Address | 130 W. Main Street Ada, Pontotoc County, Oklahoma |
---|---|
Owner | Chickasaw Nation |
Capacity | 574 |
Current use | theater, music venue, art gallery |
Construction | |
Opened | 1920 |
Reopened | 2009 |
Years active | 1920-1988, 1991-2003, 2009-Present |
Architect | Mission Revival Style |
Website | |
http://www.McSwainTheatre.com |
The McSwain Theatre is a 560-seat former cinema, and present day theater and music venue, located in Ada, Pontotoc County, Oklahoma.
The theatre was founded in 1920 by Foster McSwain, as a venue for silent films and vaudeville performances, and after 1935 for talkies movies and local movie premieres. [1]
The McSwain Theatre is housed in a three-story, Spanish Colonial Mission Revival Style building, that opened on March 30, 1920. [2] The first silent film screened in the McSwain was Suds , starring Mary Pickford, on July 19, 1920. [3]
In 1935, the theatre underwent its first renovations. New equipment to accommodate the evolution of movies with sound was installed, along with air conditioning, a balcony, and new seating. [3] Roy Rogers and Dale Evans appeared at the theatre on October 30, 1946 for the world premiere of their film Home in Oklahoma. [4] In 1949, Robert Preston and Susan Hayward attended the world premiere of Tulsa at the McSwain. [5]
Due to competition and economic difficulties, the McSwain Theatre was closed in 1988. In 1991, Paul Alford purchased the property in order to transform it into a musical venue hall, holding its first performance on October 17, 1992. Under Alford's ownership, the theatre showcased performances by local musical acts, and stars from Nashville, Tennessee, and Branson, Missouri. [3]
In 2002, upon the death of Alford, the theatre was acquired by the Chickasaw Nation and underwent five years of renovations. [1] [3] An art gallery was added in 2009. [6] The McSwain Theatre held a ribbon cutting with Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby on July 17, 2009, and its grand re-opening on the evening of July 25, 2009. It featured a concert by country artists Jeff Bates, Mark Wills, and Trent Willmon. [5]
Pontotoc County is in the south central part of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,492. Its county seat is Ada. The county was created at statehood from part of the Chickasaw Nation in Indian Territory. It was named for a historic Chickasaw tribal area in Mississippi. According to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Pontotoc is usually translated "cattail prairie" or "land of hanging grapes."
Tishomingo is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Johnston County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,034 at the 2010 census, a decline of 4.1 percent from the figure of 3,162 in 2000. It was the first capital of the Chickasaw Nation, from 1856 until Oklahoma statehood in 1907. The city is home to Murray State College, a community college with an annual enrollment of 3,015 students. Tishomingo is part of the Texoma region.
The Palace Theatre, Manchester, is one of the main theatres in Manchester, England. It is situated on Oxford Street, on the north-east corner of the intersection with Whitworth Street. The Palace and its sister theatre the Opera House on Quay Street are operated by the same parent company, Ambassador Theatre Group. The original capacity of 3,675 has been reduced to its current 1,955.
The Theatre of Living Arts is a concert venue located on South Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The venue, which opened in 1988, dates back to the early 1900s as a nickelodeon. Over the years, the venue has seen many incarnations ranging from concert hall to movie theatre to theatre. Known for its acoustics, it was voted as one of the best concert venues in America by Complex.
The Colonial Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, opened in 1900, is the oldest continually-operating theatre in the city. It is located at 106 Boylston Street on Boston Common at the former site of the Boston Public Library. It is a pending Boston Landmark.
Greek Theatre is an amphitheatre located in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, California. It is owned by the city of Los Angeles and is operated by ASM Global. Designed by architects Samuel Tilden Norton, Frederick Hastings Wallisand, and the Tacoma firm Heath, Gove, & Bell, the theatre stage is modeled after a Greek temple.
The Enmore Theatre is a theatre and entertainment venue in Sydney, Australia. It was built in 1908. It is located at 118–132 Enmore Road in Newtown, in the inner west of Sydney's suburbs. It was first opened in 1912 as a photo-play theatre. It was run by a well-known theatre family at the time, the Szarka Brothers. Today's Enmore Theatre is the longest running live theatre in Sydney, hosting concerts, comedians, plays and all forms of performance. The theatre is considered a medium-sized venue that holds 1,700 people when fully seated and 2,500 when seats are removed, and all attendees are standing. It has hosted many international bands including a performance by Bob Dylan. The venue's art deco style is protected by its listing as a historic building within Sydney. The Enmore theatre has had many renovations and shifts of ownership. Today it is owned by Century and has hosted a range of arts from photographic, performing arts, music and motion picture. The theatre's listing in the Office of Environment and Heritage states that the building "illustrates the development of suburban theatres in the late 1930s and early 1940s and is of social significance for the local community.″ It is the only theatre in Sydney from the Art Deco movement in its original condition. From cinema use to concerts, today is used for various reasons.
