The Landers Theatre in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

, built in 1909, is the second oldest and largest civic

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

operation in

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. It has been in continuous use either as a legitimate

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

or 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 ...

since it opened. In 1928, the theater became the 35th facility in the world to acquire

sound film A sound film is a Film, motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, bu ...

. It was designed by architects Carl Boller and Brother in association with Hickenlively and Mark of Springfield in a French-influenced

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

. It is located in the Walnut Street Commercial Historic District. The theater is unusual in its use of wood for nearly all structural framing, in contrast with the steel and cast iron more usually employed in its time. D.J. Landers, the original owner, was in the lumber business, providing a possible explanation. Where steel is employed, it uses unusual bonded steel and masonry assemblies. The theater was designed for live performance, with a large stage and supporting spaces. The theater's street facade employs Missouri

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

piers with

terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

cornices, cartouches, quoins and parapets. Infill between these decorative elements is brick. A fire in 1920 completely gutted the stage area, but the remainder was saved by the fireproof

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

curtain. Subsequent renovations moved the

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

pit behind the curtain and raised the boxes. Heavy clear-span beams replaced columns supporting the balconies, and the

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation, " Jim Crow" being a pejorative term for an African American. The last of the ...

-era ticket booth for "coloreds" and its separate entrance were removed. From March 17–September 22, 1961,

NBC-TV The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

carried a live

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

variety program from the theater, ''

Five Star Jubilee ''Five Star Jubilee'' is an American country music variety show carried by National Broadcasting Company, NBC-TV from March 17–September 22, 1961. The live program, a Spin-off (media), spin-off of ABC-TV's ''Ozark Jubilee, Jubilee USA'', wa ...

'', on Friday nights; the first network

color television Color television (American English) or colour television (British English) is a television transmission technology that also includes color information for the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set. It improv ...

series to originate outside of New York City or Hollywood. First-run films continued to be shown on the other six nights of the week.Terry, Dickson "The Show that Put a Town on the Map" (August 6, 1961), ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'', p. 8 Landers was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1977, significant for the preserved

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

Renaissance, Napoleon

architectural style An architectural style is a classification of buildings (and nonbuilding structures) based on a set of characteristics and features, including overall appearance, arrangement of the components, method of construction, building materials used, for ...

. A number of major restoration projects have been undertaken, and the most recent restorations have been cited with awards from the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

. It is currently the home of the Springfield Little Theatre.

Notes

References

* *Terry, Dickson "The Show that Put a Town on the Map" (August 6, 1961), ''TV Guide'', p. 8

External links

Springfield Little Theatre
{{National Register of Historic Places in Missouri Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Missouri Cinemas and movie theaters in Missouri Former cinemas in the United States Culture of Springfield, Missouri Buildings and structures in Springfield, Missouri Boller Brothers buildings Tourist attractions in Springfield, Missouri Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri Theatres completed in 1909 1909 establishments in Missouri National Register of Historic Places in Greene County, Missouri