Theatre Tours

The Paramount Theatre Centre stands as one of Indiana’s most treasured historic landmarks and cultural gathering places. Originally opened on August 20, 1929, during the golden age of movie palaces, the theatre was designed by renowned architect John Eberson, famous for creating elaborate “atmospheric” theatres that transported audiences into dreamlike environments. The Paramount was built in the Spanish Revival and Atmospheric style, designed to resemble a romantic Spanish courtyard beneath a glowing twilight sky filled with twinkling stars. Today, it remains one of only a handful of surviving Eberson atmospheric theatres in North America.

After decades of hosting vaudeville performances, films, concerts, and community events, the theatre faced decline and possible demolition during the 1980s. In 1989, local citizens and community leaders rallied together to save the building, forming the Paramount Heritage Foundation and launching a massive restoration effort that returned the theatre to its original grandeur. The fully restored Paramount Theatre Centre reopened in 1995 and has since become the centerpiece of arts, entertainment, and historic preservation in downtown Anderson.

Today, the Paramount Theatre Centre serves as far more than a performance venue. Under its current leadership, the Paramount is dedicated to enriching the community through live entertainment, classic films, educational programming, outreach initiatives, fundraising events, and partnerships that strengthen downtown redevelopment and cultural tourism. The theatre hosts concerts, symphonies, silent films with live organ accompaniment, school programs, community celebrations, weddings, and nonprofit events, welcoming audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Its mission is to preserve this historic treasure while creating meaningful shared experiences that inspire, educate, entertain, and connect the people of Central Indiana for generations to come.

Full description coming soon. Excerpted from the Athenaeum Indy Facebook page.

The Basile Theatre at the Historic Athenaeum is the oldest theatre in Indianapolis and was once home to Indiana Repertory Theatre! The raised platforms and low walls now found in this room were added in the late 1980s when the Ball and Concert Hall was adapted to serve as the home of the American Cabaret Theatre.

The Artcraft Theatre was built in 1922 as a vaudeville and silent movie theater. The theatre was primarily owned by the Rembusch family, who owned more than 17 theatres across the state of Indiana. From 1948-1952, architect Alden Miranda updated the lobby and exterior of the building to the Art Deco style, including neon and murals in the lobby and neon, vitrolite, and a new marquee outside.   The Artcraft has been open continuously since 1922, except for a brief period of time in which it was closed for 9 months for repairs after being condemned by the City of Franklin.

In 2004, the theatre was purchased by the non-profit preservation group, Franklin Heritage, Inc., which owns and operates the theatre as part of their mission to “Preserve the Past for the Future”.   Franklin Heritage has put in more than $2.5 million into the restoration of the building and is working now to make the stage fully functional.  The restoration of the Artcraft has been the catalyst for the revitalization of downtown Franklin, population 25,000.  With 625 seats, the Artcraft now brings in more than 64,000 guests a year by showing movies on 35mm film; hosting live acts, field trips, running monthly bingo nights, author events; and many other activities.

Founded in 1972 by Ben Mordecai, Greg Poggi, and Ed Stern, the Indiana Repertory Theatre has grown into one of the leading regional theatres in the country, as well as one of the top-flight cultural institutions in the city and state. In 1991 Indiana’s General Assembly designated the IRT as “Theatre Laureate” of the state of Indiana. The IRT’s national reputation has been confirmed by prestigious grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Lila Wallace–Reader’s Digest Fund, the Theatre Communications Group–Pew Charitable Trusts, the Shubert Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation, and by a Joyce Award from the Joyce Foundation.

The IRT remains the largest fully professional resident not-for-profit theatre in the state, providing 100,000 live professional theatre experiences for its audience in a typical season. The Theatre regularly serves thousands of students from more than half of Indiana’s 92 counties, making the IRT one of the most youth-oriented professional theatres in the country. A staff of year-round employees creates seven productions exclusively for Indiana audiences. Actors, directors, and designers are members of professional stage unions.

The IRT’s history has been enacted in two historic downtown theatres. The Athenaeum Turners Building housed the company’s first eight seasons. Since 1980 the IRT has occupied the 1927 Indiana Theatre, which was renovated to contain three performance spaces (OneAmerica Stage, Upperstage, and Cabaret) and work spaces, reviving this historic downtown entertainment site.

To keep ticket prices and services affordable for the entire community, the IRT operates as a not-for-profit organization, deriving more than 50% of its operating income from contributions. The theatre is generously supported by foundations, corporations, and individuals, an investment that recognizes the IRT’s mission-based commitment to serving Central Indiana with top-quality theatrical fare.

Excerpted from the Indiana Repertory Theatre Facebook page

Did You Know? The Indiana Theatre, where the IRT is now housed, was originally built as a movie palace and ballroom opening in 1927. Decades later it was slated for demolition, but IRT was looking to move from its original home in the Athenaeum and could save it!

In 1916, several local businessmen set out to finance the construction of a theater on Monument Circle, on a site occupied by a livery stable for much of the 19th century. Designed by Indianapolis architects Rubus & Hunter, the theater was built in a Neo-Classical Revival style – marked by symmetry, bright colors and simplicity and inspired by the arts of ancient Greece and Rome – and its interior was designed in the style of 18th-century architect Robert Adam, who employed motifs from Greek, Etruscan and Pompeian artists. The pastoral-themed mural over the marquee, which still remains, was created by Irvington Group artist Clifton Wheeler.

For much of the 20th century, the theater served as a majestic venue for film and live acts. In 1928, the first movie with sound ever shown in Indianapolis, The Jazz Singer, was shown at the theater. In the 1940s, big band jazz groups, including the Glenn Miller Orchestra, played on the theater’s stage. By the 1970s, however, the Circle Theatre had fallen into disrepair. Although its heyday as a movie theatre had ended, in 1982, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra decided to move back downtown and call the theater its home.

After an extensive renovation, the theater reopened on October 12, 1984, as the home of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. In 1996, Stephen and Tomisue Hilbert endowed the theater, which was renamed the Hilbert Circle Theatre. In 2013, Hilbert Circle Theatre went through another renovation. This $1 million renovation that replaced the seats in the hall was made possible by a special grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. The new seats retain the historic integrity of the theater, and the installation allows for greater comfort and accessibility for patrons.