Roxy Theatre, also known as The Roxy, is a live-action performance theatre located in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta, Canada Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to t ...

. It was originally designated as a

movie theatre 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 ...

, but was eventually converted into a live-action performance venue for the

Theatre Network Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

. The original theatre opened on October 13, 1938 and was destroyed by a fire on January 13, 2015. A new theatre was constructed and opened in its original location on April 14, 2022.

History

The original theatre was designed by William G. Blakey and built by I.F.Shacker of Hanna. It was managed by Bill Wilson, the son of a

Famous Players Famous Players Limited Partnership, DBA Famous Players, is a Canadian-based subsidiary of Cineplex Entertainment. As an independent company, it existed as a film exhibitor and cable television service provider. Famous Players operated numerous m ...

theatre manager. It was considered luxurious for its time as it had air conditioning, spring seating, and extra legroom. In 1941, the theatre was leased to Odeon Theatres of Canada. After Odeon's lease ran out, the cinema was operated as a part of Inner City Cinemas along with the Avenue Theatre and Varscona Theatre. Inner City Cinemas ran a calendar program that ran movies for three days first at one, then the next, then the next cinema. Famous Players leased all 3 theatres from Inner City, which ended their unique venture. When Famous gave up the lease, the Roxy became The $2 Roxy, operating as a discount theatre with all shows $2, operated by Magic Lantern Theatres, which also had their offices in the retail space in the front of the building. In 1989, the building was taken over by the Theatre Network and converted to a live-theatre venue. A fire at the theatre was called in to the

Edmonton Fire Department Edmonton Fire Rescue Services (also Edmonton Fire and Rescue Services) is the fire department for the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The Edmonton Fire Department began as a volunteer fire corps in 1891 and the first full department was cre ...

just before 4am on January 13, 2015. Firefighters were unable to control the blaze and the building was destroyed. As of June 2015, the cause of the fire remains unknown. The Theatre Network had planned to open a new show the night of the fire and had to find alternate venues for its shows. More than seven years after the fire, a new theatre reopened in its original location on April 14, 2022.

References

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External links

Roxy Theatre by the Edmonton Historical BoardTheatre Network
Theatres in Edmonton 1938 establishments in Alberta Theatres completed in 1938