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Page EightSection Four5ARASOIA HERALDMOVIESIWEREINTRODUCEDEN5CITY1910City Now Boasts Three Playhouses; Early Beginnings Here Were of Crude Type* By hal WHITE“Oh, there’s to be. a cinematograph show in town next week!”It was not more than fifteenSarasotans;now thewmsm was , ■ |.years ago that who are in many cases“big” Sarasotans, went running Into the house to tell others, the good news that there was a real movie picture show coming to town. Back in Il910 an advance advertising agent of one of the old time traveling moving picture tent shows came into the little fishingvillage of Sarasota and put his placards in the windows of the Turner Company, the old GemSaloon, and other places.Many of the residents of the quaint old Floridian village had yet to see their first cinema picture and the announcement that a real outfit was coming to town caused considerable,furor and excitement. Children began to save their pennies, that they might go to the first performance. There was some talkas to the manner in which thepeople of the village would acceptshow and what was to beshown. ’ :| f;. •Not until a week before the first moving picture performance in this section, then the lower portion of Manatee county, was it finally an-dribe tea wo in recnounrod thatatthing” inBobby Daniels, who“theThe Edwards Theater, opened early in the summer, is one of the most beautiful theaters in the entire South.500000the theater is a distinct credit to any city.all theatrical cities of , would condescend to al* local group of spectators, ■■■■ to witness hisria#-r »—r- . ..*at tenhilarious antics. Not only this,(QflUHJH to b real, truplayet. in which actors and actresses*who drew sslaries of asmuch as $1,000 a month, would perform.A week later raised nearVenice Company now stands. Sara sofa’s first moving picture audibig tent was bay front on Mainoffice of the1then andljgradually the moving picture lost its novelty and|when Saturday jllight came||around it was generally 1 understood! among the children it hat |lafter t he regularweekly jbath t hey |would be ^allowed to go to the show. | ygjTwo years after|the|old Tonalier came IfiitoSexistenceptho frame buildingjin which so many of Sara-of jollification and festivity reigned. v. 'It® ■ . . ,V:'; . ■'¥With the coming Into§|tlMj|cIty of this mammoth theatricallorgani-With the gradual increase in the izationsize of the city it was not long after this that the need of an evenafricala new reign life of the ioverttheSth«command. Far-seeing officials loflgthlslarger picture hall was ita demand I company saw the great increase inyoungptprs anU grown-ups | SaraR0(a th(,atreand wtook over the Hoover building the location 4f of the theatre was changed to the present building on Main -street, which now houses thehad passed happy hour*, was total )ly destroyed by fire. In erecting— the new building which now stands QBee was a large and eafMltfftStlc \ on tJhtts site there was no arrange-From that time on the playhouse was known as the “Virginia** andOf the entire countyone, composed of men, women and children—all with high expecta-s but somewhat doubtful Inment| made Jgfor j; another mov picture theatreJg|;' rI would come into the city for the show. Versatile was.theI form of entertainment offered atpopulation that was to come topthe city and made provisions for$it.j|Awgiore came to the city, first-runof newcomers in the lit y weeklyrfromlallsections of the country,.increased. and when the officialsIff this firm realized that the cos-HMHHHHHHMKiiiittniiid tolls, w* ^ ft*m e rthe Sarasota the-many instances as the outcome of the evening of frivolity and mer-more of a,largethant;the old Virginia. Now and then a I at re during the' past yearSioraso,rlment. Rather happy social gathering‘'first night turn-out.fiThe show1 continued for a week and at the end of this time the management made the startling announcement that they would“winter In the city. They did, and continued to show different pictures every weeek throughout that winter of 1910 and on Into the fol lowing summer.About this time the popular “westernf came into existence and with the leaving of the tent show outside Itheatiical men H11 I that Sarasota with its two or three thousand population, was a good field for ^ moving pictures of all kinds. A month after the first tent show finally left the city for good, work was under way in converting the old Tonalier building, at Five Points where Levy's store now stands, into a modern, twentieth century, play house. ||§f:- §| §Business Increased FastDuring the next two years the moving picture business in the city increased and every now and then a small company of minstrels or vaudevillians .came to town and offered their i€rt. Even groups of local talent put on a show now andthing to take the|place of the Tonalier.iltheIIHoover Jbrotherswho at that time were engaged in construction work! in this city, decided | to erect j a| beautiful||moving j picture palace, onelthat; would com Hpth anything of its kind southern Florida. Jf Many local people became interested and soon plans were ready and thelt; contract awarded for the erection of the Hoover theatre building, which today is known as the City Hall, on municipal pier. I ||company, a stock company |were|pleased with the which was spending the wor a minstrelmm . southwould come. to this theatreshort run. fprogramsinter in I being offered,, plans were .soon under way for the establishment here of one of the finest theatres in thegroup for aDuring all of this time the classof picturesgradually became better and betterand from the day that America went into the World War the moving picture show was undoubtedly onesouth—and what is todaygthe second finest, by a large! margin | of any moving picture palace |ln| the state, iv - !•’This is the Edwards | theatre,opened last April under thes management of the same interestsbe devoted to Keith’s vaudeville, the best. in,the south in the opinion of all prominent critics. Another d ay I each j| week! will see a large road show p1aying|on |the spacious stage fof | jthe Edwards. JfShows I such as go to the§ very |best ftbea-tres in Atlanta, Jacksonville land the larger citier of the|south.|; | | | But regardless J of |§ all jjthat theUniversal interests have expended in amusement enterprises here, there are others who have come into the city in recent years andnightly large crowds are present at the musical comedy shows presented by the management of the Air dome theatre. This large open-air house was one of theffirst of itskind to ever come to Florida.|Two years 1 agoJ about 11 the fsamejpime thatMthe Sarasota theatre! camedome was built at considerable cost and burlesque and vaudeville shows were programmed nightly.Of late the Airdome has changed management a number of times andHnow the popular Eleventhstreet || playhouse Is owned and managed by|1 John J. Wlnorsky, Fray Thomas and Joe Epstein. All three have many years of experience in the theatrical world andplan to make a permanent stay inSarasota. ffl§fllOf considerable importance is the recent announcement here by A. Pearlman. former manager of the Airdome, that a newr $50,000 negro moving picture show is to be built on Central Avenue, in th negro quarters here......................................................................London has a campaign againstunder new management, the Air- (.unnecessary atlto noises.of the best places in the growings* hit h had purchased the Sarasotatown of Sarasota to obtain worldlyMl the most modern Ideas.news■■MMPIIPIIPIImated bv Charlesft is estiG. C. Koonn, who is one of the From81and thrilling melodramas came the I theatres here, that-stick comedies, westerns ager of the two movingoverthe' management of the palatial! Hoover Jtheatre, “absolute-1 ly fireproof and modern in all re-big feature picture, news reels and many other improvements. No longerwas the moving picture upon by the local audiences as a novelty or something to beIt Wto as , an occa-as-now the customaryat least, one eveniig canmanyspea week in the soon developed the habit of goingtwo and three times wspects.” On the opening night many gala events were arranged.It was a real social event in the city’s history, the millinery and clothing stores took advantage of the night to offer specials in opera glasses, evening gowns and novelty Broadway creations for the theatre-goer.The elite of the cit first five rows and wiented| local musicians opened the j ago it became the property of the evening’s program. Addresses were Southeastern Amusement Enter-madej congratulations offered andtprises, Inc., a subsidiary to the far into the great!evening a spirit! Universal Pictures corporation., man-pictureHp|||HH|H|^|pQrniversaipictures corporation has approximately $100,000 tied up in this city. This aside from the otherlamuse-ment places here, andjthe question is being asked of theatrical j managers, “how many cities inStheien-of 15,000 populationsingle theatre whichsry 11at a cost of I $300,-Ifhis was the cost of theiEd-ginia ■■ house hasthe days of the old Vlr-t heat re thisw ards.It will probably be a long timeamusement I before the theatre-going people of changed managements I this city demand a more lmagnifi many times until about two years |cent moving picture house ithancently the management of the newEdwards announced that j starting in this month a day each week willFVices on lumber arebeen for years. Suitabl e obtained at prices that wiagain. 9.
Newspaper Details
Sarasota Herald
Sarasota, Florida, US
Sun, Oct 03, 1926
Page 100
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 15 Nov 2019
Other Publications Near Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota Herald Daily Tribune
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Sarasota Herald
Sarasota Journal
Sarasota News
