Taylor Screening Room Art & Artifacts Preview

In June 2024, Tampa Theatre opened the first expansion in its 100-year history: a 43-seat microcinema in the storefront adjacent to the historic Franklin Street Box Office. The new space features intimate screenings of new, first-run films.

To get the most out of this guide, it is recommended that you enter through the door behind the concessions stand in the historic lobby and work your way down the gallery wall, into the screening room, into its restroom (yes, there’s even history in there!) and through the lobby towards the front door.

This image was used on other postcards throughout the first half of the 20th century, and is one of the only illustrations we are aware of that depicts the interior of the historic auditorium.

It is based on the photos below, which was taken around the time of the Theatre’s opening in 1926. Note the open orchestra pit in front of the screen! It was decked over to create a small stage when the Theatre was rescued from demolition in 1975.

Prior to its grand opening, Publix Theatres – which managed Tampa Theatre – placed large ads in the newspapers heralding a new age. Tickets for the opening night gala went on sale at M. L. Price’s music store (Tampa and Zack Streets) two days before the event. At seventy-five cents each, eager residents snapped up the 1,600 tickets in just two hours.

On opening day, the Tampa Morning Tribune produced a special section trumpeting “Magnificent New Tampa Theatre Opens Tonight!”

Tickets for the opening gala went on sale at M. L. Price’s music store (Tampa and Zack Streets) two days before the event. At seventy-five cents each, eager residents snapped up the 1,600 tickets in just two hours. Publix Theatres placed large ads in the newspapers heralding a new age.

“Tonight a procession of the pleasure loving people of Tampa will lead to the new Tampa theater. They will come away with the news that Tampa has one of the most beautiful theaters in the world! Positively luxurious! Perfectly serviced! And a marvelous show! Its beauty will leave you breathless and the entertainment will hold you spellbound. We who have Publix theaters in fifty cities from New York to San Francisco are proud of the new Tampa as we are of no other theater in the chain. It is the last word in luxury and splendor—a magnificent jewel of great beauty that we have set in Tampa for your pleasure and pride. Tonight we turn it over to you. Tonight’s the night!”

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.”

The souvenir program provided for patrons on opening night featured an exhibit catalog for the many sculptures around the theater. “Like Tampa itself,” the foreword read, “the Tampa Theatre is destined to occupy a place of conspicuous importance in the development of Florida. The spirit of its conception, its architecture, its influence, will be the inspiration of many thousands…. Our great wish is to make you love this theatre and to look to it for that which is best in musical performance and motion pictures.”

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 starring Adolphe Menjou and Alice Joyce. A brief two-reel comedy called A Briny Boob concluded the evening’s program.

Local soldiers and a pair of cannons were staged in front of Tampa Theatre to promote the 1930 grand opening of All Quiet on the Western Front. It was the first Academy Awards Best Picture winner to play at Tampa Theatre, and the film proved so successful here that it was held over for additional screenings after its initial run.

Coming less than two years after Tampa Theatre’s first “talkie,” All Quiet on the Western Front was advertised as an “All Talking Picture” that featured a “cast of 1000.” A patron attending a film in 1930 would often be treated to a short film and newsreel as well, and this ad previews a Paramount Pictures “talkartoon” called “Swing You Sinners” and a “Paramount Sound News” reel that accompanied the feature screening.

The photo was taken at Sigfried and Lora’s home in the rural region of Bukovina, and is estimated to be from the 1910s. The original photo file shared with Tampa Theatre by the Eberson family featured ballpoint pen markings naming everyone in the photo.

The Eberson family home in Mamaroneck, New York, was just as elaborate and over-the-top as the theatres John designed. Pay particular attention to the oil painting hanging above the fireplace in this photograph as you head into the Taylor Screening Room next door.

Beatrice and John Eberson were known to share a great sense of humor, and the family photo album contains many charming images that were taken to accompany their annual holiday greetings.

This photo, taken in the couple’s living room, illustrates not only that humor, but also the Eberson’s love of beautiful art and objects. Note the portrait of Beatrice on the wall behind her as well as their collection of seashells, pottery and small sculptures.

Lora Eberson – the older daughter of John and Beatrice Eberson – married Louis Mohr the same year that Tampa Theatre opened. John Eberson is standing to the left of his daughter.

John Eberson’s hand-drawn blueprints were, in themselves, elaborate works of art. His intricate designs could be brought to life through his use of molded and painted plaster, allowing him to recreate for his audiences the illusion of sitting in a Mediterranean courtyard at night.

Other drawings in the set (seen below) include the seating layout and a cross-section of the balcony and domed night sky.

