Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that answer the question.
Query: can you visit the Beacham Theatre?
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 late-night underground discotheque Aahz that is recognized internationally as a birthplace and critical component of the electronic dance music movement.
The late nights at the Beacham featured DJs, beat matching, rare and obscure dance music on vinyl records, intelligent lighting, and themed decor that at times included original paintings by local artist Rollo. The popularity of dancing throughout the night at the Beacham Theatre initially caught on slowly and many free passes were given out. Soon, the entry queue for "Late Night" snaked around the block.
The Live Entertainment era currently continues on stages at both The Beacham and partner The Social. Prominent national and international musical acts perform with fidelity to the countless shows by numerous acts that have previously held performances in the Beacham Theatre from the mid-1970s through the early-1990s.
The Beacham's auditorium features "square columns adorned with feathered capitals that climb gracefully to a high ceiling decorated with rectangles of intricate plasterwork."[1] When constructed, the theater was outfitted with draperies that covered the plaster walls. The draperies had "mild tan figures delicately woven into the broad white field with an occasional soft blue figure" that were selected by Mrs. Roberta Holland Beacham, wife of Braxton Beacham Sr.[18]
The Beacham website offers the following synopsis:[86]
The Beacham's "exploitation director" Frank H. Burns often designed and created large elaborate standing displays that decorated the facade and lobby of the theater in order to advertise new film features.[26] The iconic displays that Burns created for the Beacham Theatre were sometimes complete with coordinated costumes for the employees.
The Beacham Theatre was granted local historic landmark status on September 21, 1987, for its historical significance to the community.[2] Between each new identity for the theater and the occasional concert, the Beacham Theatre sat unoccupied and empty.[42]
The final all-night Aahz-themed events (The Return of Aahz) were held at the Beacham between September 7, 1991, and July 4, 1992, and lasted until Dekko's opened. However, "Aahz" was the theme that really stuck with patrons and among participants is still used as a nickname for "Late Night" reunion tour events and even for the Beacham Theatre itself.[54] "Lift" night soon commenced in the Beacham Building's north-most unit, then called Barbarella's. The Beacham Building's north-most corner unit was once called Beach Club where Kimball Collins was resident DJ in the mid-1980s.[60] "Late Night" in the Beacham Theatre returned when Unity presented "Welcome (Back) to Late Night" on October 30, 1993. "Late Night's" Reunion at the Beacham was then initiated at Dekko's.
Other short-lasting entities followed such as a tourist-oriented laser tag business. The Orlando Sentinel critic Howard Means, reminded readers, that the 1965 installation of "then-new Cinerama equipment at the Beacham was the latest testimony to the faith in the future of Downtown Orlando" and that, "The Beacham had long been seen as a bellwether of the health of the center city." Upon further reflection, he lamented, "that the Beacham is simply a microcosm of modern downtown realities." Means editorialized, by 1982 "The present state of the Beacham was the latest testament to decay," and, "In the way of dying enterprises, the Beacham's reincarnations became increasingly more short-lived."[13]
On December 9, 1921, Orlando's premier vaudeville and movie house opened by showing The Wonderful Thing, starring Norma Talmadge, a Pathé News newsreel, and Buster Keaton's The Boat.[7][24] The Beacham Theatre was originally the only independent theater in Orlando.[18] However, the next year, in 1922, Beacham leased his theater to Mack Sparks of the Sparks Theater Company chain.[10][13]
Professional wrestlers Rob Van Dam, Masato Tanaka, Rhyno, Super Crazy, The Dupps, Yoshihiro Tajiri, Tommy Dreamer, and Simon Diamond had a match in the Beacham Theatre.
