May 19, 2017
This is “Our Past Is Present” from
the Geary County Historical Society.
Today’s
story is about the Grand Opening of the Uptown Theater in downtown Junction
City in May of 1928. The theater was located on the east side of Washington
Street across from the Bartell. The
address was 611 North Washington Street.
Seats were
filled to capacity as early as 7:00 PM.
Three performances were given and the theater was kept filled until the
end of the last show. Each lady in
attendance was presented with a rosebud until the supply ran out at about 9:00
PM. The roses had come from West Side
Floral, who had also sent a beautiful basket of flowers to the management,
which was placed at the center of the stage.
Jerry Baler of Lawrence was the guest organist for the opening and his
performance on the Reuter organ pleased the audiences as well as the performance
onstage by the Bratton Brothers. A
feature picture followed the live entertainment. The picture was titled “Four Walls” and
starred John Gilbert. Several out of
town guests who attended this opening of the Uptown Theater included a number of
representatives of California film companies.
This format
of a live performance followed by a movie was common not only at the Uptown
Theater, but also at earlier theaters in Junction City. Live accompaniment during the movie was also
common. Background music was played by
an organist and sometimes by an orchestra, which went along with the action on
the screen.
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