On Wednesday, July 1, 1931, Elsa Eberson – the younger daughter of John and Beatrice Eberson - married Charles Brassert in Mamaroneck, New York. John Eberson is the first person standing in the line, and his son, Drew, is at the other end of the line with mother Beatrice next to him.

Drew Eberson joined his father’s architectural firm in the 1920s and practiced with him until John’s death in 1954. After that, Drew continued to work on theater design but also became a leading figure in preservation. He later renovated many of the theaters his father had built, and was consulted on Tampa Theatre’s post-rescue renovation in the 1970s.

We are pretty sure that Tampa Theatre is the only Eberson theater in the world that has a photo of our architect in his swimsuit displayed prominently. Here, we see the less professional and more playful side of John Eberson, who was described by his family as a larger-than-life character with a great sense of humor. Here, he is pictured with his three children, (from left) Lora, Elsa, and Drew, and an unidentified child (second from left) assumed to be a cousin.

John and Beatrice’s son became Colonel Drew Eberson during World War II. This original print of his U.S. Army portrait and original War Department ID card were entrusted to Tampa Theatre by Drew’s step-daughter, Suzanne.

Singin’ in the Rain – which was later nominated for a Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture Academy Award – made its Tampa premiere at Tampa Theatre on April 9, 1952. The film program was accompanied by a Tom and Jerry cartoon and a live performance on the Mighty Wurlitzer by Stanleigh Malotte, formerly of the Alabama Theatre in Birmingham. If you look closely, the ad also promotes a blood drive to benefit the armed forces.

Ten years before Walt Disney World opened 70 miles to the east, Tampa Theatre was chosen to host the World Premiere event for Disney’s One Hundred and One Dalmatians. The “gala entertainment event” featured live appearances by Disney personalities Roy Williams (Mickey Mouse Club), Ducky Nash (the original voice of Donald Duck), and Wally Boag (Disney’s Golden Horseshoe Revue and Enchanted Tiki Room). Audiences were also treated to the Disney live-action short film, The Horse with the Flying Tail.

John Bell was Tampa Theatre’s President & CEO from 1985 until his retirement in June, 2026. His leadership was instrumental in the Theatre’s first “expansion” in 2024. Getting the Taylor Screening Room open was a crucial first step for the even bigger project that followed: a full and authentic restoration of the Historic Duncan Auditorium, which required the main theatre to be closed to patrons for eight months in 2026.

John Adolph Emil Eberson (January 2, 1875 – March 5, 1954) was an Austrian-born architect best known for the creation of his “atmospheric” movie palace designs. He designed and built Tampa Theatre in 1926, and it remains one of only about a dozen Eberson atmospherics left standing. (He also claimed it was his favorite.)

John T. Taylor is a philanthropist and former Tampa Theatre board member whose generous gift was the seed that made the Taylor Screening Room possible.

Hear from John Taylor in his own words about the project: https://youtu.be/lkP4ctF3u3g

“The Lady and the Unicorn” is a series of six medieval tapestries that were original woven in 1500. In decorating Tampa Theatre, John Eberson included a number of tapestries, including three from “The Lady and the Unicorn” series. But woven tapestries are expensive! So, to save money while preserving the illusion, he had the images painted on heavy cloth instead.

In decorating the Taylor Screening Room, we wanted to include another of “The Lady and the Unicorn” tapestries as a nod to Eberson’s aesthetic. But “real” woven tapestries are still expensive! And so are artists who can paint them! In the end, we found this replica on Amazon for 200 bucks, and we feel like the very thrifty John Eberson would have approved.

In the 1920s, John Eberson commissioned a fantastical oil painting featuring himself, Beatrice, and their three adult children in clothes reminiscent of 18th-century France, sitting in an idyllic, fantastical garden.

Remember stop 7 on the gallery wall? That was how the original painting was displayed in the Eberson home. It now hangs in the home of John Eberson’s grandson, Maury. This reproduction is a photograph of the original painting, printed to scale on canvas.

Just as ornate as the auditorium, the historic lobby was meant to transport audiences to a different place and time as soon as they stepped through the doors. Like the auditorium, the lobby features an “atmospheric” night-sky ceiling, clay-tile rooftops and a ring of gargoyles peering down. Two stuffed parrots and flowering vines enhanced the illusion of being outdoors.

What you don’t see in this photo, however, is the concession stand that now fills the space in front of the staircase. Tampa Theatre didn’t get its first candy stand until the 1930s, and the modern concessions stand was installed in 2016.

Image courtesy of Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System; Burgert Brothers Photographic Collection.

