Opening Night Program

A 1972 replica of the opening night program. Tampa theatre opened on October 15, 1926 with our first feature, the silent film "The Age of Cads," a Paramount picture.

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The evening’s printed program featured an exhibit catalog for the many sculptures around the theater. A journalist noted, “The theater began to fill long before the program started, and the lobby, foyers, mezzanines and parlors, with their antiques and colorful decorations were the centers of much admiration. Expressions of praise were heard on all sides as Tampans viewed for the first time the new million-dollar theater which the Consolidated Amusements, Inc., has built for the city.”

Opening night’s program began with an invocation by Reverend Willis G. Clark, rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. Judge Raleigh Petteway, a popular speaker about town, was master of ceremonies. Director of public relations for Publix Theatres (and mayor of Jacksonville) John T. Alsop introduced the leadership of Consolidated Amusements. Hometown Mayor Perry G. Wall spoke about the educational value of movies and accepted the theater as if it was a gift to the people of Tampa. John Ingram’s twenty-piece orchestra played Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture.” A scenic film was followed by a novelty sing-along, “I’m Betting on You,” played by organist Eddie Weaver on the Mighty Wurlitzer Theater Organ. Soprano Leonora Cori enchanted the audience with her renditions of “Care Nome” and a ballad and received a “storm of applause.” The program culminated in The Ace of Cads, a feature film with leads Adolphe Menjou and Alice Joyce. A brief two-reel comedy concluded the evening’s program.