When the Twentieth Century Theater opened in 1941, art deco was on the decline. Yet that’s the design style that was used for this Cincinnati movie palace. Today it’s a mixed use facility where you might catch a live stage show or even attend a wedding or corporate event.
Located in the city’s Oakley neighborhood, it fell out of use in the early eighties and suffered decline before its rescue from ruin. The lobby is gorgeous and features a sweeping staircase to the balcony as well as a nice bar. The sidewalk facing ticket booth is still there but not in use.
They did a nice job of transforming the theater into a versatile space where comfortable theater seats can be easily removed to make way for table seating, The stage isn’t huge but it was a great size for the Sean of the South show I saw earlier this month.
But the true marvel of this theater is its exterior appearance. It is a landmark like none other with its awe inspiring marquee and gorgeous larger than life mural paintings of old time cinema greats.
There’s a nice green space across the street and the theater is clearly well loved. My only complaint is that the parking lot is minuscule and there is no parking garage in the neighborhood. There is street parking and it’s a safe neighborhood for walking or you could make it even easier and Uber there.
We are probably lucky that the 20th Century Theater has lived to see the 21st century. Seeing a show here felt like a great gift and I couldn’t help but think about what these walls would say if they could talk.
They have done a great job of marrying the old and new and celebrating the building’s character while making it relevant for a new century.
Go see a show there if you can! You can learn more at their website. Incidentally, this was Cincinnati’s first air conditioned movie theater. I recently told you about the first air conditioned building in Wyoming. Read that story here.
