(The CRYSTAL mentioned can be seen in a photo in “Milwaukee Movie Palaces” a 1986 book by Larry Widen. 1938 of the “Architectural Record” pages 51-54., and the “Theatre Catalog” mentioned can be seen at the Archive of the THEATRE HISTORICAL SOCIETY in Elmhurst, Ill. The reference to the VARSITY in the previous comment can be verified by going to th issue of Sept.
Some additional notes: The odd name is the result of being on the border between two suburbs: Fox Point and Whitefish Bay. Theatres were often a mixture of high and low tech to keep costs down, and this is a prime example! The eight 'chandeliers’ there are flattened bowl up-lights suspended up in the attic by clothes line (!) to lower each fixture manually. Two of the three screening rooms are up in the old balcony, while the main floor remains essentially as it has been. A limited menu is served today, and this is one of the few theatres in the city with a liquor license. 22 of ‘99 said that it was the first dinner theatre in the area how little research was done for that story! In the 30s the CRYSTAL was converted to dinner seating and the tradition of the German Beer Gardens here meant that some form of entertainment with food was as old as the city. The theatre was divided into three screens a few years ago, and a newspaper item on Aug. Milwaukee’s Pobocki sign company made their patented ‘Inside Service’ marquee where one goes above the lobby, above the upswept canopy and opens a door into the interior of the sign to change the letters on the boards from behind: a real blessing in our snowy, icy winters. The 1952 issue of “Theatre Catalog” had a 2-page photo story on the opening of this then unusual suburban design.
The lobby, however, is a gracious curving design with giant showcases a la the adjacent store fronts to hold the posters, etc. One exits the auditorium through light traps with no doors, so sound control can be a problem. The VARSITY in central Milwaukee had some of the flavor of this design, but not the sculpted, stylized nautical theme projections from the upper walls, nor the stadium-style balcony where one can enter it from the auditorium floor as well as the lobby. Silver Spring Dr., Whitefish Bay (this is a northern suburb of Milwaukee). When this 988-seater opened in 1951 it was the first of its style in the metro area at 334 E. This is an unusual Streamlined style of cinema with a one line stage having a 6-point suspension contour curtain in red velvet, possibly the only such left in town.
0 kommentar(er)