Manager Harry Vincent started several promotions at the Beacham Theatre in the summer months of the mid-1920s that included Bank Night, Amateur Night, and Country Store Night, which was supported by dozens of local merchants. An advertisement for the Beacham in 1925 says, "Don't talk about the hot weather. Beat the heat in a Beacham seat. 'Kum Keep Kumfy Kool at the Beacham' is known to many and you won't enjoy yourself until you too get into the line that leads to comfort."[25]
Late in 1988 the lease for the Beacham's theater was secured by the Bellettos under Entertainment Investments International.[45][46] Several of Lisa's cousins relocated to Orlando to help out with the task of preparing the Beacham for its opening and Brad's mother Bev tended the bar through the entire duration of the lease. The Bellettos also hosted an annual full-service Christmas dinner for hundreds of the city's homeless population at the Beacham Theatre with food donated by Orlando's high-end restaurants and businesses.[46]
Braxton Beacham Jr., died in 1961.
The senior Braxton Beacham died in 1924 after a long illness, and Roberta Holland Beacham died soon after in 1926. Their estate and real property were left to their children, Norma K. Hughes, Roberta Augusta Rogers, Braxton Beacham Jr., and his wife Roberta Branch Beacham.[21]
In August 1937 the Orlando Police Department raided the Beacham Theatre. All of the equipment for the Bank Night marketing promotion was seized after authorities declared it to be a lottery.[5][7][21]
In May 1989 the Beacham Theatre was sold by Oscar Juarez for $1.8 million to a property management firm owned by Longwood businesswoman Missy Casscells and her husband Frank Hamby.[48]
During the 1970s Orlando, like many U.S. cites, was experiencing symptoms of urban decay. The rush from the city to the suburbs affected nearly all of the city's businesses. As an effect of the exodus, each of Downtown Orlando's movie theaters closed.[4][7] Dick Gabel and John Prine were serving as projectionists at several of the theaters.[37] Following a decline in attendance, by 1974 the Beacham Theatre and Florida State Theaters in general were primarily showing exploitation films and B-movie action films.[11] The next year, H. A. Tedder, who was the Orlando executive manager at long-time lessee Florida State Theaters, made the decision that The Beacham Theatre would cease operating as a first-run movie cinema.[11] After showing a Sunday double-feature of Return of the Street Fighter, and The Scavengers, the Beacham Theatre's manager, McKinley Howard, closed the theater's doors as a first-run film cinema for the last time on September 28, 1975.[38] Florida State Theaters remained responsible for paying the monthly lease of $2700 until the theater was sold.[11]
Beacham's Building is divided into seven rental units using wood frame, brick walls, different facades, and paint. The theater is the south-most unit. The two-story Beacham Theatre was constructed in 1921 in a simple 20th Century Commercial Style. The structure is constructed of reinforced concrete and brick with stucco out-surface. Utilization of wood in the construction was minimized.[18]
Roberta Branch Beacham died in 1980.
After an extensive remodel, CinemaScope equipment was introduced at the "New" Beacham Theatre in 1954 with the addition of stereophonic sound, new projection lenses, and a wider screen.[32] CinemaScope had its debut at the Beacham on January 7, 1954, for a two-week showing of the film The Robe.[33] Vernon D. Hunter retired after 20 years as manager of the Beacham Theater. Walther Colby became the executive director of several Orlando theaters including the Beacham.[21]
In 1933 following a bitter lawsuit against Orlando Enterprises over nonpayment of the lease for the building that had been originally negotiated with the senior Braxton Beacham in 1924, the theater was closed for almost three weeks. $8000 in back taxes on Beacham's building was due. Beacham Jr. claimed the closure was deliberate and malicious and sued for $100,000. Two separate judgments were entered against Orlando Enterprises Inc. for $2291.67 each and a payment agreement was reached. Litigation was then withdrawn.[21]
In 2011 leases for the Beacham Theatre were renewed by John SanFelippo and George Maltezos, along with Gerard Mitchell and Michael McRaney, who leased the adjacent unit. Their partnership is named 46/54 North Orange Ave, LLC, and both units are leased from building owners Margaret Casscells and Frank Hamby, of Beacham Theater, LLC.
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.[1][2][3][4] 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.[5]
Orlando's Chamber of Commerce held open forum meetings at the Beacham Theatre on Sundays during the winter months of 1971-1973 under the direction of W. F. Blackman.[21]