The history of the Grand Opera House actually extends back to 1866, when the Turner Opera House opened at the corner of First and Main Street. Three years later the theater caught fire, along with a number of other businesses on First Street between Main and Jefferson Streets.
Reopened as the Music Hall on November 28, 1871, nothing remained of the old building except for the front facade, part of which was used during the remodeling.
In 1885 the theater became known as the Grand Opera House. It was there in 1897 that the theater presented its first motion picture to the citizens of Dayton.
The film was on the Jim Corbett-Robert Fitzsimmons boxing match which had taken place at Carson City on March 17, 1897. Although Fitzsimmons had won in the fourteenth round after delivering a staggering blow to Corbett’s chest, some of the spectators had claimed that as Corbett collapsed Fitzsimmons also delivered a blow to his opponent's jaw. If this were so, some of them argued, Fitzsimmons should have lost the fight due to the late foul blow. Many fans were eager to watch the film and judge for themselves who the real winner was.
For a while it had looked as though the film wouldn’t be made. When approached by the motion film company, James (Gentleman Jim) Corbett agreed to defend his heavyweight title against Robert Fitzsimmons for a ten thousand dollar purse. Unfortunately, at the time prizefighting was illegal in the United States. Since it was important to attract a large number of ringside spectators, as well as the press, it was imperative to find somewhere to hold the fight. It took some convincing, but Nevada officials agreed to legalize boxing in 1897 in the hope that the fight would help boost the state’s poor economy.
The fight was a grand success. "I consider that I have witnessed today the greatest fight with gloves that was ever held in this or any other country," claimed Wyatt Earp.
Dayton citizens flocked to the Grand on July 6, 1897, to watch the fight on film. The show had originally been scheduled to run a week at Fairview Park, but problems occurred because the park couldn’t furnish the right amount of voltage to run the projector correctly. At Fairview Park electricity for the projector had to be pulled off the streetcar lines. Since streetcars used five-hundred volts, the Vitascope projector was overloaded. This also caused the projectionist to be painfully shocked as he changed reels. The problem was so sever that the show was cancelled after only two days and moved to the Grand.
Unfortunately, only four of the rounds were able to be shown the first night due to the projector breaking down. Colonel Billy Thompson, the promoter of the film, apologized to the audience and vowed that he would remain in Dayton and give a perfect show even if it took all summer.
Luckily, it didn’t take that long. The show went off perfectly the following night according to the Dayton Journal.
"Those present were held spellbound when the veriscope flashed the preliminaries of the Carson City contest on the canvas. The spectators were plainly visible. Every movement, every detail was given. In the sixth round Fitzsimmons cunning and generalship is striking noticeable, for when he is down on one knee he is seen to slyly wink at Mrs. Fitzsimmon’s as if to say: "I’m only fooling. I’ve got him sure." All this and a thousand times more make up the exhibition. Can it be doubted that it is the most wonderful achievement known to science and art? We think not, and are joined in the verdict by the thousands who have already seen it."
Even though the film was a great success, the Grand went back to running a mixture of plays, vaudeville and minstrel shows; with motion pictures being all but forgotten for the rest of the century.
On September 18, 1899, the Grand became the Victoria Opera House. Less than three years later the theater changed its name again, this time to Victoria Theater.
In 1903, Burton Holmes, famous "travelogue" traveler, was billed to lecture at the Victoria on Denmark:Through Hamlet’s Country in a Motor-car. The Victoria advertised that the lecture would include "moving colored panoramas and motion pictures, from negatives made by Mr. Holmes in Denmark last summer." Lyman H. Howe, who also gave lectures on far away places, became a popular feature at the Victoria, giving talks, which included the use of motion pictures, regularly from 1905 to 1916.
The Victoria became the Victory after the theater had to be rebuilt because of damage caused by a fire in 1919.
On November 20, 1930, a new era of entertainment began at the Victory. Elaborate preparations were made to transform the playhouse into a modern movie palace. The latest in screen equipment was secured from the Western Electric company. A large screen was installed, as was the latest in sound equipment.
Changes were made to the exterior of the theater as well. For the first time in its history the Victory had a bright and glowing neon and electric light that blazed the week’s attractions.
Although for the next four decades live performances took a back seat to the movies, this policy did not stop the occasional live play from being performed there. Each year the theater usually presented between five to fifteen road shows, many with the original Broadway casts. Stars that appeared in the 1930’s - 60’s are a Who’s-Who of the world’s most famous actors and actresses. Through the Victory, Dayton’s citizens would be graced with the chance to see stage performances that included stars such as Helen Hayes, John Barrymore, Betty Davis and Henry Fonda, Basil Rathbone, Olivia De Havilland and Rex Harrison, to name but a few.
