Dundee Theater facts for kids
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| Address | 4952 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska United States |
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| Owner | Film Streams |
| Type | Independent art house |
| Capacity | 300 |
| Current use | Movie Theater |
| Opened | 1925 |
| Years active | 1925-present |
| Website | |
| http://www.filmstreams.org/ | |
The Dundee Theater is a historic movie theater found at 4952 Dodge Street in Omaha, Nebraska. It is currently run by a group called Film Streams, which is a nonprofit organization. The Dundee is special because it's the oldest neighborhood movie theater still open in Omaha.
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The Dundee Theater's History
The Dundee Theater first opened its doors on December 19, 1925. Back then, the Omaha World-Herald newspaper called it "Omaha's newest photoplay house." It showed a silent comedy called The Trouble with Wives and a short film named The Fighting Dude.
Early Years and Sound Films
Just four years later, in 1929, the theater added new equipment to play movies with sound. This was a big change! In 1938, the Dundee Theater got a major update. They put in new projection and sound systems, new seats, and a new sign outside.
New Owners and Art Films
In 1958, the owners of the Indian Hills Theater, the Cooper Foundation, bought the Dundee. In 1963, the theater changed its focus to show "art house" films. It reopened with a famous movie called 8 1/2 by Federico Fellini.
In 1965, the theater was updated again. After this, it had a very long run of the popular movie The Sound of Music. This movie played for 118 weeks, which is more than two years! At that time, only one theater in London had shown the film for longer.
Focus on Special Movies
After showing a few more popular movies for a long time, the Dundee Theater went back to showing art and foreign films. In 1974, the Cooper Foundation sold the theater to Edward Cohen and David Frank. They tried to show family-friendly movies.
The theater closed for a short time. In 1980, Denny Moran bought and updated it. He ran the theater for over 30 years. He often showed art films and sometimes more widely released movies. The Dundee also became famous for its midnight movie series. These late-night showings featured classic and cult films.
Some popular movies shown at midnight included The Big Lebowski, Donnie Darko, Pulp Fiction, Princess Bride, El Topo, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Rushmore, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Foxy Brown, and The Room.
Modern Renovations and Reopening
In 2013, the Dundee Theater closed for planned updates. A few years later, the Sherwood Foundation bought it. They planned for the nonprofit Film Streams to run the theater. In 2016, Film Streams started a fundraising effort to help pay for the Dundee Theater's renovation and expansion. This theater would become Film Streams' second location.
Renovations began in February 2017. Many improvements were made. These included a new entrance on the north side of the building. There were also updated places to buy tickets and snacks. A new bookstore called "Katie's Video" was added, selling movie magazines, Blu-rays, and DVDs. The lobby was made bigger and shared with a restaurant called Kitchen Table Central. A new small screening room with 25 seats, called the Linder Microcinema, was also built.
The main movie room got new seats, a new screen, and updated projection and sound equipment. This main theater can seat 300 people. It was named in honor of Peggy Payne, who is the mother of Oscar-winning filmmaker Alexander Payne. Alexander Payne is from Omaha and used to be on the Film Streams Board.
The Dundee Theater Today
Film Streams finished updating the Dundee Theater in November 2017. The theater officially reopened on December 1, 2017. It continues to be a beloved movie spot in Omaha.