Films in the early days of Tampa Theatre were often promoted with large-scale displays around the box office and in the Theatre lobby. In 1930, Clara Bow was Hollywood’s “It Girl,” and her close-cropped waves were a common request at the beauty parlor. To promote Bow’s film Love Among the Millionaires, popular Tampa salon Madam Himes Beauty Parlor – which was located about two blocks away on Franklin Street – set up stations in the Tampa Theatre lobby to allow patrons to “enjoy the new Clara Bow haircut,” as the lobby signs proclaimed.

Image courtesy of Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System; Burgert Brothers Photographic Collection.

If this image looks familiar, it is the photo from which the postcard at stop 1 was created. In it, you can clearly see the orchestra pit and a couple of the original Tampa Theatre music stands, several of which now hold promotional flyers in the historic lobby next door.

In the early days, Tampa Theatre’s neighbors on the 700-block of Franklin Street looked a little bit different today. Instead of the Si-Am Thaimerican restaurant (an excellent choice for dinner after the movie), McCrory’s 5 and 10 was the ground floor of a three-story building that also housed the Princess Boot Shop and the Philmore Co. Wholesale Dress House. If you look closely under the marquee, you’ll also see that what is now the Taylor Screening Room was once a storefront with deep display windows at the sidewalk.

Part of the allure of 1920s movie palaces like the Tampa Theatre was the opportunity to be treated to opulence and service, the likes of which weren’t always accessible in everyday life… all for just 25 cents. Patrons who visited Tampa Theatre during its first two decades would be shown to their seats by a platoon of uniformed ushers.

Blondelle Gladney was the box office attendant in the early days of Tampa Theatre, and part of her job was to interview and assess the young men who applied to be ushers, to determine whether they were “handsome enough” to work here.

This original photographic print from 1930 was donated to the Theatre by a patron whose father was one of the ushers pictured.

FUN FACT: The third man in the right-most line of people – the one with his hand in his jacket pocket – is Paul Short, who managed the Theatre for 11 months in 1930. He is now believed to be one of Tampa Theatre’s ghosts.

When Tampa Theatre opened in 1926, it made national news. Motion Picture Magazine gave Eberson’s new movie palace nearly a full page, calling it “one of the finest examples of the ‘atmospheric’ type house” and claiming that it “gives to that city the distinction of having the most magnificent theatre in the State, if not in the entire South.”

This framed print of Vladimir Tretchikoff’s iconic painting Miss Wong hung in the Tampa Theatre’s stage basement for years before being relocated to the Taylor Screening Room in 2024. In the 1950s, the original piece became one of the most recognizable and reproduced images of the 20th century, celebrated for its vivid colors and stylized realism.

We have no idea how this print of it came to be in our stage basement or how long its been there. Like so many things at Tampa Theatre, it predates the living memories of anyone who works here and is not documented in any of our historical photos or records.

When the John T. Taylor Screening Room opened to the public in 2024, The Old Oak (1h 53m / Not Rated / Drama) was the first film scheduled to grace the screen; it ran opening week from June 1 – June 6.

The film’s original page copy from James Deford, Film Program Manager, says it best:

“Legendary British director Ken Loach has announced – at 87 years old – that The Old Oak will be his last film. But in its themes of bringing people together for a shared experience and the power of a gathering space to help build a community make it the perfect first film for Tampa Theatre’s new John T. Taylor screening room.”

John T. Taylor, whose philanthropic gift made the Taylor Screening Room possible, told reporters that he was “born the same year as two of the best films ever made: The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind.”

The Wizard of Oz made its Tampa debut at Tampa Theatre in 1939, which means that Tampa audiences first experienced that iconic moment when Dorothy steps from sepia into Technicolor right next door in the historic Duncan Auditorium. If you’d like to have that experience yourself, we still show it almost every summer as part of our Summer Classics series.

John T. Taylor, whose philanthropic gift made the Taylor Screening Room possible, told reporters that he was “born the same year as two of the best films ever made: The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind.”

Doctor Zhivago is John T. Taylors all-time favorite movie, so this poster had been displayed in his honor.

If you look up above the lobby’s peacock mural (a nod to John Eberson’s habit of placing a stuffed peacock in every one of his atmospheric theaters), you’ll see a small section of the original 1926 brick exposed. In the niche there sits a tiny gargoyle, similar to the hundreds of stony-faced figures that adorn the historic lobby and auditorium next door.

His name, Arnold, is an inside joke among Tampa Theatre staff: Our working name for the screening room project over several years of planning and construction was “T2.” Legend has it that gargoyles are “protectors” of the buildings on which they sit, and its only appropriate that T2’s protector be named after the star of the film that was also known as “T2,” Arnold Schwarzenegger.