Beacham Theatre
28°32′35″N 81°22′46″W / 28.543°N 81.379472°W
| Beacham Theatre | |
|---|---|
Exterior of venue (c.2016) | |
| Former names | Beacham Theatre (1921–1976; 2011–present) Great Southern Music Hall (1976–81) |
| General information | |
| Type | Theater |
| Architectural style | Commercial, Art Deco and Mediterranean Revival |
| Address | 46 N Orange Ave Orlando, FL 32801-2419 |
| Completed | December 9, 1921 |
| Renovated | 1936, 1953, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1988, 1992, 2000 |
| Client | Braxton Beacham Sr. |
| Owner | Beacham Theatre, LLC. (Missy Casscells and Frank Hamby) |
| Dimensions | |
| Other dimensions | 145 feet (44 m) across x 213.5 feet (65.1 m) deep |
| Technical details | |
| Structural system | Reinforced concrete and brick with stucco out-surface |
| Floor area | 30,965 square foot (2,876.7 m2) |
| Other information | |
| Seating capacity | 1,250 |
| Website | |
| Venue Website | |
The Beacham Theatre is a cinema built in 1921 by Braxton Beacham Sr. in the city of Orlando, Florida. The current address of the theater is 46 North Orange Avenue, and it is located at the southwest corner of Orange Avenue and Washington Street. The building's current lack of impressive architecture is offset by its significant cultural history. The Beacham Theatre was considered an important contributing structure when the Downtown Orlando historic district was created in 1980 and the building was granted local landmark status in 1987.
The Beacham was once part of the vaudeville circuit and hosted celebrity acts such as John Philip Sousa, the Ziegfeld Follies and W.C. Fields, whose signature was once visible inside a dressing room. In the eras of silent film and Classical Hollywood cinema, the Beacham was operated as a movie theater that used then-current state-of-the-art motion picture technology.
The Beacham, as it is currently named, has since been used as a series of concert venues and nightclubs thus saving it from demolition. The Beacham Theatre was once home to the internationally recognized late-night underground discotheque Aahz, a notable early component of the US electronic dance music movement in the early 1990s.