Transcribed article: Defunct Theater Was Once Grand. By Roselind K. Ellingsworth (A Member of the Star's Staff) It was a warm June evening in 1919 when the Newman theater at 1114 Main street opened its doors to the throngs of well-dressed Kansas Citians who had purchased tickets to see "The Roaring Road," a silent motion picture starring Wallace Reid. "There was such a crowd my wife and I sneaked down the back alley and went in the stage door," recalled Arthur H. Cole who was office manager of Paramount-Famous-Laskey corporation (now Paramount Film Distributing corporation) at the time. Sold Out in Advance. "It was quite a night for Kansas City," he said. All of the seats had been sold in advance and some people had bought tickets who had never been in a motion picture house before." But the Newman was a different kind of motion picture house - it was elegant. Writers at the time called it a "magnificent edifice." The decor and architecture were patterned after an Italian ducal palace." The Newman, later renamed the Paramount when that film company decided it needed a change in 1947, was beyond all dreams of local residents. It was compared to the Missouri in St. Louis and the Oriental in Chicago and the Metropolitan in Los Angeles. Women attending performances at the old theater were awed by the beauty of the Italian tapestry wall hangings. The magnificence of the marble walls and flooring was overwhelming. Never before had so many conveniences and luxuries been offered in a motion picture theater in Kansas City. There was a fully equipped nursery with a full-time maid. The gentlemen attending features could make use of a club room on the lower level equipped with massive lounging chairs. Promenade Behind Balcony. A salon promenade decorated with marble statues and elaborate stained glass windows was behind the balcony. On the floor were the men's restrooms and the ladies's "comfort room." It was a theater no one could be ashamed to attend. "Oh, the Newman became quite the social meeting place," said Cole recently. "I tell you one thing, you never attended a feature there in your shirt sleeves." In 1915 a 99-year lease was signed by the builder and operator, the Newman Theater company. Written into the lease were stipulations that the building must be designed so that it could easily be converted for mercantile uses. It seems one of the families leasing the land was afraid motion pictures wouldn't last. The Newman, or the Paramount as it is now known, closed indefinitely August 1 with 47 years left on the lease. During its life the old theater provided Kansas City with some of the finest filmed and live entertainment. The images of such well known personalities as Rudolph Valentine, Mary Pickford, John Barrymore, Jean Harlow, Fatty Arbuckle, Gloria Swanson, Charles Ray and Marguerite Clark appeared on the silent silver screen. Sound Broadened Scope. Leo. F. Forbstein, who later became musical director at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, conducted its symphonic orchestra from the 14 by 40-foot orchestra pit. Clara Bow, Bette Davis, Greta Garbo, Al Jolson, William Powell and Gary Cooper appeared after the theater was wired for sound. "We always presented the best features available," said George Baker who was manager of the theater during the late Twenties and early Thirties. "A show never played at that theater for less than a week - live or filmed. Lillian Roth sang some of her torch songs on stage at the Newman. Victor Herbert was a guest conductor in 1923. And there were always surprise appearances from celebrities stopping over for the night in the city. "The Santa Fe Chief used to lay over here at night," explained Baker. "Once in a while Gary Cooper or Richard Arlen would stop in for a few minutes. They were impromptu things but they always thrilled the crowds and the Newman always had crowds." While Baker was manager of the theater he remembers receiving calls every Saturday night from the city transit company. "Twelfth and Main streets on Saturday night was the place to be then," said Baker. "It was a big night for us - we were always packed. So the transit company would call before the last show and see how large our crowd was so they could send the right number of street cars - sometimes the street cars would line up for two blocks." The elegant Newman was a Kansas City showplace. Local residents would point out with pride the great chandelier suspended from the center dome - a chandelier 20 feet long, 12 feet wide and lighted by 220 candles. The hand painted murals decorating the center dome and the side walls of the auditorium were acclaimed as true works of art featuring cherubs and Grecian figures. But now the Paramount theater looks as if the duke after whose palace it was decorated list the motion picture palace to taxes. The murals, faded and soiled, are marked with patches of white plaster. The tapestries hang limp and, in places torn. The marble lacks luster and someone has made off with the large chandelier, leaving in its place only a large naked light bulb. When the Newman opened in 1919 it was the city's finest and attracted crowed just to see its ornate interior. Kansas City Times, August 19, 1967.
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