The Woodlawn Theatre is located in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, and is one of the few theaters remaining designed by architect

John Eberson John Adolph Emil Eberson (January 2, 1875 – March 5, 1954) was an Austrian-American architect best known for the development and promotion of movie palace designs in the atmospheric theatre style. He designed over 500 theatres in his lifetime, e ...

. Eberson also designed the

Majestic Theatre Majestic Theatre or Majestic Theater may refer to: Australia * Majestic Theatre, Adelaide, former name of a theatre in King William Street, Adelaide, built 1916, now demolished *Majestic Theatre, Launceston, a former cinema in Tasmania designed by ...

in San Antonio. The Woodlawn Theatre is designed in an

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

fashion, and was previously a prevalent movie theater, including hosting the world premiere of ''

The Alamo The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Anto ...

'' 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.

History

The Woodlawn Theatre opened August 17, 1945 as an elegant venue for

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

films. On October 24, 1960,

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...

hosted the world premiere of his film ''The Alamo'' at the Woodlawn. It continued to be an active movie house through the 1960s and 1970s, and was purchased by

Santikos Theatres Santikos Entertainment (formerly Santikos Theatres) is an American movie theater and entertainment center chain based in San Antonio, Texas. The company was founded in 1911 by Greek entrepreneur Louis Santikos and was owned and operated by his son ...

in 1975, but it eventually was forced to shut down. 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. In 1986, the Woodlawn premiered the laser-show tribute to

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

while hosting a series of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

concerts. In 2005, the last temporary tenant, known as Actors Theater of San Antonio, vacated the property. In 2006, Jonathan Pennington began leasing the property under the production company name Amphisphere Theatre Productions. 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. The Woodlawn Theatre continued to host mostly

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

productions during Pennington's tenure, and the production company was eventually renamed to Pennington Productions. In January 2012, the production company Woodlawn Theatre Inc was formed and took residency in Woodlawn Theatre on March 1, 2012. The building was then owned by Kurt and Sherry Wehner, but in May 2018 was sold to 1920 Woodlawn Partners, a

limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a ...

who purchased the entire city block including the Woodlawn. The Woodlawn Theatre's footprint expanded into an adjoining space which became a

black box theater A black box theater is a simple performance space, typically a square room with black walls and a flat floor. The simplicity of the space allows it to be used to create a variety of configurations of stage and audience interaction. The black ...

, and in 2014, that space became the home of the Classic Theatre of San Antonio. The neon marquee was restored in 2012 with the help of city funding, 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. 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. 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. As of September 2022, it is unclear as to what the status of the theatre will be after that.

References

{{San Antonio Theatres in San Antonio Cinemas and movie theaters in Texas John Eberson buildings