Unfortunately, the Victory came into trouble in 1971. Several factors, including higher film rental costs and lower attendance, brought the theater to a close in August 1971. The theater was slated for demolition. Luckily, James C. Burt and John D. Silken, fronting the Victoria Opera House Co., were able to negotiate a lease, and took over the Victory in April 1972. A lively mixture of rock concerts, new movies and old movies brought in the crowds and the Victory was saved, at least for the moment.
In June 1972 the Montgomery County Historical Society was overjoyed to learn that their efforts to nominate the theater for a listing in the National Register of Historical Places had succeeded.
"It won’t prevent the owners from demolishing the building," said Gary Shuman, executive director of the Historical Society at the time, "but it means that they must do some explaining before doing so."
By 1975 Burt, having bought out his partner, ended his four year struggle to keep the Victory open. The difficulty in getting first run pictures and the high cost of operation proved too much. Steam heat had cost him $1500 a month the winter before, more than the theater sometimes cleared for the month.
Plans were made to tear down the auditorium section of the theater and convert it into a parking lot. The front section of the Victory was to be remodeled into a store site. That’s when Jim Latham, with the help of several others, decided to set up a non-profit organization with the intent of leasing the building for a year. He hoped that during the grace period money could be raised to purchase the Victory for use as a community facility. Latham estimated that $25,000 was needed for the lease, improvements and insurance.
On November 14, 1975, The Dayton Association for the Performing Arts was formed. After two weeks they had raised over $1700. Unfortunately, although the lease agreement was modified to allow the group to pay in two installments, the first payment of $10,000 was due in less than a week.
The Montgomery County Historical Society stepped in, giving them the use of office space and phone and mail privileges. This was soon followed by support from the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce and the Dayton-Montgomery County Bicentennial Commission.
Contributions began to come in, including pledges from the Rike’s Foundation, the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and the Oregon Historic District. A bake sale was held at the theater. An air-conditioning repairman from Kettering mortgaged his car in order to donate $1000. A radio-thon held by WHIO’s Carl Day brought $7,600 in pledges, just enough to push contributions and pledges over the $15,000 mark. The Victory was saved.
On February 4, 1976, a non-profit corporation called the Victory Theatre Association, Inc. was formed. Governed by a Board of Trustees, the organization became responsible for the operation and preservation of the historic landmark.
In 1978, with gifts from David Rike, Virginia Kettering, and others, the building was purchased by the Victory Theatre Association. In 1988 the Arts Center Foundation acquired the building and began a $17.5 million renovation project. The new Victoria (renamed in 1989) was officially opened the week of January 13, 1990.
In 1993 the Victoria once again began showing movies. Each summer the theater shows classic movies during its "Hot Times, Cool Films" series. The Victoria has the honor of having William (Bill) Roush run the nine films that make up the series. At 87 (in 1999), he’s still a card-carrying member of the projectionists local.
"I’ve been showing movies just about every place around here since before sound came in." Roush said in an interview in 1997. At one time or another, he’s worked them all, including- "the Wayne, the Rialto, the Ohio, the Loew’s, the Colonial, the Columbia, the State and Keith’s, which was the biggest. You moved up in theaters as you moved up in seniority."
The film festival is held every July and August. Each show begins with an organ concert and a classic cartoon. Films such as Guys and Dolls, Some Like It Hot, and The Wizard of Oz are why patrons to the "Hot Times, Cool Films" series can’t wait for summer to arrive.
The future of the Victoria shines as bright as the brass doors that lead into its beautiful lobby. With the support of the Dayton community, the Victoria will be here to enjoy for generations to come.
Ideal (1913-44)
33 East Fourth Street
In 1910 George Haas had an innovative idea in movie entertainment. In the point made by Wayne Avenue, Thurman Lane and Xenia Avenue, he converted a part of the triangular shaped piece of land into the city’s first open-air theater. (See Ideal Airdome ). Unfortunately, the airdome was a losing investment, and after two years of striving the theater was destined to die.
In 1913 Haas moved the Ideal inside, building a $25,000 theater on East Fourth Street. Olaf Jacobson was hired as the interior decorator. He chose to decorate the walls of the Ideal with a soft verde green, the floors with a velour carpet of the same color, and painted the woodwork a complimentary shade of green as well. The upper walls were a beautiful shade of tan, relieved by old ivory beams with decorative self color. A rich effect was added by the use of old bronze which was used along the doorways. A frieze was made in the shape of palms, whose outlines lent an unusual design to the architecture of the building.
