Comments on: The Pantages Theatre

By: Mike Watson

Mike Watson — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 23:38:22 +0000

I leased the old Pantages Theatre from Quon Wong who had a real estate company on Pender St. I operated the theatre from the early to mid 70’s as City Nights Theatre (a takeoff from City Nights Bookstore in San Francisco). I was a draft dodger from Nebraska and came to Vancouver in 1969. I decided to show double feature movies that had some artistic merit for 99 cents. Occasionally, I would have live music with Danny Mack and the Cement City Cowboys. I also did John Gray’s musical “Salty Tears on a Hangnail Face” with Suzy Payne.
City Nights was profitable and I sold it about 1976 and moved with my wife Arlo to Austin to open the “Rome Inn”, an alt country nightclub featuring acts like Willie Nelson when he was in town, Doug Sahm and the Texas Tornadoes and weekly shows from a young Stevie Ray Vaughan along with a host of other talent from the Hill Country of Texas.
My ex-wife and friend Arlo currently lives in Detroit and I live in Las Vegas. Arlo and I talk once a week.

By: Richard Skelly

Richard Skelly — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 02:03:04 +0000

How could I forget! The projectionist at the City Nights was Dick Pantages. He was a descendant of the famous family that built the theatre, the ill-fated Vaudeville house down the street and similar showplaces around North America. In between reel changes, it was great to shoot the breeze with Dick. Even in winter, he always wore a white tee-shirt. The projection booth felt like a sauna from heat thrown off by the machinery. Verging on dangerous, too, as electrical arcs leapt off the apparatus! Down below, cinephiles and spliff-sneaking counterculturalists watched as edgy flicks like Zabriskie Point hit the screen.

By: Richard Skelly

Richard Skelly — Sun, 28 Jan 2018 15:43:59 +0000

Back in the mid ‘70s I worked part-time at the City Nights to defray UBC tuition. Double features were the stock in trade. After selling tickets for the first flick, I could hit the books knowing only a straggler or three might approach the wicket. Meanwhile, Debbie Vegsund got the popcorn and confections ready for intermission.

It really was a grand old place, but starting to come apart at the seams. Infiltrating moisture never sleeps. A feisty lady called Arlo Watson and her husband and brother-in-law owned the theatre and installed an operations manager named David.

Shortly before I quit to take a better gig at UBC’s main library, the theatre (i.e. yours truly in the box office) was held up. The perp got rattled and his gun went off. Luckily it was a pellet gun. Luckier still, the pellet went wild, whizzing by my ear.

By: Urban Fare at the Village at False Creek | Every House Has a Story

Urban Fare at the Village at False Creek | Every House Has a Story — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 18:09:15 +0000

[…] But this one has a twist which is really impressive. Staff have recycled the bricks from the Pantages Theatre on Hastings Street—the one that died from neglect last year—and built an archway smack in the […]

By: Heritage Turkeys | Every House Has a Story

Heritage Turkeys | Every House Has a Story — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 02:33:22 +0000

[…] The Pantages for demolition of historic theatre and “Vancouver’s Highway to hell” for “historic cannery demolition, threat to archaeological and burial grounds.’ The South Fraser Perimeter Road […]

By: Peter Pantages and the Polar Bear Swim | Every House Has a Story

Peter Pantages and the Polar Bear Swim | Every House Has a Story — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 22:43:40 +0000

[…] started work as an usher at his cousin Alexander’s Pantages Theatre on Hastings Street. By 1929 he was running the Peter Pan Café on Granville with his three […]

By: Heritage Vancouver Society

Heritage Vancouver Society — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:58:51 +0000

Not only ‘demolition by neglect,’ but ‘demolition by indecision’…