Wilds Theatre

53 S. 9th Street,
Noblesville, IN 46060

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Vonderschmitt Theatres

Previous Names: Wild Opera House

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Wilds Theatre

The Wild Opera House was built in 1895 by Leonard Wild. It launched November 25, 1895 with a live performance of “Charley’s Aunt”. Vaudeville was mixed into the live performance venue. By 1919, the Wild Opera House had largely transformed into a silent motion picture house.

The Wild Opera House made the transition to talkies using the tagline, “Where sound sounds best”. It was renamed Wilds Theatre in 1934 and closed as a movie theatre in 1936. From 1937 to 1943, it was used for a variety of special purpose live and some film events. In 1947, the operators of the Logan Theatre took on a five year lease or sublease with announced plans to renovate the Wild Opera House back to an operating feature film location. Those plans appear to have been scrapped. By 1957 it was operated by the Vonderschmitt Theatres chain.

In 1959, the city paid $5,000 to purchase the Opera House which was demolished that December to make way for a city parking lot which was still there in the 21st Century.

Contributed by dallasmovietheaters

Recent comments (view all 1 comments)

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on December 14, 2017 at 10:33 am

The Wild Opera House in Noblesville is listed in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. C. C. Curtis was Mgr. The theater was on the ground floor; ticket prices were 35 cents and 50 cents. There was both gas and electric illumination. Seating is listed as 800. The proscenium opening was 30 feet wide X 20 feet high, and the stage was 36 feet deep. There were 8 members of the house orchestra. There was a daily newspaper and a weekly. There were 4 hotels for touring show folk. The 1897 population was 10,000.

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