Embassy Theatre
125 W. Jefferson Boulevard
Fort Wayne IN 46832
Fort Wayne IN 46832
Venue Notes
×
On May 14, 1928, the doors of the magnificent Emboyd Theatre opened in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Built as a movie palace and vaudeville house, the Emboyd provided a majestic backdrop for the entertainment of the day, complete with a Page theatre pipe organ. The Emboyd came complete with the seven-story, 150-room Indiana Hotel wrapped around the north and west sides of the theatre. Clyde Quimby, theater operator, had commissioned A.M. Strauss to design the Indiana Hotel and John Eberson to design the Emboyd.
Vaudeville was at its height of popularity and the Emboyd featured acrobats, comedians, magicians and musicians. For nearly 25 years the biggest and brightest stars of stage and screen graced the Emboyd stage: Perry Como; Lawrence Welk; Louis Armstrong; Tony Bennett; Chico Marx; Doris Day; Duke Ellington; Cab Calloway; Donald O’Connor; Marilyn Maxwell; Red Skelton; Victor Borge; and Artie Shaw were perennial favorites. Bob Hope’s first emcee job was at the Emboyd. Over time, television and “talkies” slowly eroded the popularity of silent films and vaudeville acts, the mainstay of the Emboyd. In 1952, the Emboyd Theatre and Indiana Hotel were sold to the Alliance Amusement Corporation, along with the Indiana Hotel adjacent to the theatre. The name changed to the Embassy Theatre.
After the sale, the Embassy continued to operate as a movie palace. During this time, the theatre pipe organ, lovingly nicknamed Miss Page, was rarely used. A small group of organ enthusiasts came together to become the unofficial guardians of the organ and its home, the Embassy Theatre. Buddy Nolan was one of these guardians.
With stints playing piano at local restaurants and also employed as house organist at the Embassy in the 1950s and 1960s, Buddy and his friends continued to maintain and restore the organ, often with money from their own pockets. In 1963, Nolan played the first concert on the Embassy’s restored Grande Page Pipe Organ from midnight to 2:30 a.m., beginning the tradition of Nolan’s famed Theatre Organ at Midnight concerts. Despite the late hour, Nolan’s concerts were a tourist attraction for theatre organ lovers from neighboring states.
During this time, the Embassy Theatre and the Grande Page held on while other theatres in downtown Fort Wayne succumbed to destruction. Times were changing and the Indiana Hotel was closed in 1971.
Faced with the wrecking ball in 1972, a handful of community leaders and volunteers, led by Robert Goldstine, banded together to form the Embassy Theatre Foundation. Their goal was to protect the building for the good of the community and preserve the home of the Grande Page Pipe Organ. Through the efforts of these volunteers and the support of a caring community, the successful “Save the Embassy” campaign raised the $250,000 necessary to rescue the building from demolition with just two days to spare.
After the building was saved, the work really began. Volunteers, including Donald Fox, Ray Danford, Chuck Wyss, Byron Fogt, Ellsworth Smith, Bob Nickerson, Bill Zabel, Ron Cayot, Becky Sumpter and countless others kept the Embassy alive by feeding coal bought with their own money into furnaces to keep the pipes from freezing. Efforts to fix the leaking roof and clean coal dust from the terra-cotta walls and lobbies continued. Buddy Nolan, Bob Goldstine and Dyne Pfeffenberger spearheaded the political and philanthropic efforts to create a long-term plan for the operation of Fort Wayne’s treasured historic theatre.
For more history information, please visit us The Historic Embassy Theatre
Capacity: 2408
Buy Tickets For Events in this Venue
Directions
Vaudeville was at its height of popularity and the Emboyd featured acrobats, comedians, magicians and musicians. For nearly 25 years the biggest and brightest stars of stage and screen graced the Emboyd stage: Perry Como; Lawrence Welk; Louis Armstrong; Tony Bennett; Chico Marx; Doris Day; Duke Ellington; Cab Calloway; Donald O’Connor; Marilyn Maxwell; Red Skelton; Victor Borge; and Artie Shaw were perennial favorites. Bob Hope’s first emcee job was at the Emboyd. Over time, television and “talkies” slowly eroded the popularity of silent films and vaudeville acts, the mainstay of the Emboyd. In 1952, the Emboyd Theatre and Indiana Hotel were sold to the Alliance Amusement Corporation, along with the Indiana Hotel adjacent to the theatre. The name changed to the Embassy Theatre.
After the sale, the Embassy continued to operate as a movie palace. During this time, the theatre pipe organ, lovingly nicknamed Miss Page, was rarely used. A small group of organ enthusiasts came together to become the unofficial guardians of the organ and its home, the Embassy Theatre. Buddy Nolan was one of these guardians.
With stints playing piano at local restaurants and also employed as house organist at the Embassy in the 1950s and 1960s, Buddy and his friends continued to maintain and restore the organ, often with money from their own pockets. In 1963, Nolan played the first concert on the Embassy’s restored Grande Page Pipe Organ from midnight to 2:30 a.m., beginning the tradition of Nolan’s famed Theatre Organ at Midnight concerts. Despite the late hour, Nolan’s concerts were a tourist attraction for theatre organ lovers from neighboring states.
During this time, the Embassy Theatre and the Grande Page held on while other theatres in downtown Fort Wayne succumbed to destruction. Times were changing and the Indiana Hotel was closed in 1971.
Faced with the wrecking ball in 1972, a handful of community leaders and volunteers, led by Robert Goldstine, banded together to form the Embassy Theatre Foundation. Their goal was to protect the building for the good of the community and preserve the home of the Grande Page Pipe Organ. Through the efforts of these volunteers and the support of a caring community, the successful “Save the Embassy” campaign raised the $250,000 necessary to rescue the building from demolition with just two days to spare.
After the building was saved, the work really began. Volunteers, including Donald Fox, Ray Danford, Chuck Wyss, Byron Fogt, Ellsworth Smith, Bob Nickerson, Bill Zabel, Ron Cayot, Becky Sumpter and countless others kept the Embassy alive by feeding coal bought with their own money into furnaces to keep the pipes from freezing. Efforts to fix the leaking roof and clean coal dust from the terra-cotta walls and lobbies continued. Buddy Nolan, Bob Goldstine and Dyne Pfeffenberger spearheaded the political and philanthropic efforts to create a long-term plan for the operation of Fort Wayne’s treasured historic theatre.
For more history information, please visit us The Historic Embassy Theatre
Capacity: 2408