Woodlawn Theatre
Woodlawn Theatre Logo
Address1920 Fredericksburg Rd
San Antonio, Texas 78201-4439
United States
Owner1920 Woodlawn Partners, LLC
OperatorWonder Theatre
DesignationCity of San Antonio Historic Landmark
Capacity340[1]
Current usecommunity theatre
Construction
OpenedAugust 17, 1945 (1945-08-17)
ReopenedSeptember 6, 2006 (2006-09-06)
Rebuilt2006, 2012
ArchitectJohn Eberson
Website
Venue Website

The Woodlawn Theatre is located in San Antonio, Texas, and is one of the few theaters remaining designed by architect John Eberson. Eberson also designed the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio. 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.[2][3]

History

An exterior photo of the Woodlawn Theatre, taken July 4, 2009

The Woodlawn Theatre opened August 17, 1945 as an elegant venue for Hollywood films.[4] On October 24, 1960, John Wayne hosted the world premiere of his film The Alamo at the Woodlawn.[5][6] 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.[7] 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.[8] In 1986, the Woodlawn premiered the laser-show tribute to Pink Floyd[9] while hosting a series of jazz and blues concerts.[10] In 2005, the last temporary tenant, known as Actors Theater of San Antonio, vacated the property.[8]

In 2006, Jonathan Pennington began leasing the property under the production company name Amphisphere Theatre Productions.[8] 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.[11] The Woodlawn Theatre continued to host mostly musical theatre productions during Pennington's tenure, and the production company was eventually renamed to Pennington Productions.[12]

In January 2012, the production company Woodlawn Theatre Inc was formed and took residency in Woodlawn Theatre on March 1, 2012.[13] The building was then owned by Kurt and Sherry Wehner, but in May 2018 was sold to 1920 Woodlawn Partners, a limited liability company who purchased the entire city block including the Woodlawn.[14] 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.[15] The neon marquee was restored in 2012 with the help of city funding,[16] the lobby has been completely restored, and work continues on the outside of the building. Woodlawn Theater Inc 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.[17][18]

On July 13, 2022, it was announced that Woodlawn Theatre Inc had made plans to move out of the facility sometime in early 2023 and rename their production company.[19][20] In September 2022 it was announced that the production company would be renamed to Wonder Theatre and that the building itself would retain its former name.[21] As of September 2022, it is unclear as to what the status of the theatre will be after that.

References

  1. ↑ "About Us — Woodlawn Theatre". Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Welcome - Deco District". Archived from the original on January 1, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
  3. ↑ Velasquez Reynald, Edgar (May 31, 2019). "Deco Districts and Community Identity: Historic Designation and Preservation of Art Deco Architecture". StMU Scholars Project. Archived from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Woodlawn Theatre". The Paisano. The Paisano Educational Trust. November 19, 2012. Archived from the original on November 7, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Woodlawn Theatre - San Antonio". Arts America. February 22, 1999. Archived from the original on November 11, 2011. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
  6. ↑ Allen, Paula (October 7, 2017). "Woodlawn theater made big changes to show 'The Alamo'". San Antonio Express-News. Archived from the original on January 31, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
  7. ↑ "History". Woodlawn Theatre. Archived from the original on July 30, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
  8. 1 2 3 Sanchez, Sandra Lowe (September 17, 2006). "Putting dreams into action - San Antonio Business Journal". Bizjournals.com. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Pink Floyd Laser Spectacular schedule, dates, events, and tickets". AXS.com. Archived from the original on May 19, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  10. ↑ Tuccio-Koonz, Linda (March 5, 2016). "Pink Floyd Laser Spectacular at Hartford's Infinity Hall". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on July 21, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
  11. ↑ Nicholas, Benjamin (September 19, 2006). "Woodlawn Paradiso". sacurrent.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
  12. ↑ Edwards, Trudy (November 22, 2011). "Pennington Productions True San Antonio Life". truesanantoniolife.wordpress.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
  13. ↑ Martin, Deborah (January 12, 2012). "Woodlawn Theatre Partnership Dissolving". San Antonio Express-News. Hearst Corporation. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  14. ↑ Martin, Deborah (May 15, 2018). "Woodlawn Theatre block has new ownership". San Antonio Express-News. Hearst Corporation. Archived from the original on May 16, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  15. ↑ Martin, Deborah (August 7, 2013). "Local arts scene moving and growing". San Antonio Express-News. Hearst Corporation. Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  16. ↑ Lloyd, Ryan (October 20, 2012). "A 'sign' of neighborhood revitalization at Woodlawn Theatre". KSAT-TV. Archived from the original on October 3, 2015. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  17. ↑ "City of San Antonio Official Website - Historic Preservation". Archived from the original on February 24, 2014. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
  18. ↑ "City of San Antonio Designated Local Historic Landmarks" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on February 16, 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  19. ↑ Martin, Deborah (July 13, 2022). "Woodlawn Theatre troupe relocating to old Santikos Bijou space at Wonderland of the Americas mall". San Antonio Express-News. Archived from the original on July 14, 2022.
  20. ↑ Gasti, Rasika; Wilson, Andrew (July 13, 2022). "Woodlawn Theatre moving into old Bijou Theater space, changing name". KSAT-TV. Archived from the original on July 16, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
  21. ↑ Wilson, Andrew (September 20, 2023). "Woodlawn Theatre changing name to Wonder Theatre". KSAT-TV. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
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