![]() ![]() "Then around 1972 in Illinois and, I think, in New York too, two men were allowed to dance together without being arrested. The reason for that was that nobody wanted to make a large investment into making a movie, they didn't know what was going to happen. Most of them were just sex films to begin with, there wasn't much of a story line. "Within the first two years we showed Boys in the Sand and then other films that were coming out of New York and California. The Stonewall Riots were in 1969 and we opened six months to a year after that, and there wasn't any recognition of gay life except quiet bars where you had to knock on the door or they had certain dress codes." The only gay organization was Mattachine. "There was no other gay life down in the Wells Street area back then. After I got the license they couldn't do anything to stop me. So when they asked me what kind of theater it would be, I said it was going to be an art house, so the first program was Richard Nixon's Checkers speech. "The Bijou was going to go gay in the first place, but I couldn't get a license if I told the city it was going to be an adult theater. We showed that and the Bijou became a gay theater two weeks later. I opened it with Richard Nixon's Checkers speech, where Pat Nixon was in the back looking like a cardboard cut-out, and Checkers was the name of his dog, and he was telling how no-one was going to kick Richard Nixon around anymore. Actually, now I come to think about it, I opened it with only one program for two weeks and then it became a gay theater. "The Bijou Theater opened in September 1970, but it wasn't an adult theater when it opened. The family of Athan and Helen, including their daughters Olympia and Marina, Olympia’s husband George Crist and their son Athan, owned and operated the theatre through a number of name changes – The Rivoli, Downtown Cinema and Downtown Family Cinema.This article shared 4009 times since Wed May 23, 2001 He wooed her, they married, and eventually they purchased the building. He developed a spark for Helen, the piano player for silent films at the Bijou Theatre. Prakas, a Greek immigrant, began operating a luncheonette and confectionary in the retail portion of the building. 600 seats for Ladies and Children, Matinees 5 cents, Nights Everybody 10 cents.” In 1929 Athan G. In 1911 advertisements appeared in The Bridgeport Post newspaper for the Bijou Theatre, which was building a reputation for “High Class Vaudeville and Pictures, Three Shows Daily, Saturday and Holidays Four Shows. He taught waltz, polka, tap and ballet until his death in 1950. Quilty, a master dance instructor, conducted his College of Dancing within the two-story ballroom area. In 1910 Peter Dawe leased, operated and eventually bought the Bijou Theatre. The modified plan included a two-story ballroom above. However, during construction, the plans for an opera house were converted into a movie house in response to the growing popularity of silent films at the time. Southey to design a three-story commercial building to include an opera house and retail store. Ashmun purchased the property, located at 269-275 Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport. The Bijou Theatre is the oldest building in America that opened as a movie and live performance space and is still operating as a movie theater and live entertainment venue.
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