Saenger Theatre

Opening night on January 19, 1927, drew crowds to hear local dignitaries praise Mobile's "Place of Entertainment," and today the Saenger Theatre remains the entertainment center of downtown. Designed by Emile Weil in the French Renaissance style, its ornate decorations recall the mythology of ancient Greece blended with coastal ornaments such as seahorses and shells. Built as a home for vaudeville and silent movies, it was one of several hundred movie houses owned by Julian and Abe Saenger of Louisiana. The theater retains its splendid interior with a massive chandelier, monumental gilded columns flanking the stage, and new murals in the stair lobby. Its exterior features an elaborately sculpted arch over the entrance, classical urns along the parapet, and decorative masonry on the facade.

Mobile, Alabama · United States