| Barrymore Theatre | |
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Built in 1926 |
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| Architect | Frederic J. Klein and H.C. Alford |
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The Barrymore Theatre is located at 2090 Atwood Avenue on the east side of Madison, Wisconsin. The theatre has featured everything from music, movies, and masques to parties, porn, and puppet shows.
The Barrymore Theatre, known as The Eastwood at the time, opened on December 28, 1929, and had a capacity of 980. In 1930, a Kilgen theatre organ "opus 4420," size 2/8, was installed. Designed by architects Frederic J. Klein and H. C. Alford, the building has retained its Italian Renaissance style. Nonetheless, it has had many incarnations over the years. The Eastwood was later known as The Atwood, and then in the 1970s it became The Cinema.[1] The Cinema was a family theatre showing cartoons and Disney films. Eventually, it only showed cartoons on weekends and X-Rated movies the rest of the week. At this point, the theatre began to look rundown, much like the surrounding neighborhood. In the late 1980s, Richard Slone and Tom Peterson decided to rescue the theatre (and hopefully the neighborhood) by refurbishing The Cinema, renaming it The Barrymore Theatre. They purchased the building and the three attached storefronts and turned them into a positive neighborhood landmark. Opening in July 1987, The Barrymore Theatre is now owned and operated by SARA (Schenk-Atwood Revitalization Association), a non-profit organization run by Madisonians. Its general manager is Steve Sperling.[2]