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The Historic Tampa Theatre – Tampa, FL

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We have lived in the Tampa Bay area for eight years now.  I have driven past this little gem multiple times. I have viewed the marquee from a distance while dining al fresco at the downtown location of Taco Bus. I have even marveled at the miniature representation of this building at Legoland, Florida.

Tampa Theatre – Legoland, FL. – December 2011

But I had never actually been INSIDE the Tampa Theatre until this week, when we took a “field trip” – a 90+ minute guided tour of the theatre. I didn’t know what I’d been missing. If you appreciate fine architecture and history, this really should be on your “must see” list of Tampa.

Tampa Theatre Field Trip – April 9, 2013

Balcony to Backstage Tour Information:

$5 General Admission/$2 Kids 2-12
Free for Tampa Theatre Members and Kids under 2

…where art, mythology, and history are interwoven through one of America’s best preserved examples of grand movie palace architecture. Tours include a performance on the Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Organ!

Photo Credit: CariAnne Photography

1,400 Pipe Wurlitzer Organ

Built in 1926 by famed theatre architect John Eberson, The Tampa Theatre, which boasts Florida Mediterranean architectural style, blended with touches of Italian Renaissance, Byzantine, Spanish, Mediterranean, Greek Revival, Baroque, and English Tudor, entertained Tampa residents with 10 cent silent movies, which played continuously throughout the day.

(Simply stating that they “just don’t build things like they used to” is a huge understatement! Entering the theatre really gives you the feeling of having been transported to a Mediterranean courtyard. It’s an experience I have only seen replicated by the likes of Walt Disney.)

TampaTheatre1929

Tampa Theatre and McCrory’s, 1929
Photo Credit: http://www.tampapix.com

 Inside the Tampa, audiences are transported to a lavish, romantic Mediterranean courtyard replete with old world statuary, flowers, and gargoyles. Over it all is a nighttime sky with twinkling stars and floating clouds.  – TampaTheatre.org

TampaTheatreHistory4

Tampa Theatre Lobby – Photo Credit TampaTheatre.org

Tampa Theatre Interior Photo Credit http://tampatheatre.org

Tampa Theatre Interior
Photo Credit http://tampatheatre.org

Interior Today

Not the greatest photo (my pathetic camera struggles in darker environments), but you can see that it has been restored to its original glory. Notice in the historic photo, there is an orchestra pit. It is now enclosed but for a small pit for the Wurlitzer Organ. We were told, by our amazing docent Jill, that in the silent movie era a live orchestra played along at times, while a pipe orchestra played at other times.

Like other new movie palaces around the country, the Tampa Theatre was enormously popular. For the first time in history, the common person had access to opulence on a scale never before imagined. For 10 cents, they could escape into a fantasy land for two hours, see first class entertainment, and be treated like royalty by uniformed platoons of ushers and attendants.  – TampaTheatre.org

Sadly, by the 1960′s and 70′s many of the nation’s finest movie palaces were “quickly demolished before anyone noticed because the land beneath them became more valuable than the theatre operation”. By 1973, the Tampa Theatre faced the same fate. But in Tampa citizens rallied together and (thankfully!) saved this beauty from the wrecking ball.

The Arts Council of Hillsborough County agreed to program and manage the Tampa with films, concerts and special events. By the time the Theatre reopened in early 1978, the Tampa had become something of a national model on how to save an endangered theatre.

Today, Tampa Theatre is managed by the not-for-profit Tampa Theatre Foundation and is a remarkable success story.  The Theatre presents and hosts over 600 events a year including a full schedule of first run and classic films, concerts, special events, corporate events, tours and educational programs. The theatre is one of the most heavily utilized venues of its kind in the United States.  – TampaTheatre.org

I love the ladies’ room entrance. ;)

 

Facts & Things (that I found to be interesting):

  • The Tampa Theatre was the first commercial building in Tampa to offer air conditioning!
  • The interior is all plaster. What looks like tile work on the walls is painted plaster. The walls are plaster. The columns and ornate decorations are all plaster.
  • There is a stall in each of the ladies’ rooms with the three little kittens carved into the door. Inside — a miniature, kid-sized toilet!
  • Movies were played continuously. There were no “show times”. People would come and wait in the queue line. As some people left, others would enter. If they came in in the middle of the movie, they would just watch until the same point on the next run. Plot was not a big factor in the movies of that time period! 
  • Likewise, you could stay all day and watch the same movie over and over again if you chose to — on the same dime. 
  • Concessions were not originally sold in the movie theaters. The concession stand is one of the few things that is not original to the theater.
  • There are 99 “stars” in the simulated theatre sky. (Each with its own light bulb)
  • One theatre on several levels = 1,446 seats
  • Original construction – One year, 1.2 million dollars

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