The Lerner Theatre was built in Elkhart in 1924 by Harry E Lerner and was later sold to the Warner family, who changed the name to “The Warner”. The Warner theatre name existed from 1931 to 1933, then was sold. It was named “The ELCO” until 2011, when it was returned to its original name, “The Lerner” and renovated into the venue you now see.
I found a black and white photo of what the Werner looked like in its heyday and recreated it in Acrylic paint on stretched canvas to bring back the era of the early 1930s, complete with the trolley. The electric car, now on display at the Ruthmere museum is also in the painting.
This painting was finished in September of 2015 and chosen as part of the exhibit of the “Juried Regional” at the Midwest Museum of American Art, from September until mid-December 2015.
As a young boy, I remember all the bright lights of the Palace Theatre in South Bend. All the best movies were there, including the Premier of the movie “Knute Rockne: All American”, starring Ronald Raegan as George Gipp (The Gipper), with Rudy Vallee, Bob Hope, Jane Wyman, Kate Smith and Pat O’Brian as Knute Rockne.. The theatre was built in 1922 and closed in the 1960’s. Several years later, it was saved from demolition and remodeled into a theatrical venue with the help of Mrs. Ella. M. Morris, from South Bend. It was renamed “The Morris Civic Auditorium” and later “The Morris Performing Arts Center” now focusing on Broadway Productions and name brand talent.
South Bend had five theatres in the 1960’s when I was growing up. I have also painted the State Theatre. The two of them and are popular when exhibiting in local shows. Since South Bend was the home of the Studebaker, I had to put one in the painting.
While exhibiting in Georgia, at one of the Arts Festivals, I had a print of a painting that I had previously sold. A customer liked it so much that they wanted a painting of it. Since I don’t paint identical paintings, except when someone wants several of them for gifts, such as a family home, in which I have painted as many as four. They went to all four siblings of a family.
We agreed to paint the FOX Theatre, but with a different view and a special car. The First Fox painting was “Singin’ in the Rain”. The second painting featured “The King and I”.
Located in the middle of Atlanta, Georgia the FOX Theatre, built and opened in 1929, with vaudeville and later cinema, now features Broadway Shows and Theatrical performances. Since the theatre has become an Icon to Atlanta, I felt it necessary to create a painting of the famous FOX.
The original painting was sold at the Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain Park, just east of Atlanta. The festival is one of the top-rated festivals in the country. Prints of the painting were popular through the years of exhibiting around the country, especially in Georgia. It was one of the first paintings where I highlighted the painting with rain and water reflections at night.
There was a time when I started painting neon signs in the paintings, so while I was in Chicago, I couldn’t help but to photograph the Chicago Theatre. Little did I know at the time, the hit movie “Chicago” would be released to the theatres within a year of when the painting was finished. The painting became the center of attention shortly thereafter. The movie came out in 2002 and has become one of my favorites, especially the music soundtrack.
The Chicago theatre, was built in 1921 for 4 million dollars, which included ornate architecture and beautiful murals above the stage and on the ceiling. The vertical “Chicago” sign outside measured six stories high.
The theatre closed in 1985 and was saved from demolition and reopened in 1986 with a gala performance by Frank Sinatra.
The Drive-in Theatres dwindled in numbers, as developers bought up the properties, I tried to capture the images of a few of those theatres. One of the few remaining theatres in Indiana, is the Tri-way in Plymouth, Indiana. It has 3 screens so they can show several movies at once, to bring in larger crowds.
This painting was done at a time before the recent remodeling a few years ago, which included the neon sign. I personally like the older sign, which I captured in the painting. There are a number of the cars you may have seen during the outdoor theatre era.
As you drove to the parking spot, the ground was raised in the front for easy visibility to see the movie. The pole next to the car held the speakers, which could be removed and placed inside the car, complete with volume control. Most people hung it on the window and then rolled it up as far as they could. The biggest problem was the failure to put the speaker back on the pedestal before leaving at the end of the movie, ripping the cord and taking the speaker with them. Many memories were made at the outdoor theatres. They had the concession stand in a building, which also housed the movie projector. Some even had playgrounds below the screen, for the parents to entertain their children before the start of the movie, although I never saw anyone use them.
