Even before walking inside, the historic Coleman Theatre on Miami’s Main Street impresses with its Spanish Mission Revival architecture and high-arching gable topped with three elaborate finials. The interior is equally grand with elaborate furnishings and details.
Opened in 1929, the northeastern Oklahoma theater quickly became a popular destination for locals and travelers from Oklahoma City and beyond who had heard about the beautiful venue that featured vaudeville shows and movies.
Visitors were also treated to live music by a 10-person orchestra and delightful sounds from a vintage pipe organ known as the Mighty Wurlitzer. The organ cost $35,000 in 1929 and is reportedly the only Wurlitzer organ built in 1928 still in its original home.
The Coleman Theatre was conceived and funded by George L. Coleman Sr., a local lead and zinc mining tycoon. He and his wife enjoyed many types of entertainment, but the town’s existing theater was too small for some traveling shows. The answer was a new, larger theater. Originally called the Coleman Theatre Beautiful, it was constructed in 330 days at a cost of $600,000. It opened on April 18, 1929, with all 1,600 seats sold at $1 per person for a vaudeville show and movie named The Dummy.
Luxury and beauty were on display at every turn with Louis XV-style accent pieces, Belgian velvet curtains, gold leaf accents, stained glass panels, a mahogany staircase leading to the balcony, columns with intricately carved details, a breathtaking chandelier and faux-box seats that hid organ pipes. Coleman’s family crest, a pick and shovel, was woven into the theater’s original carpet.
All was good for years, but after Coleman’s death in 1945, his wife sold the theater to a movie company. Movies became the primary entertainment. Even the treasured pipe organ was sold.
But the theater’s worst days were ahead. Efforts to modernize took away what made it special. In the ensuing years, age, deterioration and lack of maintenance left it with mold, holes in walls and ceilings and water leaks. The grand 2,000-pound chandelier broke into pieces.
Then came the light. In 1989, the movie company returned the neglected theater to the Coleman family, who donated the venue, soon to be a showpiece once again, to the city of Miami. Restoration began almost immediately. All work was done by volunteers who donated more than 10,000 hours. School-age children collected aluminum cans to help fund restoration of the stained-glass light covers in the auditorium.
The city provided furnishings and $50,000 yearly toward restoration. The chandelier frame was found in a barn and reconstructed; it hangs once again in the domed auditorium. The organ also was located, purchased, repaired and reinstalled in 1996. It is still played during silent film screenings.
Restoration has been done with attention to every detail while keeping or replicating the original. The damask silk tapestries that hung on the lobby walls were reproduced, and the velvet curtain was repaired. The original carved mahogany staircase with decorative moldings and railings still greets visitors as they enter. New carpet and seats match the originals. And the ballroom that had never been finished was finally completed.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this is where Tom Mix rode his horse on stage and Will Rogers, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, fan dancer Sally Rand, Cary Grant and other big names entertained.
Today, with regularly scheduled entertainers and touring acts, the theater is also popular for wedding and anniversary celebrations, and special events. Tours are available, too.
Since the beginning, through renovations and the popularity of drive-in-movies and multiplex theaters, the Coleman Theatre on historic Route 66 has never gone dark.
