The Colony Theater is a former art-deco style movie theater located on S. Park Avenue in the city of Winter Park, Florida. This theater opened in 1940 to cater to the entertainment needs of a local population hungry for movies. It housed one screen and five hundred seats. In the 1980s, the building was converted into an arcade with shops and restaurants as suburban, multi-screen theater complexes grew in popularity. In 1999, Pottery Barn renovated the interior, and the Colony now functions as a Pottery Barn retail outlet. The renovation project, overseen by Trammell Crow Co. and designed by Scott Partnership and Arcanum Architects of California, replaced the second and third floors with a vaulted ceiling and mezzanine display areas. Despite the conversion, the distinctive Colony neon marquee is still visible today; the color of the 38-ft-tall sign, however, was changed from red to grey. As one of the stops on the self-guided walking tour of Winter Park, provided by the Winter Park Historical Association (WPHA), this theater represents the public's interest in movies during the 1940s. It dates from a period when Winter Park was economically and racially segregated. The Colony Theater is one of many buildings of historical interest in the Downtown Winter Park Historic District; the district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

View of the famous Colony neon vertical marquee

Link to the Winter Park Historical Association Walking Tour, which visits the Colony Theater

More Info

The Colony Theater is located on South Park Avenue in Winter Park, Florida. Opened in the 1940s, the theater is from a time where the city was divided into two distinct sections based upon economic standing and race. The art-deco building is now home to a Pottery Barn retail outlet, but the original neon marquee remains. It is one of many buildings of historical interest in the Downtown Winter Park Historic District.

Colony Theater

This loop through central and northern Orlando includes seven of the city's historic theaters. 

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The Enzian theater is located in Maitland Florida at 1300 S Orlando Avenue and only 10 minutes north of Orlando, Maitland has been primarily known as a suburban area. Nevertheless, Maitland will soon have a distinctive downtown area, with the Enzian Theater as one of the landmark places of interest. The Enzian is a house cinema that is home to the Oscar accredited Florida Film Festival. This film festival is only one of the few selected for Oscar qualifying festivals in short film production categories. The festival is on its 27th year premiering over 20 different movies from independent production to international films released in the United States.&nbsp; This local iconic house cinema may not be a historical landmark in the traditional sense of the definition, but to the local residences it is a place to visit with local historic value. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The Enzian theater is a small art house with a distinctive ambiance nestled off Orlando Avenue beneath the majestic weeping oak trees. This art house has the characteristic look of an old house cinema, including the southern charm of outdoor lounging areas. You will quickly get the sense of being in old Florida as you walk down the small sidewalk where lawn seating under the trees greet you to come and sit. The theaters vintage style marquee lights up the movie of the day, and from a curb side view you would not know this is a theater.	 There is such a nostalgic feeling you won’t be able to deny the desire to sit and relax among the trees. There is so much to enjoy that the Enzian has to offer.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The theater opened up its doors in 1985, by Founder Tina Tiedtke and her father John considered to be Central Florida's arts dynasty who were the driving force making notable contribution to the arts locally, including the Rollins College Music and Theater Departments. When Tina wanted to provide an art house for the community, John combed the area for an appropriate venue. With nothing available, they bought a small wooded piece of property in Maitland and built the first local art theater.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Maitland is one of the oldest incorporated suburban towns in central Florida. The area originally was inhabited by Native Americans, and named after Fort Maitland built in 1838 on the western shore of Lake Fumecheliga (later Lake Maitland) during the Second Seminole War. After the war the fort was torn down, and the area remained rural for 30 more years, until a post office was constructed for settlers in the area. This settlement came to be called Lake Maitland, and later just Maitland.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; During the mid-1980’s Florida was still evolving into a tourist destination but in the 1990’s Orlando experienced an advantage in film production with year-round sunshine and good filming locations. Along with the construction of the Disney-MGM Studios and Universal Studios production facilities located in Orlando. This would quickly attract many recognizable names in film making to the area like Ron Howard, Steven Spielberg, and Tom Hank's. Central Florida was then given the nickname of “Hollywood East" because of its surging film industry. As Marketing manager Valerie Cisneros points out in the fall of 2017 “Enzian will have showed “Loving Vincent” a film which they have been working on for years about Vincent van Gogh’s life, it was shot live action, and then they took all 65,000 frames and hired over 125 artists from around the world to paint over the frames van Gogh style in oil paints. It’s the first fully oil painted feature film, and this film has attracted people from all over Florida and even Georgia”. This film was undeniably, a technical achievement visually, and conceptually it’s jaw-dropping considering the effort that went into the production.&nbsp;With three decades of showing films at the Enzian it is now necessary for the theater to expand from only one large screen, to three screens in order to provide the for the necessary growth. The theater is fully booked and they have no room for additional film openings that may come out. So, the expansion is a priority, but with funding and local zoning the Enzian has been on a slow move to broaden the theaters growth. Nonetheless, the focus and significance of the theater is a simple one, Valerie Cisneros said the Enzian wants their art house to be the theater that can “educate, inspire, entertain and connect the community through film”.&nbsp;<div> </div>

