Beacham Theatre

The Beacham Theater
The Beacham Theater
	Location within Florida
Alternative names	The Beacham
General information
Status	Used as a nightclub and concert venue
Type	Theater
Architectural style	Originally Commercial style, Mesh of Art deco themes, Currently Mediterranean Revival
Address	46 North Orange Avenue
Town or city	Orlando, Florida
Country	United States
Completed	December 9, 1921
Renovated	1936, 1953, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1991,
Client	Braxton Beacham Sr.
Dimensions
Other dimensions	145 feet (44 m) across x 213.5 feet (65.1 m) deep
Technical details
Structural system	Reinforced concrete and brick with stucco out-surface
Floor area	30,965 square foot (2,876.7 m2)
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Unknown, likely Murray S. King

Beacham Theater is a historic venue in the city of Orlando, Florida. Its current address is 46 North Orange Avenue. The theater was built by Braxton Beacham Sr. at the site of the former jail for Orange County. Beacham bought the property at the southwest corner of Orange Ave. and Washington St. in 1917. The jail was torn down and he developed a series of connected buildings known as the "Beacham Block." On December 9, 1921 Orlando's premier vaudeville and movie house opened as the Beacham Theatre. Beacham's air-conditioned theater was leased to the Sparks Theater Company in 1922. Vitaphone and Movietone sound system "talkie" equipment was added in 1928 and by 1933 Florida State Theaters had taken over the lease. The Beacham Theater ceased operations as a movie theater in 1975 and briefly became franchises of The Great Southern Music Hall and Reynolds Celebrity Dinner Theater. The Beacham Theater was granted local historic landmark status on September 21, 1987.^[1]

The Beacham as it is currently named, has operated as a series of nightclubs and was once home to the late-night underground club Aahz. With beginnings during the Second Summer of Love in the United Kingdom, the all-night dance parties held at the Beacham Theatre featured New Beat, Progressive dance and House Music. Those nights at the Beacham kick-started Orlando's own summer of love between 1991 and 1992 and inspired the "Orlando Sound" and the Florida breaks movement, boosting the careers of numerous DJs and producers that helped usher in the popularity of electronic dance music in the United States.^[2]^[3]

References

^ Patrizio, Ron (August 23, 1987). "Historic Label No Guarantee Beacham Theater's Owner May Raze Old Downtown Building For New One". orlandosentinel.com. The Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved November 5, 2015. The Beacham Theater has served as a city hall, vaudeville playhouse and movie theater. In 1975, it closed as a movie theater and reopened a year later as the Great Southern Music Hall. It finally closed as the Celebrity Dinner Theater in January.
^ Kelemen, Matt (September 2, 1998). "Wizards of Aahz: The Florida winter had just..." orlandoweekly.com. The Orlando Weekly. Retrieved November 30, 2015. By 1991-1992, Orlando experienced its own "summer of love" through the culture that sprang up around the weekend acid-house nights at the Beacham Theater presided over by Collins and Dave Cannalte, and nurtured by Beacham promoter StaceBass...only New York, San Francisco and L.A. had similar scenes, and they were characterized by warehouse parties. Orlando had a headquarters in the heart of its downtown district...From then on the crowds would refer to the Beacham as "Aahz" no matter what the owners called it.
^ Gettelman, Parry (February 9, 1997). "The Orlando Sound Although Hard To Define, It's Hot Among Lovers Of Underground Dance Music". orlandosentinel.com. The Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved November 5, 2015. Orlando club kids first encountered the style in the late '80s at the old Beacham Theatre ... on Orange Avenue where DJs such as Kimball Collins, Dave Cannalte, Chris Fortier and Andy Hughes got their start at Aahz dance nights.

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[Patrizio_1987-1] Patrizio, Ron (August 23, 1987). "Historic Label No Guarantee Beacham Theater's Owner May Raze Old Downtown Building For New One". orlandosentinel.com. The Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved November 5, 2015. The Beacham Theater has served as a city hall, vaudeville playhouse and movie theater. In 1975, it closed as a movie theater and reopened a year later as the Great Southern Music Hall. It finally closed as the Celebrity Dinner Theater in January.

[Kelemen_1998-2] Kelemen, Matt (September 2, 1998). "Wizards of Aahz: The Florida winter had just..." orlandoweekly.com. The Orlando Weekly. Retrieved November 30, 2015. By 1991-1992, Orlando experienced its own "summer of love" through the culture that sprang up around the weekend acid-house nights at the Beacham Theater presided over by Collins and Dave Cannalte, and nurtured by Beacham promoter StaceBass...only New York, San Francisco and L.A. had similar scenes, and they were characterized by warehouse parties. Orlando had a headquarters in the heart of its downtown district...From then on the crowds would refer to the Beacham as "Aahz" no matter what the owners called it.

[Gettelman_1997-3] Gettelman, Parry (February 9, 1997). "The Orlando Sound Although Hard To Define, It's Hot Among Lovers Of Underground Dance Music". orlandosentinel.com. The Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved November 5, 2015. Orlando club kids first encountered the style in the late '80s at the old Beacham Theatre ... on Orange Avenue where DJs such as Kimball Collins, Dave Cannalte, Chris Fortier and Andy Hughes got their start at Aahz dance nights.

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