Originally constructed under the name of The Bellevue Theatre in 1921, it opened as a movie theatre and vaudeville stage, complete with a grand balcony and domed ceiling.[2] After a long history of various ownerships and management changes, it most recently reopened as the Rapids Theatre in December 2009 on Main Street, Niagara Falls.[1]
Early history
The theatre first opened on North Main Street, Niagara Falls, NY on September 1, 1921 as a luxury movie house called The Bellevue Theatre. It also presented a variety of vaudeville acts through the RKO theatre company (Radio-Keith-Orpheum), one in particular being The Three Stooges.[1] It was located in the same building as The Harmony Shop sheet music store and a family-run pharmacy.[2]
The Bellevue was constructed under the architect by the name of Leon H. Lempert Jr. of Leon H Lempert & Sons architectural firm based in Rochester, New York and designed by interior decorator, William H Lusk.[2] Ownership and operation of the theatre fell into the hands of local Niagarans, most of which held political and city council positions in the county:[3]
John Williamson (Treasurer)
Frank Jenss (President)
George Haeberle (Vice President)
M. Arnson (Director)
John O. Chapin (Secretary)
D.H. Frank (Manager)
Other theatres along North Main Street during the Bellevue's first years were the Orpheum and the Elite.[4] There were also 11 other theatres in the surrounding Buffalo area that presented movies, vaudeville acts, and plays, including the Hippodrome on Pine Avenue and Shea’s Performing Arts Center in downtown Buffalo.[3] About 10 years later, the number of surrounding theatres expanded to 30, including the Cataract Theatre, and The Strand Theatre.[3]
On Thursday, Sept. 1, 1921, the Buffalo News featured a story on the opening of the Bellevue called "The Theatre Beautiful Opens" and referred to the theatre as, “a monument to enterprise of loyal Niagarans, which matches the best in the state."[1] In the 1920s, a Sunday matinee movie ticket for the most popular movies could be purchased for 28 cents.[5] An advertisement run by the Niagara Gazette on March 30, 1929, stated that, “If it’s a good picture, the Bellevue will show it!”[5]
In 1928, The Bellevue Theatre closed its doors only to be purchased one year later by the Shea-Publix Theatre Company, where they purchased a 21-year lease at a total rental cost of $900,000[6]
In the 1940s, Vincent McFaul, a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures, purchased the theatre from Shea-Publix.[7] For their grand re-opening of The Bellevue, the world premier of Niagara Falls, a Hal Roach comedy about newlywed life starring Tom Brown, Marjorie Woodward, Zazu Pitts, and Slim Summerville, was held On October 25, 1941 at 8:00p.m.[7] Over 1,000 attended the film that local papers reviewed as being “one of the funniest comedies of the year”, including the acting mayor of Niagara Falls, John H. Keller.[8]
Then, in the 1960s, it was purchased by the Strand Cataract Theatre Corp. and renamed The Rapids Theatre.[9] Under new management of a woman named Miss Louise Marigia, many improvements and changes were made to the building.[9] It was decorated with “flame red and green” furnishings and was described by local newspapers as being “splendid” and “handsome.”[10] Also during this time, the theatre was credited as having the first marquee in Western New York to use the Wagner type changeable letter mounting with transparent Plexiglas rails.[11] It was installed by a local business named Cooper Neon Sign Company. The Rapids held its grand opening on July 15, 1961 with a premier of the movie, Exodus (starring Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint) in which over 800 people attended.[10]
Eventually, business declined and the theatre, along with several other businesses in the economically stagnant Niagara Falls commercial district, closed down until it reopened in 1974 as The Late Show discothèque.[2] That business lasted until 1995, was closed down, and then reopened as yet another dance club called The Masquerade in 1996.[2] In 1998, it operated very briefly as a night club under the name, Centre Stage.[12]
Recent history and today
The building was sold in 1999 for $13,000 at a city foreclosure auction, to Robert D. Hyde[13] It had a brief run in 2002 when it opened up as The Pleasure Dome. Two years later in 2004, the business was Purchased by Raymond Page who changed the night club into The Dome Theatre, where it held heavy and alternative rock performances by Slayer, Alice in Chains, DragonForce, The Deftones, The Offspring, and the controversial “Girls Gone Wild” Tour.[14] It closed once again and was purchased at a tax foreclosure auction in 2007 by current owner and Niagara Falls native, John Hutchins, for $85,000.[15]