The Chickasaw Nation is a federally recognized Native American tribe, with its headquarters located in Ada, Oklahoma in the United States. They are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, originally from northern Mississippi, northernwestern Alabama, southwestern Kentucky, and western Tennessee. Today, the Chickasaw Nation is the 13th largest tribe in the United States.
The James M. Nederlander Theatre is a theater located at 24 West Randolph Street in the Loop area of downtown Chicago, Illinois. Previously known as the Oriental Theatre, it opened in 1926 as a deluxe movie palace and vaudeville venue. Today the Nederlander presents live Broadway theater and is operated by Broadway In Chicago, currently seating 2,253.
Warner Theatre is a theatre located at 513 13th Street, N.W. in downtown Washington, D.C. The theatre is part of an office building called the Warner Building located on 1299 Pennsylvania Avenue.
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 95 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.
Riverwind Casino is a casino located in Norman, Oklahoma that opened in 2006. The 219,000 square feet (20,300 m2) casino, owned and operated by the Chickasaw Nation is one of the largest in the state. In addition to the casino floor, the facility also has two restaurants, a lounge, a food court, several bars, valet parking and a 1500-seat theatre that hosts concerts. Riverwind also opened a 100-room adjoining hotel in February 2009. The casino is located in at the Interstate 35/State Highway 9 west junction.
The Chautauqua Auditorium is a wooden building constructed for the first season of the Colorado Chautauqua in 1898, and through the years has been a venue for many lectures, musical performances, and motion pictures both primitive and modern.
The Canton Theatre is an old theatre located in the downtown area of Canton, Georgia and has been in existence since early 1911. During that time the theatre has experienced many changes with redevelopments, expansions and even restoration after it had fallen into disrepair. The theatre provides patrons with theatrical and musical productions since its change into a non-profit theatre in 2003.
South Central Oklahoma is an amorphous region in the state of Oklahoma, perhaps encompassing 10 counties. It is centered on the Arbuckle Mountains, an ancient, eroded range traversing some 70 miles (110 km) across the region, and surrounded by rivers and lakes, notably Lake Texoma, Lake Murray and Lake of the Arbuckles. For tourism purposes, the Oklahoma Department of Tourism has more narrowly defined South Central Oklahoma, which they refer to as Chickasaw Country, as being a seven-county region including Pontotoc, Johnston, Marshall, Garvin, Murray, Carter, and Love counties. A ten-county definition might also include Coal, Atoka, and Bryan counties, although the Department of Tourism includes those in Choctaw Country. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma covers the eastern third of the region. Its headquarters is in Durant, and its capitol building, now a museum, is in Tuskahoma. The Chickasaw Nation lies within the region, with the tribal capitol building located at Tishomingo and its headquarters in Ada. The Chickasaw Nation, which runs "Chickasawcountry.com"., promotes the idea of Chickasaw Country as the 13 south-central Oklahoma counties that comprise the Chickasaw Nation, being the Tourism Department’s seven counties plus Coal, Bryan, Jefferson, Stephens, Grady, and McClain counties.
Bee Ho Gray was a Western performer who spent 50 years displaying his skills in Wild West shows, vaudeville, circus, silent films, and radio. While he was primarily known as an expert at trick roping, he was also skilled with knife throwing, bullwhips, trick riding, and the banjo. He wove all of these skills together in a homely comic routine. Throughout his long career, he was constantly compared to Will Rogers, which was befitting, considering the two performers worked together several times and developed their acts together in the early 1900s.
The St James Theatre is a heritage stage theatre and cinema located near Queen Street in Auckland, New Zealand. Built in 1928, it was a replacement for the older Fuller's Opera House and was originally designed for vaudeville acts. Its architect Henry Eli White also designed many other famous theatres in Australia and New Zealand including the St James Theatre in Wellington and the State Theatre in Sydney.
The Chickasaw Cultural Center is a campus located in Sulphur, Oklahoma near the Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Its 109-acre (44 ha) campus is home to historical museum buildings with interactive exhibits on Chickasaw tribal history, traditional dancing, and Chickasaw language. The campus includes a historically accurate traditional tribal village recreated in the rear lot and a garden honoring members of the Chickasaw Nation Hall of Fame. It is one of two museum campuses presented by the Chickasaw Nation, the other being the First Americans museum in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Mary Frances Thompson Fisher, best known as Te Ata, was an actress and citizen of the Chickasaw Nation known for telling Native American stories. She performed as a representative of Native Americans at state dinners before President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s. She was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1957 and was named Oklahoma's first State Treasure in 1987.
Estelle Chisholm Ward (1875-1946) was an Oklahoma teacher, journalist and magazine publisher. She was active in politics both civic and tribal and was elected as county treasurer of Johnston County, Oklahoma. Ward was the first woman to represent the Chickasaw Nation as a delegate to Washington, D.C.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)Coordinates: 34°46′37.11″N96°40′48.19″W / 34.7769750°N 96.6800528°W