The interior was also well-lit. Large, veiled hanging lights and beautiful floral bells along the walls enhanced the beauty of the main auditorium, and a multitude of smaller electrical bulbs in settings of old bronze enhanced the effect.
Since the theater had been constructed at a time when volatile nitrate film was the main picture stock being used, every precaution was made to protect the audience in case of fire. The two Simplex projectors were placed in a special room whose walls were over 17 inches thick, rendering it virtually fireproof.
The 300 seat theater was conducted as a straight five-cents house, with no additional charge for adults or evening shows. Motion pictures were shown continually throughout the day from 10 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. Each show consisted of a three reel movie (about 30 minutes long) of high-class Association films from the General Film company. Music was provided by a Wurlitzer orchestra piano. Two women, known only as Misses Wollenhaupt and Bills, were engaged to play the piano in accompaniment to the silent films.
The Ideal depended almost solely on word of mouth and its prime location near Main Street and rarely advertised its pictures in the local papers.
The Ideal closed in 1944. The original building, with its beautiful Goddesses of Pleasure, is now gone. The site is now part of the land where the Crowne Plaza Hotel is located.
Keith’s (1922-67)
44 West Fourth Street
When the Keith’s theater opened on November 27, 1922, it was thought to be the most beautiful theater in the state, if not in the Midwest. And no wonder. No expense was spared to build and decorate the five-story structure.
The main hall consisted of two heavily carpeted marble grand staircases, which led through the outer lobby where the patrons purchased their admission tickets. These stairways led to the first promenade, which was finished with rare, old French furniture, upholstered in the richest of Louis XIV and Louis XV damask. Cabinets, council tables and other pieces of furniture could also be found there. From the first Mezzanine the promenade led to the ladies’ and men’s rooms, both of which were elaborately furnished. The men’s room was furnished in old tapestry and deep red Italian velvet. The ladies’ room on the same floor was furnished with gold and brocade furniture and included a fireplace. The walls were lined with rare mezzotints. The lamps and shades were creations of the French art. The second mezzanine had all the comforts and conveniencies of the lower part of the theater. The orchestra floor also had a ladies’ room. The carpet was a French creation of blue, rose and gray, the draperies a royal blue satin, trimmed in gray brocade. Theater patrons enjoyed wide aisles and the seats were finished in Italian velvet of a rich, ruby color. The walls were finished in the color of old ivory Crystal and gold chandeliers lit the way.
The stage was fitted with all the modern conveniences. Each dressing room had its own bathroom. A tile bath and shower was made available for the stage employees. The musician’s rooms were all equipped with toilet accommodations and fitted out like club rooms. A Wulitzer Unit Orchestra, worth $25,000 was installed. It was especially built for use in theaters and could be controlled to sound like a complete orchestra.
When Keith’s opened, Harold Folker was the head usher. "I had been sent up the street to the Strand theater to train for my job," Folker recalled. Roderick Baker was head usher at the Strand and he let me work there for a week before I went to Keith’s."
Folker celebrated his 16th birthday on his first night at the Keith’s. "I learned my XYZs - it was all reserved seating back then.
"We started at 1:20 p.m. and had four shows a day - silent movies and vaudeville - and, every so often, a big band would come in. All kinds of people came; usually the lobby would be full of people waiting to get seats for the next show."
One show in particular stood out in Folker’s memory, an act called the Singer’s Midgets, which played in January 1923. "People were lined up along Fourth and Ludlow and down to Fifth; they waited over four hours to see that show, outside at the end of January."
While in the beginning Keith’s was a major vaudeville palace, by 1929 live acts were phased out as the popularity of motion pictures grew. The following year the theater became RKO Keith’s.
Several times during World War II the theater held special showings to help in the war effort. In 1943, for example, a scrap collection by Dayton Girl Scouts topped the two-ton marker after several dozen girls paid their way into a Christmas movie by bringing five pounds of paper each. Proceeds from the drive were given to Low Memorial Fund, a national Girl Scout fund, which was used to help clothe young people in England, China, Russia and other war-torn allied countries.
In 1949 with the threat of television taking the place of motion pictures, vaudeville returned to the Keith’s under manager Goodie Sable on a once-a-month basis during the summer.
"Dayton has shown it wants vaudeville and we’re promising more of it" Sable said at the time.