The run-down building underwent several renovations totaling $1. 8 million and received assistance through a grant from the NFC Development Corporation, an agency of the City of Niagara Falls' Office of Economic Development which gives grants and loans to help businesses, in late 2008.[15] The grant, which amounted to $250,000, came from the city's share of slots revenue from the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel located downtown.[15] Renovations included new sound and lighting systems, an outdoor electronic marquee above the theatre doors, a maple-wood bar, and new floor, and art -deco plaster repaired walls .[16] The newly renovated Rapids Theatre held its grand public opening on December 5, 2009, with a performance by the 17-piece, Toronto-based band, Classic Albums Live, in which The BeatlesSgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album was covered.[16]
Other non-musical acts to make their way to the Rapids most recently include comedians Gallagher and Pauly Shore and the local Buffalo Niagara Film Festival. The theatre also specializes in wedding receptions, charity banquets, private parties, and corporate events.[1]
The venue is also popularly known as one of Western New York's haunted destinations. On October 19, 2011, the theatre was featured on an episode of SyFy's Ghost Hunters. The episode was appropriately titled "Stage Fright" and described the story of a young actress who supposedly hung herself in the back of the theatre. There have been several reports of mysterious whistling, loud footsteps, moving objects and doors closing. On October 13, 2012, the theatre hosted its first public ghost hunt.
Structure and interior design
The Rapids Theatre rests on one of downtown Niagara Falls busiest commercial streets, Main Street, and is only five minutes away from the Canada–US border.[1] It has a large parking lot in the rear of the building and sits next door to a brand new police station. It is a 19,260-square-foot (1,789m2) brick and concrete building, able to seat 800 people, 300 for table events, and up to 1,750 people standing for live concerts.[15] Unlike the classic theatre-style seating that the Rapids used to have permanently installed, all chairs and tables in the facility can be removed and designed according to each show and event.[1]
There is a large tiled-floored front lobby with marble accessories that slopes up into the main portion of the theatre, which contains a large blue and white domed ceiling, a grand balcony for VIP seating, a concession stand, wood paneled floors, and columned walls.[1] The interior design of the theatre has a vintage and historical look, adorned with crimson, gold, and black accents that match the original style of the 1920s.[1] There is a large, maple-wood bar in the back center of the theatre and a bar on the left side of the balcony as well. Offices, meeting rooms, and dressing rooms are located on the upper level of the theatre. Two large projector screens hang to the right and left of the stage, directly in front of the elevated floor sections.
Other early movie showings
About a month after The Bellevue's 1921 opening, the theatre premiered the movie Handcuffs or Kisses featuring Elaine Hammerstein and a short film called, Figure It Out Yourself. On March 30, 1929, Shea's debuted The Wolf on Wall Street, starring George Bancroft .[5] This was one of the first films shown with “100% Talking Pictures equipped with RCA Photophone,” the latest in sound/voice technology at that time. An adult matinee ticket cost 25 cents.[5]
On November 26, 1930, the theatre held a week-long Thanksgiving special premier of “Paramount’s comedy, Her Wedding Night, featuring Clara Bow.[17] A reviewer for the Niagara Gazette described the actress as, “the famous red haired ‘it’ girl vies for honors with Charlie Ruggles, ‘Skeets’ Gallagher, and Ralph Forbes."[17]
Niagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 48,671. It is adjacent to the Niagara River, across from the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and named after the famed Niagara Falls which they share. The city is within the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Western New York region.
Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is on the western bank of the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, with a population of 88,071 at the 2016 census. It is part of the St. Catharines - Niagara Census Metropolitan Area (CMA). Incorporated on 12 June 1903, the city is across the river from Niagara Falls, New York. The Niagara River flows over Niagara Falls at this location, creating a natural spectacle which attracts millions of tourists each year.
