Early history
The Paramount first opened on September 1, 1928, and was at the time called the Capitol Theater. For its first year, it presented a full range of comedians, singers, dancers, acrobats, movies, and audience sing-alongs; its "Mighty Wurlitzer" organ was central to much of the entertainment it provided.
In 1929 it was purchased by Paramount Pictures, and given its current name.
The theater's architectural ideal was palatial, with a "Hall of Mirrors" patterned after that in Versailles and expensive oil paintings, busts, furniture and other treasures. Most of this was removed in the 1950s.
Cedar Rapids is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, 20 miles (32 km) north of Iowa City and 100 miles (160 km) northeast of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city. It is a part of the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City region of Eastern Iowa, which includes Linn, Benton, Cedar, Iowa, Jones, Johnson, and Washington counties.
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.
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments from Germany for resale in the United States. Wurlitzer enjoyed initial success, largely due to defense contracts to provide musical instruments to the U.S. military. In 1880, the company began manufacturing pianos and eventually relocated to North Tonawanda, New York. It quickly expanded to make band organs, orchestrions, player pianos and pipe or theatre organs popular in theatres during the days of silent movies.
The Alabama Theatre is a movie palace in Birmingham, Alabama. It was built in 1927 by Paramount's Publix Theatres 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 theater district. The district was once home to many large theaters and movie palaces that featured vaudeville, performing arts, nickelodeons and Hollywood films. Built to show silent films, the Alabama still features its original Wurlitzer theater organ. The Alabama Theatre and Lyric Theatre are the district's only remaining theaters, and the Alabama is the only theater still in operation.
El Capitan Theatre is a fully restored movie palace at 6838 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood. 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.
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. 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.
The Jefferson Theatre is a historic performing arts theatre located on Fannin Street in downtown Beaumont, Texas. Designed by Emile Weil and built in 1927, it is an example of Old Spanish architecture and seats over 1400. The theatre was built by Jefferson Amusement Company, which was owned by Saenger Amusements. The theatre is featured on the National Register of Historic Places and recognized as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark. The theatre recently underwent a comprehensive multimillion-dollar renovation. It is also one of the few theatres in the country containing its original Morton organ, produced by the Robert Morton Organ Company.
The Bay Theatre is a single-screen movie theater in Seal Beach, California, United States. It is best known for its screenings of foreign and independent films, and for its revival screenings. The Bay Theatre is also home to a Wurlitzer organ, which is used for concerts and silent film screenings.
The Bartola Musical Instrument Company of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA, was a producer of theater pipe organs during the age of silent movies.
The Orpheum Theatre, a 2,308-seat venue listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is located in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, on the southwest corner of the intersection of South Main and Beale streets. The Orpheum, along with the Halloran Centre for Performing Arts & Education, compose the Orpheum Theatre Group, a community-supported nonprofit corporation that operates and maintains the venues and presents education programs.
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.
The Iowa flood of 2008 was a hydrological event involving most of the rivers in eastern Iowa which began June 8 and continued until July 1. Flooding continued on the Upper Mississippi River in the southeastern area of the state for many more days. The phrase "Iowa's Katrina" was often heard.
Ryan Companies US, Inc. is a national builder, developer, designer, and real estate manager based in Minneapolis.
In the town of Lorain, Ohio, located just west of Cleveland, the 1,720-seat Lorain Palace Theatre first opened in 1928. It was the first motion picture theater in Ohio to show a talking motion picture. The opening night film, and first talky played in Ohio was a pre-release of Paramount’s "Something Always Happens" starring Neil Hamilton and Esther Ralston. Today it serves as a community Civic Center, movie theatre, meeting place and entertainment facility. The crystal chandelier, Wurlitzer pipe organ, and two spacious loges are just some of the features which made this building worthy of being preserved.
The Kahl Building is an historic building located in Downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. In 2020 it was included as a contributing property in the Davenport Downtown Commercial Historic District. The building also includes the Capitol Theatre.
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 2023.
The Hotel Roosevelt is a historic structure located in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. In 2015 it was included as a contributing property in the Cedar Rapids Central Business District Commercial Historic District. The building is now known as the Roosevelt Lofts.
Theatre Cedar Rapids (TCR) is a community theatre in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The theatre performs several stage shows every year, and offers acting classes. Each year TCR is seen by more than 50,000 patrons, who view the work of over 35,000 volunteer hours.
Ray Shepardson was a theatre restoration specialist and theatre operator credited by many with beginning the trend toward restoring old unused movie theaters into economic engines for their communities. He is the founder of the Playhouse Square association in Cleveland and is recognized as the visionary that helped motivate the creation of one of the nation's largest performing arts districts. He was involved in forty restorations throughout his career and operated several theaters after their restoration.
Shea's Hippodrome Theatre was a movie house that opened in 1914 in Buffalo, New York. It was renamed the Center Theater, following a renovation in 1951. In 1983, the theater closed and the building was demolished.
