Comments on: Cape Girardeau’s Art Deco Esquire Theater

By: Marilyn Seyer

Marilyn Seyer — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 14:54:09 +0000

Yes, I remember saving the Sunnyhill milk carton to get to go to the movies. Carol and Gail Avery and I would save these, enough to go to the movies, that was the good old days. I told my boys about this and they thought I was fibbing them. Nobody goes to the movies on saved milk cartons.

By: Sally Bierbaum Dirks

Sally Bierbaum Dirks — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:59:58 +0000

Does anyone remember being able to get into the movie using the green plastic connectors that held two quarts of Sunny Hill milk together? We used to save those “religiously”, and when we had enough, 10 I think, then we were able to go to the movie.

By: Jerrette Davis Hobson

Jerrette Davis Hobson — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:28:54 +0000

All the talk about the old theaters reminded me of how lucky we all were to be parented by the whole town. My father worked part time at Cutrate drugs. On the weekend if Daddy was working on Broadway he would drop me of in the theater office until the movie started , then the usher would take me to the first seat in the last row where he could keep an eye on me until hte movie was over. Sometimes after the movie I would walk next door and eat at the little dinner. When I was finished they would call Daddy and he would send (Doffus) to pick me up and pay the bill.

By: Carole Avery Adams CHS '64

Carole Avery Adams CHS '64 — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:30:17 +0000

From 1963 to 1965 I was one of the “girls behind the glass” at the ticket booth of the Esquire Theater. My grades improved considerably because I had plenty of time to study when not punching tickets from the “modern automatic ticket machine”. Also, what fun waving at the cars driving up and down Broadway. Mr. James Foster, the theater manager, treated all of the kids who worked there just like we were his own. It really breaks my heart to see the building in such a state of disrepair. I have so many fond memories.

By: Ken Steinhoff

Ken Steinhoff — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:12:50 +0000

Candace,

I don’t know for sure, but here’s a part of a story from The Missourian June 4, 2009:

* Broadway Theatre, 805 Broadway, and Esquire Theatre, 824 Broadway. Foley said owner Phil Brinson is being selective with plans to use the theaters so they can best meet the needs of the community. She said he is interviewing other theater owners for details of how they rehabilitated their buildings and is talking with architects who have experience in reuse of theaters. Foley said Brinson is doing minor work on the Broadway Theatre, such as painting the second floor.

Foley said rehabilitating theaters is difficult.

“Most people think it is so simple to take an old building and rehab it, but they don’t stop and think about having to bring it up to code,” Foley said. “These are two terrific buildings and are rare for our community.

“To paint the theater part will be difficult as all the chairs have to be removed so the scaffolding can be put up,” Foley said. “Then you have to constantly readjust the scaffolding to the slope of the floor.”

It would be great to see the Esquire and the Broadway brought back to life. Let me know if your plans come through.

By: Candace Reeder

Candace Reeder — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:02:53 +0000

I was curious if anyone knows if the Esquire is up for sale? The sign on the front “The Gospel Connection” was done back in the early 90′s when my family used the theatre for gospel music concerts. We have since relocated to the Kansas City area and are investigating the possiblity of opening it back up again.. any info on it would be helpful.

The Reeders,
aka, The Gospel Connection.

By: Sarah Holland

Sarah Holland — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:25:57 +0000

Is the Esquire the one that was near an ice cream parlor called, IIRC, the Martha Washington? I think I also saw “101 Dalmations” there, and it was my first movie also. Ice cream at the ice cream parlor was always a post-movie treat.

By: Ken Steinhoff

Ken Steinhoff — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:31:52 +0000

Michael,

So, Auntie Mame is what left its mark on you…. Bonnie Strom and I went through school all the way from kindergarten. Did you see the photo of her in the eighth grade? She was the eighth grader in the bottom row on the far left.

The esquire is in much better shape, at least from outside appearances, than the Broadway. The Rialto has been remodeled to the point where you wouldn’t recognize it as a theater these days.

I’d love to say that someone is going to step in to preserve the Esquire, but the way SEMO is mowing down buildings for parking lots, I don’t hold out a lot of hope for it.

Maybe someone who lives in Cape and follows this kind of thing can chime in with more promising news.

By: Michael Seabaugh

Michael Seabaugh — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:41:57 +0000

Thanks for this, Ken! I have so many memories of the Esquire and I am sure it inspired my eventual move to Los Angeles, my masters degree from UCLA in film and the frustrating ten year career in the movie industry I engaged in. I remember being taken to an evening showing of Auntie Mame where I sat between my parents, feeling very special that I was being allowed to see this very funny and “sophisticated” film. The next day I took my friends Linda Caldwell and John Cochran to see an after school matinee. The woman at the previously mentioned ticket booth looked at us suspiciously and asked if our parents knew we were there to see Auntie Mame. I proudly told her that my parents had taken me to see it the night before. This did not persuade her. She just knew that it would be somehow ruinous to what she had incorrectly assumed was our burgeoning sterling characters. And so she refused our admittance. It just fueled my fascination with the “exotic”. I can’t speak for Linda as she left Cape at some point and I have not heard what has happened to her. John Cochran has remained one of my best friends to this day (although he also moved from Cape for some time but returned as an adult and married Bonnie Strom) and I can vouch for his character although I suspect that the Guardian of Morals behind the glass booth of the Esquire would still not approve. BTW, I never realized what an Art Deco treasure the Esquire was. What is it’s current fate?

By: Ken Steinhoff

Ken Steinhoff — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:09:51 +0000

Andrew,

Amazing how a trauma like that will stay with you for so many years.

Of course, if it happened today, you’d have won the liability lottery and you could have retired on your injury claim.