The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) is a New York State public-benefit corporation responsible for the public transportation oversight of Erie and Niagara counties. The NFTA, as an authority, oversees a number of subsidiaries, including the NFTA Metro bus and rail system, the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport, the Niagara Falls International Airport and NFTA Small Boat Harbor. The NFTA Metro bus and rail system is a multi-modal agency, utilizing various vehicle modes, using the brand names: NFTA Metro Bus, NFTA Metro Rail, NFTA Metrolink and NFTA PAL.
Clifton Hill is one of the major tourist promenades in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The street, close to Niagara Falls and the Niagara River, leads from River Road on the Niagara Parkway to intersect with Victoria Avenue, and contains a number of gift shops, wax museums, haunted houses, video arcades, restaurants, hotels and themed attractions. It is a major amusement area and centre for night life, particularly for families and teenagers.
The Capitol Cinema was the largest movie theatre ever built in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and was the city's only true movie palace. Opened in 1920, the 2530-seat cinema was regarded as one of the best cinemas designed by famed theatre-architect Thomas W. Lamb.
New York State Route 61 (NY 61) is a state highway located almost entirely in the city of Niagara Falls in Niagara County, New York, in the United States. The road runs across the city in a northwest–southeast direction, terminating at NY 384 at its southern extent and NY 104 at its northern tip. Conceptually, the road, known as Hyde Park Boulevard, forms the eastern border of downtown Niagara Falls. It is the second-shortest two-digit route in New York after NY 71 in Columbia County. The NY 61 designation was in 1958 after being approved by the Niagara Falls City Council.
The Colonial Theatre is located in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, at 227 Bridge Street. Built in 1903, the "Colonial Opera House" became a preeminent venue for movies, traveling shows and live entertainment throughout the 20th century. The three-screen venue consists of the original 658-seat ‘vaudeville house’ and two newer additional theatres in the adjacent National Bank of Phoenixville building (c.1925).
The Palace Theatre is a stage production venue at 76-96 Hanover Street in Manchester, New Hampshire, United States. Built in 1914, the theatre was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Athens Building.
The Niagara Falls Station and Customhouse Interpretive Center is an intermodal transit complex in Niagara Falls, New York. It serves Amtrak trains and Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority buses, houses U.S. Customs and Border Protection offices servicing the Canada–United States border, and houses the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center.
The Niagara Gazette, also referred to as The Gazette, is a morning daily newspaper published in Niagara Falls, New York, United States, which covers several parts of Niagara County, including the Town of Niagara, and the City of Niagara Falls.
The North Park Theatre is a historic single screen movie theatre in Buffalo, New York's North Park Neighborhood. It has functioned as a cinema since it opened on November 21, 1920.
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.
The Orpheum Theater opened in Champaign, Illinois in 1914 on the site of a vaudeville theater built in 1904. Designed by the Architectural firm Rapp & Rapp, the Orpheum was built to accommodate both live vaudeville performances and the projection of film. After a series of renovations and changes of ownership, the Orpheum screened its final film in 1986.
The Summit, formerly Summit Park Mall, was an enclosed shopping mall in Wheatfield, New York. Opened in 1972, the mall became largely vacant by the late 1990s. It underwent renovations in 2004 and 2005 which added new anchor stores and tenants, but after the mall's developers filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009, the complex was closed except for three anchor stores: Sears, The Bon-Ton and Save-A-Lot, with two more vacant anchors last occupied by Steve & Barry's and a Macy's closeout store. As of September 2017, Save-A-Lot has closed permanently, leaving only Sears and The Bon-Ton still open in the mall. On April 18, 2018, it was announced that The Bon-Ton would be closing in August 2018. as it is going out of business leaving Sears as the only tenant left. On May 7, 2018, Sears announced that would also be closing in August 2018. In December 2019, within Sears' old location, The Niagara International Sports & Entertainment facility opened. In 2020, a plan was proposed to revitalize the location, converting part of the mall into mixed use spaces, as well as offering lodging for visitors. Developers plan to expand the project to eventually include ice rinks, shops, and eateries.
Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power & Manufacturing Company was an American company, based in Niagara Falls, New York that was the first company to generate hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls in 1882. The company built upon several predecessor companies efforts to construct a canal used for hydraulic mill power. In 1918, the company merged with Niagara Falls Power Company, which later became Niagara Mohawk and in 2002 was acquired by National Grid plc.
The Orpheum Circuit was a chain of vaudeville and movie theaters. It was founded in 1886, and operated through 1927 when it was merged into the Keith-Albee-Orpheum corporation, ultimately becoming part of the Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) corporation.
The NorShor Theatre is an entertainment venue in downtown Duluth, Minnesota, and was formerly a movie palace and Opera House. It occupies a prominent place along Superior Street, and underwent a massive renovation effort by the City of Duluth. The NorShor played a significant role in the artistic history of Duluth, and is generally considered a landmark.
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.
Shea's Hippodrome was a historic film and play theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Hippodrome was located in downtown Toronto, at the southwest corner of Albert and Bay streets. At its opening in 1914, it was the largest movie palace in Canada, and one of the largest vaudeville theatres in the world. The Hippodrome included 12 opera boxes, a Wurlitzer organ, as well as a full-size orchestra pit. It debuted some of Canada's first non-silent films. It was built by brothers Jerry and Michael Shea and situated directly across from Toronto's City Hall. The Hippodrome was operated by Famous Players and managed for decades by Leonard N. Bishop. It was demolished in 1957 to make way for Toronto's new City Hall.
Henry L. Spann was a theater architect in Buffalo, New York. He is credited with designing about a dozen of the city's theaters as well as ones in surrounding areas including Niagara, New York. He built theaters for various owners. He worked with his much younger brother William T. Spann who was also an architect. Spann also designed buildings for Catholic institutions in the area.
1 2 3 4 5 Schez, Jan M. “Researcher Preserves Theatre’s Past, Works On Future.” 5 April 1998. The Buffalo News.
1 2 3 “Many Leading Business Places Of The City Have Been Identified With The Street Since The Village Days.” 14 Sept. 1923. The Niagara Gazette
↑ Mizer, Hamilton B. Niagara Falls, New York, A City Is Born, A City Matures. Niagara Falls: Shipman Printing Industries, Inc. 1991
1 2 3 4 5 Advertisement. 30 Mar. 1929. The Niagara Gazette.
↑ “Shea Leases The Bellevue And Will Soon Build Another Theatre.” 14 Nov. 1929. The New York Times.
1 2 “Oldest and Youngest Honeymooners Attend Premier of “Niagara Falls”.” 25 Oct. 1941. The Niagara Gazette.
↑ “’Niagara Falls’ To Be Given World Premier at Shea’s Bellevue Theatre.” 14 Oct. 1941. The Niagara Gazette.
1 2 “Bellevue Will Become Luxury Movie House.” 23 May 1961. The Niagara Gazette
1 2 800 Attend Opening of Rapids Theatre.” 15 July 1961. The Niagara Gazette.
↑ “Rapids Installs New Sign.” 24 Nov. 1961. The Niagara Gazette.
↑ “The Bellevue Theatre.” 19 April 1998. The Buffalo News.
↑ Gee, Denise Jewell. “Dome Theatre’s Fate Still Uncertain, Says New Owner: Niagara Falls.” 28 June 2007. The Buffalo News.
↑ Gee, Denise Jewell. “Old Shea’s Bellevue Theatre, Revived in ’04 as The Dome, Could Be Closed Again: Falls Tax Auction.” 19 June 2007. The Buffalo News.
1 2 3 4 Gee, Denise Jewell. “Old Domed Theatre Gets New Life: Renovations Restore Original Features of Main Street Building.” 4 Dec. 2009. The Buffalo News.
1 2 Scheer, Mark. “Niagara Falls: Rapids Theatre Ready To Rock n’ Roll.” 3 Dec. 2009. The Niagara Gazette.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
