added to the lobby in the late 1940s.

The auditorium featured a ceiling "sky" of floating clouds and mechanically controlled twinkling stars. Seating was provided on the main floor and in two balconies in woven cane seats. The stage was flanked by massive Corinthian columns, with an orchestra pit in front. Backstage consisted of twelve dressing rooms, a loft to accommodate scenery, and a set of wooden lighting controls. A Kilgen theater organ opus 3054 size 2/8 was also installed. [6]

The Majestic was the grandest of all the theaters along Dallas's Theatre Row which stretched for several blocks along Elm Street. The Melba, Tower, Palace, Rialto, Capitol, Telenews (newsreels and short-subjects exclusively), Fox (live burlesque), and Strand theatres were all demolished by the late 1970s; only the Majestic remains today. [7]

The Majestic hosted a variety of acts from Houdini to Mae West and Bob Hope during the vaudeville era. Beginning in 1922, films were added to the regular vaudeville offerings. The theatre began hosting movie premieres and associated stars such as Jimmy Stewart, Gregory Peck, and John Wayne. The Big Bands featuring Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington continued the tradition of live entertainment at the Majestic.

In 1932, the Majestic began showing movies exclusively. It was known as the "man's house" featuring films of Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney and other macho heroes while the nearby Palace was known as the "laidies' house" featuring films with female leads. On July 16, 1973, the Majestic Theatre closed after the final showing of the film “Live and Let Die”.

Rebirth

The Hoblitzelle Foundation turned the Majestic Theater over to the City of Dallas in January 1976 and the theatre was restored for use as a performing arts center.

After restoring the exterior, the original Corinthian columns, balustrades, urns, and trellises of the auditorium were repaired and repainted. 23K gold leaf was reapplied to the extensive interior decorative accents. New seats were installed, and the number of seats was reduced from 2,400 to 1,570, to allow for an enlarged orchestra pit, the conversion of the second balcony to house advanced sound and lighting systems, and the division of the first balcony into box seating. The stage was given a resilient floor suitable for dance performances and Backstage space was expanded. [4]

In 1977, the Majestic Theatre became the first Dallas building to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It received a Texas Historical Commission marker in 1983.

The theater was reopened on January 28, 1983. Today, the Majestic is regularly used for musical productions, dramatic plays, national pageants, dance, and concerts.

Pop culture

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox Theatre (Detroit)</span> 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palace Theatre (New York City)</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Palace Theatre is a Broadway theater at 1564 Broadway, facing Times Square, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Milwaukee architects Kirchhoff & Rose, the theater was funded by Martin Beck and opened in 1913. From its opening to about 1929, the Palace was considered among vaudeville performers as the flagship of Benjamin Franklin Keith and Edward Franklin Albee II's organization. The theater had 1,743 seats across three levels as of 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michigan Theater (Ann Arbor, Michigan)</span> Theater in Michigan, United States

The Michigan Theater is a movie palace in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, near the Central Campus of the University of Michigan. It shows independent films and stage productions, and hosts musical concerts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanley Theater (Jersey City, New Jersey)</span> Theater in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States

The Stanley Theater at Kennedy Boulevard and Pavonia Avenue is near Journal Square in Jersey City, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Academy of Music (Philadelphia)</span>

The Academy of Music, also known as American Academy of Music, is a concert hall and opera house located at 240 S. Broad Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its location is between Locust and Manning Streets in the Avenue of the Arts area of Center City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maryland Theatre (Hagerstown)</span> United States historic place

The Maryland Theatre is a music and entertainment venue located in the Arts and Entertainment District of downtown Hagerstown, Maryland. It was built in 1915, partially destroyed by fire in 1974, reopened in 1978, and expanded into a full performing arts complex in 2019. The theatre's seating capacity is 1,279 people, and it hosts performances of symphony orchestras, country artists, comedians, children's shows, pop stars, recitals, stage shows, and others. Over 81,000 patrons attended performances at the Maryland Theatre in 2005, making it one of Maryland's premier venues for the performing arts. The Maryland Symphony Orchestra performs there regularly and has been headquartered in the building since 2019. The theater features a fully restored Wurlitzer theatre organ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proctor's Theatre (Schenectady, New York)</span> Historic theatre in Schenectady, New York

Proctor's Theatre is a theatre and former vaudeville house located in Schenectady, New York, United States. Many famous artists have performed there, including Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Hal Holbrook, Ted Wiles, and George Burns, as well as many others. It has one of the largest movie screens in the Northeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plaza Theatre (El Paso)</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Eberson</span>

John Adolph Emil Eberson was an Austrian-American architect best known for the development and promotion of movie palace designs in the atmospheric theatre style. He designed over 500 theatres in his lifetime, earning the nickname "Opera House John". His most notable surviving theatres in the United States include the Tampa Theatre (1926), Palace Theatre Marion (1928), Palace Theatre Louisville (1928), Majestic Theatre (1929), Akron Civic Theatre (1929) and Paramount Theatre (1929). Remaining international examples in the atmospheric style include both the Capitol Theatre (1928) and State Theatre (1929) in Sydney, Australia, The Forum (1929), Melbourne, Australia), the Lewis J. Warner Memorial Theater (1932) at Worcester Academy in Worcester, Massachusetts and Le Grand Rex.

