City/Town: • West Palm Beach |
Location Class: • Theatrical |
Built: • 1939 | Abandoned: • 2005 |
Status: • Demolished |
Photojournalist: • David Bulit |
Table of Contents
The Carefree Theatre
Once located on the corner of Dixie Highway and Flamingo Drive, the former Carefree Theater began as an ice cream parlor and coin laundry. In 1939, the building was bought by Elias Chalhub, who opened a bowling alley across the hall, the Carefree Bowlaway, with wooden pins and ten lanes that were the largest in the state at the time. When it first opened, “Pin boys” were used who would manually set the pins and roll the balls back to the players until automatic pinsetters were later installed.
On November 18, 1948, the movie theater opened with The Egg and I, starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray. Some sources, though, state that it opened with The Saxon Charm, a backstage drama starring Robert Montgomery and Susan Hayward. It originally had 800 seats, but the two front rows were removed for a curved stage constructed in front of the screen, reducing the seating to 772. The Carefree Theatre was also touted as the only theater in the South with a Cinemascope screen 43 feet wide and 16 feet high. Facing the street was retail space with offices and a dressing room located above it.
Ownership Under Fantasma Productions
In the 1960s, General Cinemas managed the theater, and throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, it had become a second-run bargain house. In 1984, Carefree was bought by John Stoll, the founder and president of Fantasma Productions, one of the world’s longest-standing and largest concert promoters and producers. From 1986 to 2001, he operated the Comedy Corner, where the bowling alley and a retail art gallery were located.
At that time, it was one of the top venues for comedy in the nation. Larry the Cable Guy got his start at the Comedy Corner as the warmup act. Some other well-known entertainers who performed there included Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Bill Hicks, Bill Mayer, Steve Harvey, Norm MacDonald, Drew Carey, Pauly Shore, and Carrot Top. Live concerts were also played here, including musical acts by Weird Al, Brian Setzer, Meat Loaf, and many more. B. B. King would also play there once a year to sold-out crowds.
Stoll began offering second-run movies and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which ran continuously for over 15 years. In the 90s, first-run foreign and art films were shown, making it the most successful art house in the nation. The theatre became host to the Palm Beach Film Festival and South Florida Jewish Film Festival every year.
Closure and Demolition
On December 6, 2005, the theater and Chinese restaurant that shared the building were evacuated when the roof collapsed over an empty storefront on the south side of the building. This prompted city officials to shutter and condemn the building. The Carefree Theater was demolished on September 7, 2016.
In 2016, it was announced that the property had been purchased by real estate developer Charles S. Cohen. Cohen planned to build a complex that would include a six-screen theater and 94 luxury apartments in two buildings in a 1920s Mediterranean style similar to that of The Breakers Hotel. As of 2023, the lot where the Carefree Theatre once stood remains empty.
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