Television was too popular to ignore, so in the early 1950’s equipment was installed at the theater for television productions. Closed-circuit television shows at the theater included boxing matches and UD basketball games. In 1965 stadium seats to the Flyer’s home game against the University of Louisville were sold out. On December 15 patrons to the Keith’s paid $1.80 for the privilege to watch the first closed circuit television showing of a collegiate game ever held in a public theater.
Keith’s was purchased on July 14, 1966, by Richard H. Grant, Jr. and Paul H. Deneau from RKO Midwest Corp. The two men continued to lease the building to the RKO corporation while they decided what to do with the structure. A decision was made to close the Keith’s in 1967. Ironically the final movie was entitled Once Before I Die.
"The Keith was very large and economically unfeasible to operate with the growing number of theaters being built in shopping centers" a RKO spokesman said at the time. "We’re getting rid of the large theaters and building smaller ones. We hope to bring RKO back to Dayton in a shopping center but we don’t intend to divulge plans now."
The theater was demolished in November 1967 to make way for the Grant-Deneau Building (now called 40 West 4th Center). Sadly, the end of Keith’s also saw the end of RKO entertainment in Dayton.
Majestic (1912-18)
Rialto(1919-67)
212-214 South Jefferson Street
One of the more elaborate picture houses was the Majestic on south Jefferson Street, just below Fifth. The grand opening took place on March 4, 1912. And what a grand opening it was. The first movie shown was Children Who Labor, an Edison picture based on incidents connected with the labor strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Patrons were entertained between the changing of reels by the "American Gypsy Girls’ Quartet", with music provided by Buell B. Reisinger’s Solo Orchestra , which was comprised of six of Dayton’s best musicians. Attention given to patrons included ushers and other employees dressed in tuxedos for the afternoon shows and appropriate evening dress for the evening performances.
Proprietor J. P. Montgomery was told by his friends that he should not get involved in the Majestic because it was "too much out of the way", being south of Third Street. Montgomery, a successful theater promoter from the south part of the United States, replied by running ads continuously in the local newspapers that stated the Majestic was "The Place To Go". The advertisements were often bold and very funny. A typical one stated: "I know I’ll land you as a regular. Yes, I’ll do it, even though it takes the last cow dad has on the farm."
The strategy must have worked, for before very long the theater was a thriving business. William Randolph, Montgomery’s successor, continued the advertising campaign. It was estimated by the Dayton Daily News that the Majestic had spent well over $36,000 for advertising during the theater’s first three years.
Randolph, unfortunately, had the bad luck to lease the theater a week before the 1913 flood. Damages to the theater ran over $14,000. Undaunted, Randolph reopened on May 3, 1913, with ads reclaiming that the Majestic had "No Flood Germs! - No Flood Odors!" Promotions were held to bring people back. "Nellie" the camel gave children free rides, and if they couldn’t make it to the camel, the camel went to their homes, free of charge.
It wasn’t long at all before Randolph recouped his losses. Records indicate that 12,142 people attended the Majestic the first week it reopened.
On June 16, 1913, the theater made an astounding announcement. For the next thirteen weeks it would present Edison Talking Pictures, the picture with sound! Each hour a Kinetophone talking picture would be included on the bill.
Although Thomas Edison’s remarkable invention had been seen in several vaudeville theaters, this would mark the first time in the world that it was shown in a theater devoted exclusively to motion pictures. This was understandable since the cost of showing the pictures was enormous. The rental of the equipment and films for the thirteen weeks ran close to $5000. This at a time when admission to the Majestic was a nickel.
"But the bringing of Mr. Edison’s great invention to Dayton is not a money-making proposition with us." claimed the management. "We cannot handle much more business than we are doing at present. We will be only too pleased if we break even on the engagement..."
The first film shown was called The Lecture. In it a man explained to the audience the achievements and future possibilities of the Kinetophone. The motion picture illustrated different sounds, such as the blowing of whistles, horns and bugles, the barking of dogs and the playing of a piano and violin. The pictures were a moderate success, due more to the fact that they produced sound than to their story lines, most of which were quite dull.
In 1919 the theater was bought by John Seifert who rechristened it the Rialto. The policy of the movie house slowly changed to second run movies after this. By the late 1920’s the theater was depending on sensationalism to bring in patrons. An advertising in 1927 tells that the Rialto was going to show the movie False Shame. Touted as "The Most Thrilling Sex Picture Ever Produced" it promised that it would tell and show "everything". The movie, about social diseases, was not what many of the patrons (mostly men, I’m sure) had gone to view, but it did draw a crowd during the week it was shown.
