King Opera House
427 Main Street,
Van Buren,
AR
72956
427 Main Street,
Van Buren,
AR
72956
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Related Websites
King Opera House (Official)
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Malco Theatres Inc., Paramount Pictures Inc.
Functions: Concerts, Live Performances
Previous Names: Van Buren Theatre, Bob Burns Theatre
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
479.474.2426
Manager:
479.474.7767
Nearby Theaters
Col. Henry B. King opened the King Opera House on October 18, 1901 with a production of “Faust”. On March 14, 1914 it was gutted by a fire. It reopened in February 1919 as the Van Buren Theatre, presenting movies & vaudeville. It was remodeled in 1937 and reopened by Malco Theatres as the Bob Burns Theatre on June 26, 1937. By 1941 it was operated by Paramount Pictures Inc. through their subsidiary M.A. Lightman. It was closed as a movie theatre in 1974.
In 1979 it was purchased by the City and now operates as the King Opera House.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
It was the Bob Burns Theater in 1963, when it was part of the Malco Theater chain.
This theater was listed in the 1901 edition of Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guide as the Van Buren Opera House. A web site listing supposedly haunted buildings in Arkansas gives 1901 as the year the theater was built, but it doesn’t name a source for the information.
The theater had been remodeled outside probably in the 1930’s to look like a typical small theater of the times. It had a large marquee and a large vertical neon sign. I was never inside so I don’t know what may have been done to modernize it.
It was named for Bob Burns, a Van Buren native son, who had a national reputation as a comedian. He invented the bazooka, a musical instrument that gave its name to the weapon. He used Van Buren in his comedy routines unlike many performers who used fictional town names. Today Van Buren is doing its best to forget Bob Burns.
Malco ran it as a second-run A movie theater. I seem to remember that it did show double features occasionally.
All signs of the Bob Burns theater have been removed. It has been restored to what apparently was its original configuration. It is used for occasionaly live performances.
An interior view can be seen here.
1949 photo added courtesy of the AmeriCar The Beautiful Facebook page.
The remodeled and renamed Bob Burns Theatre opened in 1937, as noted in this item from The Film Daily of July 3:
The Bob Burns theatre reopened on June 26th, 1937 and disappeared from listings in 1978. Grand opening ad posted.