Category Archives: Theaters

W.W. Watts, theater impresario

Posted on February 17, 2021 by editor

William Walter “W.W.” Watts flopped the first time he opened a theater in Springfield. But his stepson-in-law persuaded Watts to try again, saying there was “big money in 5-cent picture shows.” The younger man was right. Watts (1868-1937), an Ohio … Continue reading →

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Pekin Theatre

Posted on February 12, 2021 by editor

In segregated Springfield, the Pekin Theatre was the only movie house that not only catered specifically to African-Americans, but was managed by African-Americans as well. The Pekin was at 811-15 E. Washington St. The block, the site of both Black- … Continue reading →

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Roxy theater

Posted on February 7, 2021 by editor

“One of the city’s oldest, largest and most reliable babysitters, the Roxy Theater, will fall to the state of Illinois headache ball.” So wrote State-Journal Register critic Paul Povse in September 1978. Indeed, the demise of the Roxy was a … Continue reading →

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Theater bombings, 1931-32

Posted on January 3, 2021 by editor

Unhappy theater workers were the immediate suspects in 1931, when bombs – both explosives and stink bombs – went off in three local cinemas. A few months later, another bomb wrecked the home of a theater manager. Members of Springfield … Continue reading →

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‘Big Tent Theatre’ photographs

Posted on June 2, 2020 by editor

These photos apparently are publicity stills produced when the Depression-era Federal Theatre Project played a season of live, professional theater in a tent at West Grand Avenue (today’s MacArthur Boulevard) and Outer Park Drive in 1936. The venue was known … Continue reading →

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‘The Big Tent Theatre’, 1936

Posted on April 28, 2020 by editor

The Big Tent Theatre, one of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Depression-relief programs, played to packed houses at West Grand Avenue (today’s MacArthur Boulevard) and Outer Park Drive in 1936. The Big Tent was formally part of the Federal Theatre Project, which … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Arts and letters, Depression, Theaters, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Johnny Connors (boxer, saloon-keeper)

Posted on April 23, 2016 by editor

Johnny Connors – boxer, saloon-keeper and sportsman – was small in stature, but he played an outsize role in Springfield for nearly 80 years. Connors (1867-1966) was born John O’Connor in Ireland, but boxed as Johnny Connors. He never legally changed … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Crime and vice, Hotels & taverns, Prominent figures, Restaurants, Sports and recreation, Theaters | 10 Comments

Springfield Muni Opera

Posted on September 8, 2015 by editor

The Springfield Muni Opera’s earliest ancestor was a play named “Good News,” performed by the Springfield Municipal Choir at Lanphier Park on July 28, 1938. But today’s outdoor community musical theater more accurately dates from a presentation of “Bye Bye … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Arts and letters, Local government, Prominent figures, Social life, Theaters | 8 Comments

Esquire theater

Posted on July 22, 2015 by editor

Springfield’s Esquire theater opened in late 1937 via an unusual alliance between two central Illinois  movie chains. Kerasotes Theaters of Springfield and Frisina Amusement Corp., founded in Taylorville, had almost simultaneously announced plans to build separate “suburban” theaters within a … Continue reading →

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The potato matinee of 1925

Posted on March 30, 2015 by editor

The “potato matinee” of Christmas 1925 was the brainchild of longtime local theater manager Harry Thornton. It quickly went awry, the victim of its own success. Illinois State Journal editor/publisher J. Emil Smith, a friend of Thornton’s, heard the potato … Continue reading →

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