Follies Theatre
508 9th Street NW,
Washington,
DC
20004
508 9th Street NW,
Washington,
DC
20004
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Additional Info
Architects: E.B. Freund
Previous Names: Roosevelt Theatre, Art Theatre, Gayety Theatre
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Opened as the Roosevelt Theatre in September 1933. It became a grind house and the name was changed to Follies Theatre from 1949 to 1968.
In 1969 it became the Art Theatre and in 1976 it became the Gayety Theatre with live girls on stage and X-rated films. It closed in 1987 and was torn down and replaced by a large modern office building.
I worked the booth in 1971-72 when it was an adult theatre, low budget operation. It had 35mm, 16mm and 8mm equipment and ran sound from a reel to reel tape deck with 8mm footage.
Contributed by
Local619, Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
Here is a view of the Art in December 1971:
http://tinyurl.com/ye34myx
If anyone has any stories about going to/ working at this threatre in its adult days, I would love to hear them. I am chronicling the histories of adult theatres in the US. Please contact me at Thanks!
1955 photo added courtesy of Steve Michaels.
April 1937 photo added, credit John Vachon-Library Of Congress.