The Crescent Theater is a single-screen

movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

located in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

. The theater mainly shows

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

and

arthouse cinema An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primaril ...

, though several mainstream films have been included. It also operates as the home of local cinema and film competitions, and has been used for music and

improvisational comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...

. It was first opened in 1885 as the Crescent Theater for

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

entertainment. In the intervening years, the building became a cinema and later was used for restaurants, before being reopened in October 2008 by Max Morey, the theater's owner and operator.

Background

The Crescent Theater first opened at 208 Dauphin Street in Mobile in 1885, offering vaudeville and

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

shows. In 1912, it was converted to show

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

s. In the late 20th century, the building was used for several restaurants, and by 2006, it was operating as Derry's Ole Tyme Cafe. It suffered damage that year when a neighboring bar, Monsoon's, caught fire. The building was later rented to Max Morey, who reopened as the Crescent Theater on October 31, 2008. Morey had first visited the city in 1992 and, according to the ''

Press-Register The ''Press-Register'' (known from 1997 to 2006 as the ''Mobile Register'') is a thrice-weekly newspaper serving the southwest Alabama counties of Mobile and Baldwin. The newspaper is a descendant of one founded in 1813, making the ''Press-Regi ...

'', "vowed that he was going to save his money and build a movie theater there." The theater was successful, and has been credited with revitalizing downtown Mobile. In 2012, it nearly shuttered when costs mounted for a switch to digital projection, but a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

raised over $84,000 to keep the theater operating. In 2017, it again faced closure when its rent rose, but met its $72,000 goal to stay open. The theater is financially supported by the Crescent Theater Film Society, a

nonprofit group A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

. The theater was ranked the "coolest movie theater" in Alabama by ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

''.

References

External links

Official website
*{{Facebook, CrescentTheater Cinemas and movie theaters in Alabama 1885 establishments in Alabama Buildings and structures in Mobile, Alabama Theatres in Alabama Theatres completed in 1885 Tourist attractions in Mobile, Alabama