Ritz Theatre

Mike Rogers on May 14, 2010 at 6:35 pm

Really, Nick and Charlie {his retired Projectionist friend} they took me and my sons on a day long tour of old theatres.My two daughters swam with Charlie’s family while we went on the adventure of TAMPA,It was great.

TLSLOEWS on May 14, 2010 at 5:09 pm

Nice vintage photos Nick,putting on the Ritz as they used to say.

Nunzienick on February 18, 2010 at 11:03 pm

Hey Mike, The reunion sounds great! I wonder how many former employees the girls were able to locate and how many will show up. Hopefully the turnout is good. I know you must really be looking forward to this after so many years. And especially since National Hills was your favorite theatre.

It can’t be very easy in trying to locate former employees so I hope the girls are successful in bringing a good group together. I know you’ll be exchanging stories for hours! I’ll be anxious to hear about it!

Nunzienick on February 17, 2010 at 8:59 pm

Yes, very nice photo Bway. The verticle was rusted out and beginning to fall apart and seemed beyond repair. The RITZ lettering had been painted over years ago with “Masquerade” which had faded badly. A new and identical RITZ THEATRE verticle would certainly be a great addition to the building.

kencmcintyre on December 16, 2009 at 7:17 pm

This should work:
http://tinyurl.com/y9l78gk

Mike Rogers on September 27, 2009 at 5:11 pm

NICK AND CHARLIE, THANKS FOR TAKING ME BY TO SEE THE RITZ THEATRE WHILE I WAS IN TAMPA. I KNOW IT IS LIKE NATIONAL HILLS THEATRE IS TO ME.

Nunzienick on February 11, 2009 at 7:37 pm

Go to the Ritz weblink kindly provided above by Lost Memory, then click on “Galleries”, photos, and “Old & New”. The 3rd photo is a wonderful b/w picture of the auditorium interior showing a packed house! This was probably taken sometime during the 1940s or possibly the early 1950s. Even during the time I attended in the 1960s this was the typical Saturday afternoon matinee crowd — packed with kids along with a few adults.

Also in “Galleries” under “Ritz Ybor-Philip Lloyd” there are several color photos of the lobby foyer area and auditorium as they look today. Photos 8 & 9 are especially nice. Although the small houses and buildings facades on the walls are long gone, at least they kept the proscenium exactly as it was in the 1960s — even the colors are the same.

In addition to concerts the theater can now be booked for parties, weddings, meetings, etc. They did a very nice job in bringing the building back to life. It’s apparent some big bucs were spent in alterations, renovations, and additions.

The Ritz was the site of the famous invitation-only “Maxim” party on Super Bowl weekend with several celebrities in attendance. And according to news reports it was a smashing success!

Historic Theatres in Tampa on August 31, 2008 at 11:31 am

Please provide any stories or information that you might have about this theatre (or any single-screen theatre in Tampa) here… http://historictheatresintampa.blogspot.com
This will assist us in preserving the history surrounding these theatres in Tampa. Thank you!!

Bway on April 12, 2008 at 6:41 pm

Thanks so much for all your information! Your post gives a great history of the theater. Yes, as my photo shows, it’s being used for “something”. But judging by what’s on the marquee, you are right, it doesn’t seem it’s “The Masquerade” anymore. The marquee just says something about an art exhibit.

Nunzienick on April 11, 2008 at 2:43 am

Lost and Bway: I was a Ritz regular many years ago. This theater holds some wonderful memories for me! I attended The Ritz nearly every weekend during the early-to-mid 1960s. During this period the theater was essentially a B-film house specializing in horror/sci-fi and campy teen films that played to packed houses on the weekends. Alternatively both regular films fare as well as Spanish language films also played from time to time. As unbelievable as it sounds today, admission was 20 cents for under 16, and 60 cents for 16 and above.