H. L McClelland remembers the Rialto was "structured like an Egyptian temple, but radiating an aura of pure Hollywood. Colorful posters and colorless stills lined the lobby walls around the box-office. Unfortunately, the Rialto, as I remember it, was extremely trashy in the late 1940’s, and one reason that my mother and I usually avoided it".
In May 1963 H & K Enterprises, Inc. purchased the Rialto from William Clegg, who had purchased the theater in 1946. When H & K dissolved their partnership a couple of years later, operation of the theater was taken over by Reverend Auburn F. Haggard, preacher for Congregation Church near Piqua.
Records are sketchy, but I believe the Rialto was closed for good by the end of 1967. The old building was razed in January 1969. Chins Oriental Cafe now sits on the site of the old movie house.
National (1904-13)
Lyceum (1913-14)
B. F. Keith’s (1914-16)
Strand (1916-43)
214 South Main Street
Henry Talbott and Fred Dickson of Indianapolis hired J. W. Yost, an architect from New York, to design the National Theater. Built mostly of marble, stone, brick and concrete, the 2300 seat theater was designed with fire safety uppermost in the mind of the architect. The lobby and entrance were of white marble and paneled in heavy mahogany, all beautifully carved. The main lobby held two box offices, the managers office and a coatcheck room. Patrons then were led to the mezzanine lobby, which was decorated in white Italian and Pittsford Valley marble. The staircases were paneled with brass designs and the mezzanine railed in marble and bronze designs. Another set of staircases then led from there to the balcony and gallery. Plate glass mirrors flanked the mezzanine from floor to ceiling. The Auditorium was decorated in red, gold and old ivory and illuminated by hundreds of electrical lights.
Unusual was the fact that there were no draperies in the house, nor were the seats upholstered. This was due to the owners not wanting a place for dust or germs to gather and for fire safety. Their fear of fire was so strong that on the back of every program a diagram showed all of the theater’s exits.
The National formally opened on August 16, 1904. Patrons were met by ushers and doormen wearing dark red uniforms with gold embroidery. The opening attraction that night was The Show Girl, a live musical comedy that was met with great enthusiasm.
In an article written for the Dayton Daily News in 1975 Jim Casey told of the time that a group of minstrels from the National went over to NCR and entertained the employees.
"John H. Patterson was furious," Casey wrote. "The founder of the National Cash Register Corp. stood at his office window and scowled at the band of minstrels parading and playing below.
"It wasn’t that old John H. hated music. He was piqued because his employees had left their lathes and assembly lines to watch the show. And that just won’t do.
"Patterson noted the time on his watch. He marked it again after the minstrels had departed and his workers had returned to their jobs.
"He then summoned Gilbert Burrows, manager of the National theater where the minstrels would perform that night and icily informed him of how many man hours had been wasted by the free serenade.
"It wasn’t good business, the magnate told the showman.
"Maybe not, Burrows admitted, but it sure was good vaudeville."
At first the National had no real use for motion pictures. In the beginning there was a standard line-up of acts on a vaudeville stage. The bill would be divided into two parts, with an intermission in the middle. The National would then end the bill with a ‘chaser’. The concluding act was called a chaser since it was meant to play as people were leaving the theater. Many times the chaser was a movie, which allowed patrons to noisily enter and leave the auditorium and still entertain those that stayed until the end. It wasn’t long, however, before the owners realized that movies were becoming more acceptable to their patrons. And since motion pictures were cheaper to pay for than a full ensemble of vaudeville acts, films were included more and more often on the bill.
Back then the National didn’t have a snack bar, but it did have the next best thing. Next to the theater stood the Forum Saloon and a door connected the bar to the lobby. During intermission patrons could plunk down a nickel, which got them a glass of beer and a meal of fresh roasted beef and pork.
In 1913 the greatest flood Dayton had ever seen swept through the city. The downtown area where the National was located was especially hard hit. Almost everything that was in the theater was badly damaged. When the waters receded, Burrows had the seats of the theater chopped loose from the floors and hired teams of horses to haul them out in entire rows so that the interior could be repaired and repainted.
That same year the National became the Lyceum Theater, which began featuring vaudeville acts of the Talbott and Dixon circuit. The following year it was sold to the B. F. Keith circuit.
Then in 1916 the impossible happened. Even with all the precautions taken by the architect, the theater caught fire, causing extensive damage to the back stage area of the theater.
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