The Enzian Theater is a local theater house that has a long history of playing independent films and providing the back drop for the Florida Film Festive. Through the years the theater has been run by a local by the name of Tina Tiedtke who started the movie house in 1985.

This unique movie theater is a one and only full time not for profit theater in Central Florida. With it's popularity they have limited seating and every showing is sold out regardless of new or old releases. As a nationally recognized theater for it's popularity and it's film festivals you can come for a night of movie entertainment just as the Oscar award producers and celebrities have come. 

The Enzian Theater is a must see.  

Enzian Theater

Opened in 1989, the Orlando Shakespeare Theater is one of the country's premier Shakespeare performance venues. It is partnered with the University of Central Florida—located in Orlando—and presents other productions as well including contemporary works and and children's plays. Education and outreach are other areas of focus for the theater. To this end, it offers school workshops and residencies, field trips (to the theater), acting classes, summer camps, and resources such as study guides and activities. The theater is in Loch Haven Park which features many other great sites to visit such as the Orlando Museum of Art and the Orlando Science Center. 

Orlando Shakespeare Theater

&nbsp; &nbsp; The Bob Carr Theater first opened in 1926 as
The Orlando Municipal Auditorium. During this time, Florida was going through a
land boom, there was also a massive increase in the population of Central
Florida. The Bob Carr Theater was the first major site for Orlando to host
concerts, conventions, plays and town meetings indoors. The property, on which
The Bob Carr Theater presently sits, was originally used for the Orange County
Fair (currently known as the Central Florida Fair). The city of Orlando bought
the land and later built the Bob Carr Theater on the property. Over the years,
The Bob Carr Theater has had many renovations. In 1962, Air Conditioning was
added to the theater, and between the years of 1975 to 1977, the theater had
many renovations done such as having the seating capacity increased, a larger
backstage area created and the theater was dedicated to the former mayor of the
City of Orlando, Bob Carr, who was in office when the renovations had begun.
The Bob Carr Theater had brought together the city of Orlando. The Bob Carr
Theater had given the people of Orlando, a public location to hold events, such
as concerts, conventions and city meetings inside. They could also, now attract
larger events such as plays, the opera, and ballet. The Bob Carr Theater could
also play movies and had ample space mass gatherings of people for city
meetings and the like. Someone would enjoy checking out The Bob Carr Theater
because, they can learn a lot about the past history of the city of Orlando,
Florida, they can also learn about how the needs of the city have changed over
the years, with the expansion and all of the renovations. The Bob Carr Theater
is a historic landmark in the city of Orlando, FL making it a convenient trek
for the many residents of Central Florida and vicinity. The Bob Carr Theater is
also in close proximity to Interstate 4 and Tolled, Florida State Road 408 which
allows for easy access to the Bob Carr Theater from the nearby highways as they
pass through Downtown Orlando. The Bob Carr Theater is located in a
neighborhood of downtown Orlando called, “Parramore”. The Parramore
neighborhood of Orlando is a Historically Black Neighborhood in West
Orlando. The Bob Carr Theater has recently been used more recently for major
events such as concerts. &nbsp;The Bob Carr Theater is also the current home of the
Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra as well as the Florida youth symphony orchestra.

 The Bob Carr Theater first opened in 1926 as The Orlando Municipal Auditorium. During this time, Florida was going through a land boom, there was also a massive increase in the population of Central Florida. The Bob Carr Theater was the first major site for Orlando to host concerts, conventions, plays and town meetings indoors. The property, on which The Bob Carr Theater presently sits, was originally used for the Orange County Fair (currently known as the Central Florida Fair). The city of Orlando bought the land and later built the Bob Carr Theater on the property.