Beginning with William Castle’s “13 Ghosts” in 1961 to “Village of the Giants” in 1965 I saw hundreds of films at The Ritz over this five year period. On Fridays and Saturdays The Ritz would run a triple feature program such as “The Spider” “The Fly” & “The Deadly Mantis”. The following weekend “Black Sunday” “The Raven” & “Day of the Triffids” would be playing. A couple weeks later the attractions were “The Brain Eaters” “The Screaming Skull” & “Brain From Planet Arous”

On one Sunday afternoon Presley’s “Fun in Acapulco” teamed with “Bye Bye Birdie” played to a packed house. And the following weekend “The Blob” “Blood of the Vampire” & “Tarantula” were playing. Blockbusters like “West Side Story” and “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” also ran from time to time. When “A Hard Day’s Night” ran on one Saturday afternoon, the theater was sold-out to the walls. There were people standing against the side walls and along the back of the theater. The manager, evidently fearing a possible riot, turned the house lights up, walked on stage just before the film began, and gave the audience a stern warning that everyone would be given a refund, and the theater would be shut down if there was any screaming or rowdiness or excessive noise. They ran the entire feature with the house lights turned up.

The auditorium was Basic Mediterranian Revival. The interior was painted in a combination of patterns of red, orange, pink, and green. The side walls of the auditorium contained little house fronts built into the walls with red tile roofs, little chimneys, small wrought iron balconies, and windows lit from behind with a soft red glow. Beige curtains illuminated by red stage lights hid the 35-foot wide CinemaScope screen within the procenium. Capacity was 700 but was reduced to 400 years later when new larger seats were installed after theater converted over to adult films.

At the end of 1965 the building was sold to a company out of Miami that owned and operated several adult theaters statewide. On December 31, 1965 The Ritz ceased running standard films, and on January 1, 1966 the theater opened it’s doors as the Ritz Adult Theater. Triple X films and live nudie stage shows were now the attractions, and they ran for an amazing 15 years!

Towards the end of the 1970s the adult theater finally closed. The building was taken over by a local stage production company called The Playmakers who utilized it for a short time before closing shop. In 1982 a private investor purchased the building and announced plans to give the theater a complete makeover, and transform it back into a movie house featuring first-run films. The exterior and interior were repainted, and new carpeting, seats, and curtains were installed. The screen which had been moved up against the back wall was still in good conditon, and was moved forward and back into place. The 35mm projectors had remained in the booth and were still functional.

Unfortunately, due to a drain on additional funds and lack of public support, the new owner was never able to fufill his dreams of running movies again at The Ritz. Several concerts were booked(mainly heavy metal and punk) but a large core audience for these events never did materialize, and the doors eventually closed once again. The bank foreclosed on the property and the building sat vacant for a time. I believe it was sometime towards the mid 1980s when the theater was utilized for two motion pictures which were filmed on the site. The films were “Amateur Night” and “Phantom of the Ritz”. The former was made-for-cable, and the latter went straight to video. I recall finding and renting a copy at the video store in the 1990s but today you’d probably be hard pressed to find a copy anywhere. It was a horror spoof about an evil presence haunting the theater.

Towards the end of the 1980s the building was purchased by a new owner, and remade into an alternative dance/nightclub called The Masquerade. I had a chance to visit the building shortly after the new club had opened. The seats had all been removed, and the house fronts on the side walls had all been stripped out right down to the bare concrete walls. The auditorium floor was leveled out, and a mosh pit had been dug out in the center of the floor. Sadly, the only remnants remaining to indicate that it was once a movie theater are the marquee, the stage and the procenium.

The Masquerade had apparently done very well for several years attracting hordes of concert goers but in early 2006 the club finally closed it’s doors. I recall reading an article in the papers indicating the owner could no longer make ends meet. I was under the impression the building was closed but from the photos above, which were taken recently, it appears there is still some activity within. But I’m almost certain The Masquerade is now defunct even though the sign remains above the marquee.

Bway on February 13, 2008 at 10:56 am

Here are two photos I took of the Ritz Theater, aka “The Masquerade” last week….just before seeing the Giants beat the Patriots in the Superbowl!!
Actually, I was somewhat surprised at the lack of comments here on the site about the Ritz! I was hoping to find more information about it after discovering the place last week. I can’t imagine that there would be so little interest in it, as Ybor City is right in the middle of Tampa. Perhaps “Masquerade” should be added as an aka name, as that’s the name on the place as the concert hall? It does still have one small sign that says “Ritz Theater”, so that’s how I found it here.
Anyway, I am so glad that Lost Memory at least added the place, as it’s a pretty building, in good shape it appears, and deserves perhaps a little recongnition on the site….
Any more information on the place would be appreciated, as all we have to go by here is the photo Lost posted that appears to show it was an X Rated theater for a while.

Here’s the photos from a couple weeks ago I took. It’s a nice looking building:

Click here for Photo1

Click Here for Photo2