Woodlawn Theatre

The Woodlawn Theatre is located in San Antonio, Texas, and is one of the few theaters remaining designed by architect John Eberson. Eberson’s only other work in San Antonio is the Majestic Theatre. The Woodlawn Theatre is designed in an art deco fashion, and was previously a prevalent movie theater, including hosting the world premiere of The Alamo in 1960. As of 2012, it is located in an area of San Antonio featuring buildings designed in art deco fashion known as the Deco District.^[1]

History

The Woodlawn Theatre opened in 1946 as an elegant venue for Hollywood films.^[2] In 1960, John Wayne hosted the world premiere of his film The Alamo at the Woodlawn.^[3] It continued to be an active movie house through the 1960s and 1970s, and was purchased by Santikos Theatres in 1975, but it eventually was forced to shut down.^[4] The building remained vacant and slowly deteriorated for a number of years, falling through the hands of many tenants, mostly small theater groups. In 1979, an acting group known as San Antonio Theater Center was housed there.^[5] In 1986, the Woodlawn premiered the laser-show tribute to Pink Floyd,^[6] while hosting a series of jazz and blues concerts. In 2005, the last temporary tenant, known as Actors Theater of San Antonio, vacated the property.^[5]

In 2006, Jonathan Pennington began leasing the property under the production company name Amphisphere Theatre Productions.^[5] With support from the local community, Pennington completely revamped and rebuilt major portions of the Woodlawn Theatre, turning it into a community theatre stage and hosting a number of Broadway-style shows.^[7] The Woodlawn Theatre continued to host mostly musical theatre productions during Pennington's tenure, and the production company was eventually renamed to Pennington Productions.^[8]

In 2012, Woodlawn Theatre Inc was formed and took primary residency in Woodlawn Theatre. The building is now owned by Kurt and Sherry Wehner.^[9] The Woodlawn Theatre's footprint expanded into an adjoining space which became a black box theater, and in 2014, that space became the home of the Classic Theatre of San Antonio.^[10][11] The neon marquee was restored in 2012 with the help of city funding,^[12] the lobby has been completely restored, and work continues on the outside of the building. The theater continues to showcase live theatrical productions with an emphasis on musical theatre.

In 2013, Woodlawn Theatre was designated a City of San Antonio Historic Landmark.^[13]

References