<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">Majestic Theatre (San Antonio)</span> San Antonios oldest and largest atmospheric theatre

The Majestic Theatre is San Antonio's oldest and largest atmospheric theatre. The theatre seats 2,264 people and was designed by architect John Eberson, for Karl Hoblitzelle's Interstate Theatres in 1929.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramsdell Theatre</span> Historic theater in Manistee, Michigan

The Ramsdell Theatre is a historic playhouse theater building and opera house at 101 Maple Street in downtown Manistee, Michigan. The building was financed by local businessman and politician Thomas Jefferson Ramsdell and was built in 1902. It replaced the town's two previous opera houses which had been destroyed by fire, one in 1882 and the other in 1900. Besides producing plays the facility was later used as a movie theater. James Earl Jones started his acting career at the theater as an actor and stage manager.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tower Petroleum Building</span> Office in Texas, United States

The Tower Petroleum Building is a historic Art Deco Skyscraper located at 1907 Elm Street in the City Center District of Downtown Dallas. The tower, a contributing property in the Dallas Downtown Historic District and the Harwood Street Historic District, features Zig-zag Moderne styling and was designed by architect Mark Lemmon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Folly Theater</span> United States historic place

The Standard Theatre, now known as the Folly Theater and also known as the Century Theater and Shubert's Missouri, is a former vaudeville hall in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Built in 1900, it was designed by Kansas City architect Louis S. Curtiss. The theater was associated with the adjoining Edward Hotel, which was also designed by Curtiss; the hotel was demolished in 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modern Theatre (Boston)</span> Former theater in Boston, demolished, only the facade remaining

The Modern Theatre is located on Washington Street in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It opened as a movie theater in 1914 in a former commercial building that had been repurposed by noted theater architect Clarence H. Blackall. In 2009 Suffolk University demolished the long-vacant building after removing and storing the facade, and constructed a new building on the site. Suffolk's new Modern Theatre opened on November 4, 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Rogers Theater</span> United States historic place

The Julie Rogers Theater is a historic performing arts theater located on Pearl Street in downtown Beaumont, Texas. Built in 1928, the theater was once Beaumont's City Hall and Auditorium. The capacity is approximately 1,663 seats.

The Utah Theatre was a historic theater in Salt Lake City, Utah in the United States. It opened in 1918 as the Pantages Theater, after the name of its owner, Alexander Pantages. The theatre was located at 148 South Main Street, Salt Lake City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox Theater (Stevens Point, Wisconsin)</span> United States historic place

The Fox Theater is located in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 for its architectural significance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cascade Theatre</span>

The Cascade Theatre is a prominent example of the Art Deco style in Redding, California. The cinema was designed by J. Lloyd Conrich of San Francisco in 1934 for the Naify family, who operated the Golden State Theaters chain of movie theaters in northern California, which later became the United Artists Theaters. The new cinema was built in 1935 by Salih Brothers and opened on August 9 with 1348 seats. It was the first air conditioned public building in Redding. In 1979 the large house was subdivided into four smaller theaters, and in 1997 it closed. The Cascade Theatre reopened in 2004 after it was purchased by Southern Oregon University and the JPR Foundation. The house was restored to its original configuration and it is used as a community auditorium and arts center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karl Hoblitzelle</span> American philanthropist and real estate inventor (1879–1967)

Karl Hoblitzelle was an American theater owner, real estate investor, and philanthropist. He was the co-founder of the Interstate Theaters Company, a chain of vaudeville theaters, now a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. He was the first theater owner to add air conditioning to movie theaters in the United States, and the first to add sound in the Southwest. He also helped support the construction of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. Sam A. Lindsay (April 22, 1992). "Ordinance No. 21270" (PDF). City of Dallas. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  3. Larry E. Casto (March 31, 2018). "Ordinance No. 30812" (PDF). City of Dallas. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 "TSHA | Majestic Theatre (Dallas)".
  5. Architecture Magazine, September 1922
  6. "Majestic Theater in Dallas, TX - Cinema Treasures".
  7. "Hdsextube9熟妇俱乐部_狠狠cao2020高清视频_亚洲伊人五月丁香激情_美女扒开尿孔全身100%裸露". www.symmonline.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011.
  8. Foote, Horton (1999). Farewell: A Memoir of a Texas Childhood. Scribner. p. 253.