A Century of Showtime: Orlando's Historic Beacham Theatre Celebrates 103rd Anniversary
- Teresa Grosze
- Dec 10
- 3 min read
On December 9 in 1921, the Beacham Theatre opened its doors on Orange Avenue, right in the heart of downtown Orlando. Braxton Beacham, who served as Orlando’s 18th mayor, built and named the place himself.
For over a hundred years, this spot has been more than just a building—it’s been a cornerstone of local entertainment. The Beacham has worn a lot of hats: vaudeville stage, movie house during Hollywood’s heyday, a must-visit spot for electronic dance music, and a concert hall that’s seen all kinds of legendary artists. Locals now know it simply as The Beacham. It’s still buzzing at night, still connecting Orlando’s past to its present.
Back in the early days, the Beacham was a fixture on the vaudeville circuit. Big names—John Philip Sousa, the Ziegfeld Follies, W.C. Fields—took the stage there. The theater’s design stood out. Sound carried beautifully, and the interiors were lavish, with hand-picked plasterwork and drapes chosen by Roberta Holland Beacham. It was packed with cutting-edge tech for its time: new projectors, a custom pipe organ, and everything needed to dazzle audiences with silent films and live acts.
As silent films faded out, the Beacham kept pace. In 1928, they installed Vitaphone and Movietone systems, jumping right into the era of sound movies. Moviegoers flocked to see first-run films. “The Sound of Music” played there for a jaw-dropping 14 months straight in the mid-1960s.
The 1960s brought real change—and real courage. During the Civil Rights Movement, the Beacham became a focal point for local activism. Reverend Nelson Pinder and others led peaceful stand-ins, pushing for integration. In 1963, the Beacham began to open its doors to African-American patrons, a big step for the city.
The good times didn’t last forever, though. By the 1970s, downtown Orlando—and the Beacham—hit a rough patch. Urban decline set in. The theater changed hands and faces: concert venue, dinner theater, nightclub. It even sat empty for a while, dodging demolition threats. But people fought to save it, and in 1987, the Beacham earned a spot on the local historic landmark list.
Jump to the late ’80s and early ’90s. The Beacham found new life as a nightclub. Clubs like Aahz put it on the map for electronic dance music, drawing crowds from all over and injecting fresh energy into Orlando’s nightlife.
In 1976, after some restoration, the Carpenters opened the city’s branch of The Great Southern Music Hall right inside the Beacham. The 700-seat venue booked around 180 major acts and sometimes screened classic films by directors like John Carpenter, Federico Fellini, and Mel Brooks. John Lawson handled projection and stage managing. Only a handful of the music shows lost money, but rising costs and competition from bigger venues forced the hall to close in 1981.
Dinner theater moved in for a short run. In the mid-1980s, Theatre Management Corporation of Orlando, led by Tom McKinney and Rick Allen, brought in a Celebrity Dinner Theater franchise with Valentyne’s restaurant next door. It didn’t last long—the dinner theater experiment ended for good in 1987.
Even between these changes—and long stretches when the building sat empty—the Beacham never completely disappeared from the city’s memory.
These days, the Beacham is still in the game. It’s a place for concerts, nightclubbing, and late-night memories, all while keeping its historic soul. From vaudeville and silent films to rock shows and dance music, the Beacham isn’t just a theater. It’s proof of Orlando’s changing scene, nearly a century of culture, and a community that refuses to let its landmarks fade away.