Bob Carr Theater

Braxton Beacham Sr., who served as Mayor of Orlando in 1907, built the Beacham Theatre in 1921. A prison once stood on the property upon which the building was constructed, and the violent history of the site has resulted in rumors that the property is haunted. The theatre opened with Norma Talmadge's The Wonderful Thing, a Pathé News newsreel, and Buster Keaton's The Boat on December 9th. The Beacham was Orlando's premier vaudeville and movie house and, for a time, the only independent movie theatre in Orlando. Beacham Theatre was part of what vaudeville performers referred to as the the "Straw Hat Circuit," their term for the Florida and Orlando area. A pipe organ built by the Austin Organ Company accompanied the silent films and vaudeville performances. It also boasted innovative movie equipment, introducing Vitaphone and Movietone "talkie" technology in 1928. By 1933, interest in vaudeville had waned, and such performances ceased to be held there. After a bitter ownership dispute and legal battle, the Beacham Theatre reopened in 1933 as a venue for movies, raffles, and radio performances. During this period, referred to as the "First Run Movie Era," the theatre was witness to many events of historical importance. These included technological improvements (such as the introduction of CinemaScope and Cinerama), Civil Rights protests in the 1960s (the theater was segregated until 1965), and open forum meetings by the Orlando Chamber of Commerce. In the 1970s, Beacham Theatre suffered from disrepair and declining audiences, symptomatic of the urban decay plaguing the Orlando area. The building was sold to the owners of The Great Southern Music Hall in 1976, ushering in the era of live performances ranging from concerts, to laser light shows, to dinner theater. Since 1988, the Beacham Theatre has been used as a location for a series of nightclubs and concert venues. During Orlando's "Summer of Love" (1991 to 1992), performances at the Beacham jump-started interest in electronic dance music and the subculture surrounding it. Shows at the Beacham are also credited with inspiring the "Orlando Sound" genre known as Florida breaks. Since its construction, the building has undergone numerous renovations, going from Commerical style architecture to a combination 
of art-deco and Mediterranean Revival. Indeed, the Beacham's 
architectural history is nearly as complex and diverse as that of its entertainment history. Today, Beacham Theatre is now known simply as "The Beacham." The building has hosted performances by many famous celebrities and features entertainment such as disc jockey acts; it plays Hip hop, Top 40, Latin music, and Reggaeton.

The Beacham Theatre, built in 1921, played an important role in the music and entertainment history of Orlando. From vaudeville to electronic dance music, this theatre has served as a gathering spot for movie-goers, music lovers, and performers to gather for nearly a century. Owing to its long history, the building was granted local landmark status in 1987.

Beacham Theatre Orlando

Interestingly, when it opened several movies stars of the day including Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Paul
Newman, Gregory Peck, Jack Lemon and John Wayne sent the theater telegrams congratulating its opening. These were posted in the lobby; it is not clear where these are today.&nbsp;

The Plaza Theatre sign is Orlando's only unchanged theater sign from the 1960s and represents the only known sign of its type in the city. It was built in San Diego and shipped to Orlando. It opened in 1963 with the movie “McLintock.” The Plaza theatre underwent many renovations, including the introduction of twin screens, rocking chair seats, angle seating, and wider screens. In the 1990s the theater was converted to a live venue performance hall. 

The Plaza Theatre Sign 

Annie Russell was born in Liverpool, England in 1864 but was raised in Canada. Her first professional appearance on stage was in Montreal in 1872 when she was only eight years of age. &nbsp;After that, she made her way to New York and worked for several companies, some of which traveled to South America and Australia. During Russell’s career, she starred in popular plays at the time, such as Our Society and Love’s Martyr, as well as classic Shakespearean plays, such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night. She was not just an actress; she also became involved in production, as well as costume and set designs. She was one of the first to use electric lighting on stage. In 1918, she retired from acting&nbsp;in Winter Park, but eventually became involved in developing a dramatic arts program&nbsp;in Rollins College. She came out of retirement and acted in the theater's inaugural season in 1932. Russell served as the theater's director from its opening until her death in 1936. The Annie Russell Theatre is the longest-running theatre in Central Florida. It is rumored that her ghost haunts this theatre wearing a lavender gown.

&nbsp;The theatre program at Rollins College, founded by Russell, reflects Rollins’ dedication to the well-roundedness and critical thinking characteristic of the liberal arts education. The program concentrates on comprehensive classroom education as well as ensuring that students are provided with the opportunity for practical theatre experience. The program also revolves around the belief that local theatre should engage with and bring positive influence to the communities of which it is a part.

The Annie Russell Theatre is a historic theater located on the Rollins College campus in Winter Park, Florida. Built in 1932 after just nine months of construction, it was designed by architect Richard Reihnel in the Italian Romanesque Revival style. The theater is named after its principal funder, Annie Russell, who at the time was one of the most famous American stage actors. Russell also established the dramatic arts program at Rollins College some time after her retirement in 1918. Given its architecture and historical ties to Russell, the theater was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. 

Historic Theaters of Orlando

Colony Theater

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information