The Paramount Theatre is located in downtown

Abilene, Texas Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor County, Texas, Taylor and Jones County, Texas, Jones counties, Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan ar ...

at 352 Cypress Street. The Paramount was built in 1930 by H. O. Wooten, adjacent to his Hotel Wooten. The theatre opened on May 19, 1930, and the first film shown was ''

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''. On February 12, 1931,

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selected the Abilene Paramount, along with a few others in the Interstate Theatre chain, to exhibit the 1931 horror film ''

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'', a full two days before its

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premiere. The Paramount continued to operate as a

movie theater A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...

until the 1970s, when the decline of downtown Abilene resulted in declining box office revenue. The theater was closed in 1979 for the first time since its opening. The Abilene Preservation League formed the Paramount Committee to prevent the building from imminent demolition by working with the National Register of Historic Places. The Paramount was later restored with funding from Julia Matthews and the Dodge Jones Foundation in 1986. The Paramount currently features films, live theatre performances, 1,187 split-aisle seats, a Spanish-Moorish interior, and a domed ceiling with moving clouds and glittering stars. At the Paramount, visitors can catch performances featuring the Abilene Ballet Theatre, the Abilene Opera association, the Celebration Singers, the Abilene Children's Performing Arts Series, Abilene Community Band, the Classical Chorus of Abilene, and a large variety of professional and amateur shows. The venue also produces live theatrical shows. In 1993, the Paramount began putting together the annual Paramount Summer Musical. Every summer, for decades the theatre has put on productions casting local amateur actors, and employing some of the best musicians, choreographers, set designers, and costumers from the area. The theatre has also worked closely with all three local university theatre departments. In 2003, the Paramount began an annual children's show each January. And in 2016 the theatre began staging a play each September. The Paramount is best known as a movie house. The annual Paramount Film Series has shown hundreds of films since the relaunch of the theatre in 1987. In 2019, over 14,000 people came to see a movie at the Paramount. ParamountLobby

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{{Taylor County, Texas Buildings and structures in Abilene, Texas Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Tourist attractions in Taylor County, Texas National Register of Historic Places in Taylor County, Texas

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