![]() Mary’s, took over when his parents returned once again to the Mediterranean the following decade. John Santikos began learning the business from the ground up and, after graduating from St. Civil unrest drove him and his family back to San Antonio, where he opened the Olmos Theater on San Pedro in the 1940s. He sold his San Antonio interests in favor of distributing movies in his homeland. The following year, Louis Santikos returned to Greece and had three children, including John. He then built the luxurious Palace Theater San Antonio in 1923 and it wasn’t long before he began opening more theaters to accommodate the growing population. In 1918, San Antonio business leaders came calling for Santikos to run the downtown Rialto. The early short films were usually combined with live acts. It all began with Greek immigrant Louis Santikos saving enough money to buy the Rex Theatre nickelodeon in downtown Waco in 1911, when the concept of moving pictures on film was only about 16 years into development. We pride ourselves in providing the best in cinematic presentation and being the first exhibitor in San Antonio to bring the best in technology to our moviegoers is essential.” “It’s important to get each advance into the theatres as soon as possible. “Things have certainly changed from presenting vaudeville shows to now this awe-inspiring presentation of digital film, IMAX, Xpand 3-D and D-BOX motion coded seats, which are a truly immersive affair,” Santikos says. ![]() ![]() If the future of the leadership at the company is unknown, its future in movies seems a sure thing. ![]() At 84, he has no successor to keep the theaters a family-run business but also no plans to retire. John Santikos, like his father before him, never tires of reinventing the way customers experience movies. There are also gourmet burgers and pizza, craft beer ordered at your seat, dining rooms and even a gelato cafe. Some theaters have reserved seating, seats that move in conjunction with select films, 3-D that keeps getting better, and audio techniques that further transport the audience into the movie. Look a little closer though and patrons will find cutting edge concepts, technology and a glimpse of the future at what will soon be eight San Antonio theaters and two in Houston. And the smell of popcorn wafts across the lobby like a salty, buttery promise of a two-hour escape. Details of the lobby mimic classic theater styles usually found in the rare, restored historic theaters. Ticket sellers and takers, concession staff and the clean up crew all sport red bowties and white shirts. Movies at Santikos Theaters aren’t quite like they were when the first opened 101 years ago, and yet they are. Once in front of the silver screen, customers might don 3-D glasses, order up a burger and fries or catch their seat rumbling with the film’s action. The family of Athan and Helen, including their daughters Olympia and Marina, Olympia’s husband George Crist and their son Athan, owned and operated the theatre through a number of name changes – The Rivoli, Downtown Cinema and Downtown Family Cinema.Walking into one of Santikos Theaters seven San Antonio locations, it’s not uncommon to see a crowd with beers in hand cheering at a televised Spurs games or to find a group shooting pool. He wooed her, they married, and eventually they purchased the building. He developed a spark for Helen, the piano player for silent films at the Bijou Theatre. Prakas, a Greek immigrant, began operating a luncheonette and confectionary in the retail portion of the building. 600 seats for Ladies and Children, Matinees 5 cents, Nights Everybody 10 cents.” In 1929 Athan G. In 1911 advertisements appeared in The Bridgeport Post newspaper for the Bijou Theatre, which was building a reputation for “High Class Vaudeville and Pictures, Three Shows Daily, Saturday and Holidays Four Shows. He taught waltz, polka, tap and ballet until his death in 1950. Quilty, a master dance instructor, conducted his College of Dancing within the two-story ballroom area. In 1910 Peter Dawe leased, operated and eventually bought the Bijou Theatre. The modified plan included a two-story ballroom above. However, during construction, the plans for an opera house were converted into a movie house in response to the growing popularity of silent films at the time. Southey to design a three-story commercial building to include an opera house and retail store. Ashmun purchased the property, located at 269-275 Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport. The Bijou Theatre is the oldest building in America that opened as a movie and live performance space and is still operating as a movie theater and live entertainment venue.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |