Just a correction for the above – the Neon shaped Aladdin Lamp was in the color green in stead of blue with a light color green for the background. The rest of the marquee wasa dark burgandy, again, the same color as the Oak Park. I could still draw a very accurate picture of the marquee. Also, inside the auditorium – the seats had curved wood backs and the seat was padded and covered in blue leather. Those seats were taken out and placed in another old theater that had been converted into a church in the inner city. That church is still operating and the seats are still there.
The theater actually opened in the mid-30’s and closed in the Fall of 1957 after a showing of the film “Baby Doll”, which caused quite a stir with all the neighborhood churches. I wish someone would come up with a picture of the theater when it was open. I remember it because I grew up in that Eastside neighborhood. It had a very beautiful and well lited rectangle marquee with a sign above with alot of neon and dancing lights reading Aladdin. The marquee was very much like that of the old Oak Park Theater on Prospect. In the center was a blue neon lighted shaped Aladdin’s Lamp surounded by blue neon, with yellow neon smoke. To each side was a long red and two shorter teal/blue neon lights. On each end where the movies were posted, were chasing white lights. I still have some of the lettering. I was there the day that the marquee, signboard and Aladding sign were “ripped” down with once beautiful neon left broken all over the sidewalk. It all went into a trash truck. Someone turned it on the night before and left it lit throughout the night and we all though it was going to reopen. That was always the rumor. The inside had a pretty fresh coat of grey and pink paint from about 1955. However, it did cover a lot of beautiful stinciling on the walls and some paintings surrounding the vents on each side of the stage. The theater had a beautiful deep burgandy stage drape that opened an closed for each movie. There was an old Hammond Organ on the floor to the right side. There was a clock on the wall to the right side of the screen with a blue neon ring.
There was a lot of red and green neon lit glass brick in the back of the theater just before you entered the auditorium. The walls had light fixtures almost exactly like th ones now in the Englewood Theater – rescued from the old Strand Theater on Troost Ave.
The two towers had red lights on at night. There were many yellow bug lights on the underside of the marquee with one red light in the middle. At night, The Aladdin Theater was quite impressive.
There were some live shows between the movies on some Saturday nights in the mid-fifties. You would always see a Newsreal, a Cartoon, Movie Previews, and at least two films. There were many movie adds in the lobby. It was really a gem and one of the nicest Theaters on the Eastside. There were others – The Ritz, The National, The Belmont, The Gladstone, The Benton, The Vista and The Ashland – to name a few. Hope someone can come up an early 50’s picture.
Mike Gallagher
Lee’s Summit, MO
Just a correction for the above – the Neon shaped Aladdin Lamp was in the color green in stead of blue with a light color green for the background. The rest of the marquee wasa dark burgandy, again, the same color as the Oak Park. I could still draw a very accurate picture of the marquee. Also, inside the auditorium – the seats had curved wood backs and the seat was padded and covered in blue leather. Those seats were taken out and placed in another old theater that had been converted into a church in the inner city. That church is still operating and the seats are still there.
The theater actually opened in the mid-30’s and closed in the Fall of 1957 after a showing of the film “Baby Doll”, which caused quite a stir with all the neighborhood churches. I wish someone would come up with a picture of the theater when it was open. I remember it because I grew up in that Eastside neighborhood. It had a very beautiful and well lited rectangle marquee with a sign above with alot of neon and dancing lights reading Aladdin. The marquee was very much like that of the old Oak Park Theater on Prospect. In the center was a blue neon lighted shaped Aladdin’s Lamp surounded by blue neon, with yellow neon smoke. To each side was a long red and two shorter teal/blue neon lights. On each end where the movies were posted, were chasing white lights. I still have some of the lettering. I was there the day that the marquee, signboard and Aladding sign were “ripped” down with once beautiful neon left broken all over the sidewalk. It all went into a trash truck. Someone turned it on the night before and left it lit throughout the night and we all though it was going to reopen. That was always the rumor. The inside had a pretty fresh coat of grey and pink paint from about 1955. However, it did cover a lot of beautiful stinciling on the walls and some paintings surrounding the vents on each side of the stage. The theater had a beautiful deep burgandy stage drape that opened an closed for each movie. There was an old Hammond Organ on the floor to the right side. There was a clock on the wall to the right side of the screen with a blue neon ring.
There was a lot of red and green neon lit glass brick in the back of the theater just before you entered the auditorium. The walls had light fixtures almost exactly like th ones now in the Englewood Theater – rescued from the old Strand Theater on Troost Ave.
The two towers had red lights on at night. There were many yellow bug lights on the underside of the marquee with one red light in the middle. At night, The Aladdin Theater was quite impressive.
There were some live shows between the movies on some Saturday nights in the mid-fifties. You would always see a Newsreal, a Cartoon, Movie Previews, and at least two films. There were many movie adds in the lobby. It was really a gem and one of the nicest Theaters on the Eastside. There were others – The Ritz, The National, The Belmont, The Gladstone, The Benton, The Vista and The Ashland – to name a few. Hope someone can come up an early 50’s picture.
Mike Gallagher
Lee’s Summit, MO