Oriental Theatre (Milwaukee)

{{Short description|Movie theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin}}

{{Infobox venue

| name = Oriental Theatre

| image = Oriental Theatre March 2024 3 (interior).jpg

| image_size = 300px

| image_alt =

| caption = Oriental Theatre lobby

| image_map =

| map_caption =

| pushpin_map =

| pushpin_map_caption=

| address = 2230 North Farwell Avenue

| city = Milwaukee

| country = United States

| designation =

| latitude =

| longitude =

| architect = Gustave A. Dick
Alex Bauer

| owner = New Land Enterprises LLP

| tenant =

| operator = Milwaukee Film

| capacity = 1530

| type =

| opened = July 2, 1927{{cite web|url=http://www.astortheater.org/history13.html|title=Saxe O Grams - Theater Newsletter|website=Astortheater.org|accessdate=August 3, 2017}}

| reopened =

| yearsactive =

| rebuilt =

| closed =

| demolished =

| othernames =

| production =

| currentuse =

| publictransit = {{Bus icon}} MCTS

| website = https://mkefilm.org/oriental-theatre/about/about-oriental-theatre

}}

Oriental Theatre is a theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin operated by Milwaukee Film. The theater was built and opened in 1927 as a movie palace with East Indian decor. It is said to be the only movie palace to incorporate East Indian artwork.{{cite web|url=http://cinematreasures.org/theater/443/|title=Oriental Theatre in Milwaukee, WI - Cinema Treasures|website=Cinematreasures.org|accessdate=August 3, 2017}} Designed by Gustave A. Dick and Alex Bauer, the theater has two minaret towers, three stained glass chandeliers, several hand-drawn murals, six bigger-than-life Buddhas, dozens of original draperies, eight porcelain lions, and hundreds of elephants.

The Oriental Theatre has been showing independent and art films, as well as a few blockbuster Hollywood films.

The theater is the world record holder for continual showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.Devlin, Ryan. "Let's do the Time Warp Again. And Again. And Again". Premiere, vol. 18, no. 9 (June 2005) pp. 58-60, 62-3. It has hosted the film as a Saturday midnight movie since January 1978.

In 2005, the theater was dubbed one of the "10 Theaters Doing It Right" by Entertainment Weekly.{{cite news|url=https://ew.com/article/2005/08/05/10-theaters-doing-it-right/|title=10 Theaters doing it right|date=August 5, 2005|newspaper=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=August 3, 2017}}

In 2016, local artists oversaw the installation of a new street art destination in the alley behind the Oriental Theater, and named it the Black Cat Alley.{{Cite news

| url = https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/arts/art-city/2016/05/12/street-art-festival-coming-to-a-milwaukee-alley/84986380/

| title = Street art festival coming to a Milwaukee alley

| last = Schumacher

| first = Mary Louise

| newspaper = Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

| access-date = 2016-05-11

}} As a part of the Black Cat Alley installation, French artist MTO painted a large mural of a green frog entitled "MTO's Bug" on the south wall of the theater, facing Kenilworth Avenue.{{Cite news

| url = https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/arts/art-city/2016/09/09/murals-transforming-east-side-path-black-cat-alley/89920880/

| title = Murals transforming east side path into Black Cat Alley

| last = Hauer

| first = Sarah

| newspaper = Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

| access-date = 2016-09-09

}} The theater building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2023.{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/weekly-list-2023-02-03.htm|title=Weekly List 2023 02 03|publisher=National Park Service|accessdate=2023-02-04}}

In July 2017, Milwaukee Film purchased the theater and began running it as a non-profit.https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/milwaukee-film-oriental-theatre#?