List of theaters in Omaha, Nebraska facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Welcome to a list of theaters in Omaha, Nebraska! Here you'll find places where people watched movies and enjoyed live shows. This includes plays, music, and even old-time vaudeville acts.

Omaha's Theater Story
- Live Shows Begin
- Movies Come to Town
Theaters You Can Visit Today
Theaters of the Past
Drive-in Theaters
See also

Omaha's Theater Story

Live Shows Begin

Imagine a play in a dining room! That's how live performances started in Omaha way back in 1860. They even used a bedsheet for a curtain! A famous actress named Julia Dean Hayne performed there. From these simple beginnings, Omaha's theater scene grew.

Today, Omaha has many amazing places for live shows. These include the Omaha Community Playhouse, the Holland Performing Arts Center, and the famous Orpheum Theater.

Movies Come to Town

Omaha has had over 100 movie theaters since it became a city! Early movie theaters were often small. They were usually storefronts that could seat about 300 people on simple wooden seats. Most people walked or took streetcars to these theaters. So, parking was not a problem.

Larger theaters were mostly in Downtown Omaha. They were on Douglas Street, between 14th and 16th Streets. This area was even called Theater Row. As more people got cars, theaters moved to the suburbs. Several drive-in theaters also opened on the edge of the city. Today, you can find huge theater complexes. They have comfy seats, and you can even eat and drink inside! Omaha's last drive-in theater closed in 1987.

Theaters You Can Visit Today

Creighton Orpheum Theater

Holland Performing Arts Center

Joslyn Art Museum

Omaha Community Playhouse

Paramount Theater, now The Rose

Omaha still has many great places to watch movies and live shows. Here are some of the theaters open today:

Current Theaters in Omaha
Name	Opened	Seating	Location	Notes
Aksarben Cinema	December 10, 2010		2110 South 67th Street
Alamo Drafthouse Midtown	November 5, 2009		3201 Farnam Street	Started as Marcus Midtown Cinema. Became Alamo Drafthouse in 2018.
AMC Oakview Plaza 24	1997		3555 South 140th Plaza	This is Omaha's largest theater complex with 24 screens.
AMC Westroads 14	November 14, 2008		10000 California Street	Opened as Rave Cinemas. It was Omaha's first all-digital cinema. AMC bought it in 2013.
Blue Barn Theatre	1980s		614 South 11th Street	This theater is planning to build a new space.
CHI Health Center Omaha	2003	18,320	455 North 10th Street	Opened as Qwest Center Omaha. Seating was increased in 2006. It was renamed CenturyLink Center, then CHI Health Center.
Creighton Orpheum Theater	1927	2,600	409 South 16th Street	The original theater was torn down for this one. It stopped showing movies in 1971. After a big update, it reopened for live shows in 1974. It is still a top performance stage in Omaha.
Dundee Theatre	1925		4952 Dodge Street	First built for live shows, it became a movie theater in the 1930s. It closed in 2013. Film Streams took it over and reopened it in 2017 after a big remodel.
Great Escape Theatres	October 2006		7440 Crown Point Avenue	This theater was renamed Omaha Stadium 16 in 2013.
Holland Performing Arts Center	2005	2,000	1200 Douglas Street
Joslyn Art Museum Concert Hall	1931	1,001		This theater is inside the Joslyn Art Museum. It was later named the Witherspoon Concert Hall.
Lozier IMAX at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo	March 1997	358	3701 South 10th Street	This theater showed the IMAX film Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West in 2002.
Marcus Majestic Cinema	1996		14304 West Maple Road	Opened as the 20 Grand with 20 screens. In 2013, it was updated to 19 screens and renamed.
Omaha Community Playhouse	1924	758 on two stages	6915 Cass Street	This theater moved to its current spot in 1959.
Ralston Arena	2012	3,500	7300 Q Street, Ralston
Rose Blumkin Performing Arts Center	1926	2,776 (original)	2001 Farnam Street	Opened as the Riviera Theater. It became the Paramount Theater in 1929. It closed in 1957. After many changes, it reopened as the Astro Theater. It closed as a movie theater in 1980. Rose Blumkin bought it. After sitting empty, it was restored and reopened as the Rose Blumkin Performing Arts Center.
Shelterbelt Theatre	October 1993		3225 California Street
Sokol Auditorium	1926	1,500	2234 South 13th Street
The Ruth Sokolof Theater	July 27, 2007	302	1340 Webster Street	This theater has two screens. It mostly shows independent, foreign, and classic films. Film Streams manages it.
Village Pointe Cinema	2004		304 North 174th Street
Westwood Cinema 8	1989	1,500	2809 South 125th Avenue	Opened as Super Saver Cinema 8.

