Photo: Wikipedia
Located on the corner of St Mary’s Street and Commerce Street, this architectural marvel has been part of the San Antonio entertainment scene for decades…first as a movie theater, and now as a concert venue.
A large-capacity theater, it held 3,000 seats, and was built in the “Roaring 20’s”. The six story building was designed by the firm Meyer and Holler, who are probably best-known for their design of the Sid Grauman Chinese Theater in Hollywood, together with local architects Robert Kelly and R.O Koenig. It cost $1.75 million to construct the elaborate picture palace.
The builders reportedly sent a team to Mexico in order to capture ideas from Aztec, Mayan, Zapotec, Mixtec and Toltec art and ruins to incorporate into the theater’s design.
According to Jay C. Henry in the publication “Architecture in Texas”, the Aztec had “the grandest Meso-American interior in Texas” and in his book”Great American Movie Theaters”, David Naylor wrote this detailed description, “Exhuberant abstractions in geometrically patterened brickwork, relief carvings, step-back ziggurrat masses, vibrant colors and hieroglyphs feature stone-faced masks of Coyclaxiuhqui (Aztec Moon Goddess ) capping each column of the grand lobby, while colorful deity masks flanked a great sun disk in the center of the proscenium arch”
Photo: Historic Theater Photography
Photo: Historic Theater Photography
Photo: Historic Theater Photography
Photo: Historic Theater Photography
One of the striking features of the theater is the two-ton chandelier in the lobby. The chandelier is two stories tall and twelve feet wide. It was added in 1929, and was installed on the same day the stock market crashed that year.
Photo: Pinterest
Photo: Historic Theater Photography
The opening night on June 4th 1926 was an extravaganza. 6,000 people turned up to witness San Antonio’s new theater and architectural marvel, however, only 3,000 got inside, with thousands filling St Mary’s Street outside. That night, a 26 piece orchestra, 16 “Aztec” chorus girls, a movie, and a stage drama called “The Court of Montezuma” entertained those lucky ones with tickets.
Photo: Historic Theater Photography
Over the ensuing years, movie lovers in San Antonio flocked to the theater to see films from Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton, Eddie Cantor, Mary Pickford, Rudolph Valentino and Pola Negri.
As part of the original design in the 1920’s, a restaurant was established in the basement of the theater in April 1929. It was called the “Old South Cafe”, and delighted patrons for over 20 years with its Southern-style cooking. The restaurant settled in the Aztec after operating in other locations around the city for a number of years, and was owned by Ethel R. Brown. The restaurant was a hit, with reports of patrons willing to stand in line for long periods of time, before descending the narrow staircase to the hearty culinary delights served below.
For many years, the Aztec provided entertainment to thousands of theater-goers in San Antonio, however, in the 1970’s, it’s popularity waned. For a time, the theater was divided into 3 auditoriums and called the Aztec Triplex, but it eventually closed in 1989.
Even with its unique and striking architecture, its hard to believe that the idea was floated to demolish the theater and build a parking garage in its place. It was saved from destruction by the San Antonio Conservation Society, and consequently added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
Sitting vacant and falling into disrepair for many years, the grand theater was given a restart in 2009 with the introduction of a show called “San Antonio Rose Live” It was a two hour production, and featured musicians from Branson, Nashville, Austin and San Antonio performing traditional country and gospel songs. However, the show ended in February 2012.
Photo: Pinterest
Today, the Aztec Theater is an eclectic concert venue, and over the years it has welcomed such entertainers as Journey, Snoop Dogg, Todd Rundgren, Styx, Los Lonely Boys, Eddie Money, Dave Chapelle and the Chippendales.
While taking a Go Rio Riverwalk cruise, look for the Aztec face high above the river, to remind everyone of the glory days of this iconic San Antonio landmark.
Photo: Yelp
Aztec Theater trivia:
* In one of a series of attacks, on San Antonio theaters, six people were injured when a sulphur bomb ( stench bomb) went off on the lower level of the Aztec Theater. The incident occured on May 4th 1932, and nobody was ever arrested over the incident.
* The first movie to be screened at the Aztec was “Other Women’s Husbands” starring Monte Blue and Marie Provost. It was shown as part of the gala opening event on June 4th 1926
* The legendary movie director Alfred Hitchcock made an appearance at the Aztec Theater for the San Antonio premiere of his film “I Confess” in 1953. He appeared with the lead actress Anne Baxter.
Photo: Once Upon A Screen
* As mentioned in a previous story here on “Memories of San Antonio”, the former husband of conjoined twin Violet Hilton, James Moore, settled in San Antonio, and in 1956, opened a restaurant called “El Matador” which was located under the historic Aztec Theater, in the same location as the aforementioned “Old South Cafe”. According to Paula Allen in The Express News “The restaurant was on the building’s lower level, where bullfight posters advertising bouts in Mexican cities, a mannequin in matador’s regalia and formally dressed waiters made for what was often described as a “colorful” setting. The specialty of the house was a dish called Enchiladas Matador; Moore implied that there was a secret ingredient and refused to provide the recipe. He also claimed to have invented the taquito (small, rolled and filled taco). James Moore also served up his specialties at the annual NIOSA ( Night In Old San Antonio ) event during Fiesta celebrations.” The restaurant closed in 1969.
Photo of Aztec and El Matador : San Antonio Express News
Sources:
linkfang.org
San Antonio : The Story of an Enchanted City ( Frank W. Jennings)
San Antonio Uncovered ( Mark Louis Rybczyk )
ghostcitytours.com
San Antonio Express News
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