Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that can help answer the question.
Query: Can you tour the Beacham Theatre?
In 1975 Larry and Sherry Carpenter purchased the Beacham Building from then-owners, Betty Rubles Bray, and Burkett H. Bray Jr. A great-granddaughter of Braxton Beacham, Mrs. Bray, refused to sell the theater by itself without also selling the rest of the building as a package.[9] An extensive $250,000 remodeling and restoration followed that included stunning multi-colored Art Deco revival style graphics painted over the facade and a large multi-story mural of a saxophone and its open case painted on the rear of the theater that faced west and was clearly visible from nearby Interstate 4. Following the restoration the Carpenters opened Orlando's franchise location of The Great Southern Music Hall at the Beacham in 1976.[13] The 700-seat Great Southern Music Hall was a concert venue that hosted approximately 180 prominent national and regional acts at the Beacham. The Great Southern Music Hall was occasionally still used as a movie theater that presented world cinema and classic Hollywood films by film directors such as John Carpenter, Federico Fellini, and Mel Brooks during the week. John Lawson was the acting projectionist and served as stage director for concerts. As The Great Southern Music Hall, only about seven music shows were unprofitable. Nevertheless, Orlando's Great Southern Music Hall closed in 1981 due to the rising costs of hosting concerts for notable musical acts and competition from larger venues.[5][9][11]
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.
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]
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]
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.
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.
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]
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]
Roberta Branch Beacham died in 1980.
Interest in silent films began to diminish in 1929 and they were gradually phased out and moved into obsolescence. On Thursday evenings at the Beacham for the Bank Night promotion, $200 was raffled with prizes of $50. On Saturday, December 24, 1931, and on Wednesday, September 28, 1932, a brand new $325 Austin 7 Sport Roadster was given away. Vaudeville acts continued touring at the Beacham for several more years until approximately 1933. Homer Fuller served as manager of the Beacham during the end of the eras of silent films and vaudeville.
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]
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.
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]
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]
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.
By 1992 the future looked brighter for the Beacham Theatre when Mike Berry, staff writer, for The Orlando Sentinel wrote that, "The Beacham Theatre is the latest testament to reincarnation." Concerts were no longer being held in the auditorium during this time period and the Beacham Theatre was used exclusively as night club through 2010.
Braxton Beacham Jr., died in 1961.
Inside "Late Night" at the Beacham was always very dark and the auditorium was absolutely filthy. In contrast, initially the scene's "vibe" was pure and drugs such as MDMA that were available were relatively unadulterated. As time went on, the beloved Beacham was beautified and remodeled into Dekko's. While the Beacham itself was cleaned up, the overall "vibe" of Orlando's scene seemed to darken somewhat just as the quality of club drugs that were still available during that time became tainted.[54]
The Beacham website offers the following synopsis:[86]
The Aahz Reunion Tour launched in 1998 and as of 2016, reunions of Aahz "Late Night" occur nearly biannually and are frequently held in the Beacham Theatre.[54][58][50] "Late Night" reunions, however, now end promptly before 2:30a.m.
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.
In 1987 Brad Belletto and then-wife Lisa moved to Orlando from Louisiana. Brad Belletto, then owned a theatrical equipment manufacturing company and had formerly owned Moon Sound, a New Orleans sound and lighting company. The Bellettos, intent on overhauling the music scene in Orlando, were looking for a new venue following operation of a successful club in Baton Rouge. They found the Beacham Theatre and immediately fell in love with it. At that time, the Beacham was being subleased to Clark J, a local record producer, and a brief partnership was formed.
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]
The Beacham Theatre was constructed in 1921 by Braxton Beacham Sr., who had previously owned three other Orlando theaters[6] and had served as Mayor of Orlando during 1907.[5] In 1917 Beacham paid approximately $17,500–$20,000 for the property one block southwest of his stately residence on Jefferson Street after Orlando's citizens voted to pave the road to the cemetery instead of purchasing the old jail.[7] The property he purchased had formerly served as the jail for Orange County since about 1873.[8] With a $200,000 investment, the former jail building was torn down in 1919 and Beacham developed a series of connected building units along the west side of Orange Avenue between Washington Street and Oak Street (now Wall Street). The new building was then known as "Beacham's Block" and is now known the Beacham Building. The location of Beacham's theater was precisely where several condemned prisoners were executed by hanging.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14] According to local folklore, the Beacham Building is reportedly haunted.[13][15][16][17]
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]