Theaters of the Past

Center Theater

Chief Theater

Dundee Theatre

Favorite Theatre Floor

Former Maryland Theatre

Rialto Theater

Many theaters in Omaha have closed over the years. Some were torn down, and others found new uses. Here are some of the theaters that are no longer open:

Theaters of the Past in Omaha
Name	Built	Seating	Location	Notes
Academy of Music	1866		South Side of Douglas, between 13th and 14th Streets	This was called Omaha's first playhouse.
Admiral Theater	1942	950	150 South 40th Street	It was known for midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The building was torn down.
Aksarben Coliseum	1928	7,200	64th and Center Streets	This building hosted many concerts. It was torn down in 2005.
Air Dome Theater (Open Tent Show)			18th and Douglas Streets, 40th and Hamilton Streets	This was an open-air theater that ran in the summer.
Alhambra Theatre	Abt. 1911		1814 North 24th Street	After closing, it became a roller rink, a grocery store, and a mini-golf course. It burned down in 1936.
American Music Hall	1910		1722 Douglas Street	It was later called the New Morris Theater and the Strand Theater. It burned down in the 1920s. The first color movie in Omaha, The Black Pirate, was shown here.
Avenue Theatre	Abt. 1926	800	2819 Leavenworth Avenue	This theater closed in 1959 and was torn down.
Beacon Theater	1927	477	2910 Ames Avenue	The theater closed in 1967 and was torn down.
Benalto Theater	1923	400	6054 Military Avenue	Originally for vaudeville, it was called Benalto Theater. It was later renamed the Benson Theater. It is now closed and needs a lot of repair.
Boyd's Opera House	1881		1422 Farnam Street	This was the first Boyd Theater. It burned down in 1893.
Boyd's Theater and Opera House	1891	1900	1621 Harney Street	The building was torn down in 1920.
Brandeis Theatre	March 3, 1910	1900	212 South 17th Street	Helen Keller spoke here in 1925. The theater was torn down in 1959 for a parking garage.
Burwood Theater	1905	1168	1516 Harney Street	This became the Gayety Theatre in 1909. Fred Astaire performed here. It was torn down in 1961.
Cameraphone Theatre	1908	450	1403 Douglas Street	Its name means "talking picture."
Center Theater	March 15, 1951	732	3504 Center Street	This theater had new features like a smoking room and a crying room for parents. From 1974 to 1993, it was home to the Emmy Gifford Children's Theater.
Chief Theater	1947		4612 South 24th Street	The theater's sign had the profile of an American Indian Chief.
Cinema Center	December 22, 1967	3,280	2828 South 82nd Avenue	It started with one screen and grew to eight. It closed in 2009. The building became an indoor shooting range in 2015.
Circle Theater	April 3, 1926		524 North 33rd Street	The theater closed in the 1950s and was torn down for a parking lot.
Corby Theater	1926	600	2805 North 16th Street	The theater closed in the mid-1950s. The building is now used for businesses.
Crossroads Twin Cinema	July 20, 1979		72nd and Dodge Streets	This theater was inside the Crossroads Mall. It closed in the 1980s.
Diamond Moving Picture Theatre		390	2410 Lake Street	The building was destroyed by a tornado in 1913.
Empress Theatre		1800	1514 Douglas Street	This theater had an elevator to its balconies. It was torn down in 1929 for an office building.
Favorite Theatre		600	1716 Vinton Street	This was a silent movie theater. Today, it is the main dining area of a restaurant. You can still see the tiled entry with "Favorite" spelled out.
Firehouse Dinner Theater	1972	300	11th and Jackson Street	This theater opened in an old firehouse in the Old Market.
Grand Opera House	1885	2,486	15th and Davenport Streets	The building burned down in 1894.
Indian Hills Theater	December 1962		8601 West Dodge Street	When it opened, its 105-foot screen was the largest in the United States. It was made for Cinerama movies. The theater closed in 2000 and was torn down in 2001.
Lothrop Theater	1935	480	3212 North 24th Street	The theater closed in 1955. The building collapsed in 1961 and was torn down.
The Magic Theater			4922 South 24th Street	Its name was a nod to South Omaha's nickname, "The Magic City." It was later called the Tivoli Theater and closed in the 1950s.
Maplewood Twin Cinema	November 9, 1972		3433 North 90th Street	Closed in 1994. The building was torn down.
Maryland Theatre		492	1425 South 13th Street	It was renamed the Berkley Theater in the 1940s. It closed in the mid-1950s and is now a business.
Military Theatre	1928	660	2216 Military Avenue	The theater closed in 1975. It is now a church.
Minne Lusa Theater	Abt. 1926	400	6720 North 30th Street	The theater closed in the mid-1950s. The building is now a social services center.
Moon Theater			1408 Douglas Street	This was later called the Town Theater and the Cooper Theater. It was torn down in 1976.
Movies 8 Stockyards	June 1990		3205 L Street	The theater closed in 2010.
Mueller Theater			1706 Vinton Street	The building was destroyed by a series of fires in 1970. It was being used as a bingo parlor at the time.
Muse Theater	1916	850	2405 Farnam Street	Originally for vaudeville, it became an adult theater in the 1970s. It closed in the 1980s and was torn down.
The Music Box	October 1, 1936	900	118 N. 19th Street	This building also had a bowling alley. It closed in 1980 and was torn down for a parking lot.
Omaha Civic Auditorium	1954	10,960	1804 Capitol Avenue	This building closed in 2014 and was torn down in 2016. The land is now empty.
Omaha Civic Auditorium Music Hall	1954	2,315	1804 Capitol Avenue	This hall was part of the Civic Auditorium. It closed in 2014 and was torn down in 2016.
Orchard 4 Cinema	July 23, 1982	876	13052 Arbor Street	It closed in 2000 and was torn down in 2013.
Parlor Theatre		450	1408 Douglas Street	This was supposedly the first theater built in Omaha just for movies. It was torn down to build the Moon Theatre.
Q Cinema 4	1972		5505 South 120th Street	This theater grew to Q Cinema 9. It closed in 2008 and was eventually torn down.
Redick Opera House	1870		Northwest corner of 16th and Farnam Streets	It was torn down in 1889.
Rialto Theater	1918	2,500	1424 Douglas Street	The theater closed in 1929 and was torn down in 1986. Today, the Union Pacific Headquarters stands there.
Ritz Theater	Mid 1930s	548	2041 North 24th Street	This theater closed in the mid-1950s and was torn down.
Roseland Theatre	1922		4932 South 24th Street	The theater closed in 1950. The building became businesses and then apartments.
Six West Theaters	January 22, 1969	1,527	9720 West Dodge Road	This was the first six-screen theater in the United States. It later merged with the Fox In Westroads Theater and became the Westroads 8. It closed in 1999 and became retail space.
Sun Theater	November 30, 1916	800	1410 Farnam Street	This theater was later called the State Theater. It closed in 1969 and was torn down in 1976.
Trocadero Theater	1895	1800	319 South 14th Street	It was renamed the Krug Theatre in 1903.
Uptown Theatre	Abt. 1926	600	2816 Leavenworth Street	This was renamed the Arbor Theatre. It closed around 1950 and was torn down.
Westroads Dinner Theater	September 1, 1970	500	10000 California Street, Basement	This theater had a circular stage with tables around it. It was in the basement of the Westroads Mall. It closed in 1978.
World Theater	1922	2,100	1506 Douglas Street	In 1935, its name changed to the Omaha Theater. It closed in 1978. When plans to fix it failed, it was torn down in 1980 for a parking garage.

Drive-in Theaters

Drive-in theaters were popular for a while! You could watch a movie from your car. Here are some of Omaha's past drive-in theaters:

Drive-in Theaters in Omaha
Name	Built	Capacity	Location	Notes
76 West Dodge Drive-In Theatre	1948	648 cars	Dodge corner of 76th Street	It closed in 1983 and was torn down. A shopping center is there now. It was Omaha's oldest drive-in when it closed.
84th and Center Drive-In Theatre	1953		84th and Center Streets	This theater closed in 1974.
Airport Drive-In	1954		11th and Locust Streets, Carter Lake	Later called the Capri Drive-In. It closed in 1972.
Golden Spike	1952	650 cars	11400 Dodge Street	The first movie shown here was Show Boat. This theater closed in 1985, was torn down, and a shopping center was built.
Q-Twin Drive-In	1961	1600 cars	5580 South 120th Street	This theater had two screens. Its closure in 1987 meant the end of drive-in theaters in Omaha.
Sky-View Drive-In	August 1954	1100 cars	7200 Hartman Avenue	This drive-in was usually open from March to December. It closed in 1985.