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The Sheridan Theatre
John Eberson’s Deco Dream
John Eberson (1875-1954) was perhaps America’s
foremost motion picture theatre architect.
The hundreds of theatres he designed have won him
the nickname “Architect of Dreams”.
Through the late 1920s, Eberson’s theatres were
heavily-ornamented inside and out, giving the
audience the illusion of being in a castle or palace
courtyard under a summer night sky.
But the depression was cruel to
both the theatre industry and
Eberson.
While box office receipts
declined, his ornate downtown
“movie palaces” remained
expensive to build and operate.
At the same time, desperate
theatre chains sought to bring
the movies to their audiences
by building neighborhood
theatres.
Eberson radically retooled his style to provide high
fashion at a depression discount, designing 1,000 seat
art deco theatres for neighborhoods across the country.
The first of the dozen Eberson theatres in the
Washington area was the streamline moderne Penn,
which opened on Capitol Hill in January, 1935.
To survive the depression, businesses had to draw both
automobile and street car traffic.
Eberson’s world-famous Silver Theatre (1938) in
downtown Silver Spring incorporates a shopping center
and off-street parking, which served shoppers by day and
moviegoers by night.
The Silver Theatre’s direct ancestor is in the District of
Columbia. Eberson’s Sheridan Theatre, which opened in
January 1937 on the streetcar line connecting downtown
to Silver Spring, was the first DC movie house combined
with retail stores and off-street parking.
The Sheridan Theatre shares many Eberson hallmarks
with the Silver, including the sweeping curved façade of
the lobby and the “speed line” stripes on its façade.
The storefronts in the Sheridan complex, which were
erected at the same time as the theatre, wrap a forecourt
parking lot in a graceful art deco curve and bracket the
lobby entrance.
Morton Levy, a Washington storefront designer,
incorporated many Ebersonian themes in the Sheridan
retail facades, including the finned crests that Eberson
used most prominently in his design for the Atlantic
Theatre in Far SW DC (1945).
The Sheridan Theatre exhibited films until 1971, shortly
afterwards becoming the home of Theatre West and the
Black American Theatre for live performances. It has since
been a church and retail space.
The shopping center, whose original tenants included a
Kresge 5 & 10 and A&P Supermarket, has served the
Brightwood community for almost 75 years.
Today the National Register of Historic Places lists 26
Eberson-designed buildings, located all across the
country.
However, much of Eberson’s legacy has disappeared
from the District of Columbia.
Washington’s “Lost Ebersons”
Theatre
Calvert
Opened Demolished
1937
1967
Wisconsin Avenue at Hall Place NW
Beverly
1938
1970s
1945
1967
1945
2007
15th and E Streets NE
Anacostia
1415 Good Hope Road SE
Atlantic
21 Atlantic Street SW
Like The Penn, only the façade of Eberson’s Kennedy Theatre (1939)
remains as part of a newer structure.
Eberson designed the Atlantic Theatre with his son Drew to serve war
workers in Far SW. It was demolished in 2007.
Today the Sheridan Theatre complex stands
intact, although its original flowing lines are
somewhat obscured by added–on signage.
ARE ALL LANDMARKS
MUSEUMS?
CAN A LANDMARK BE FUN?
The Atlas Theatre was built on H Street NE a year after the Sheridan
opened. After years of disuse, it was restored as a multimedia
performing arts center in 2006.
Today, there’s something for everyone at the Atlas.
•
Acting for Kids
•
Adventure Theatre, the Metropolitan Washington area’s oldest children's theatre company, will
begin offering drama classes for kids ages 2-12 at the Atlas Performing Arts Center!
Light Saber Adventures (ages 7-12)
Mondays 4pm-5pm
January 12th-March 16th
Learn to safely wield a Star Wars Saber. This class will teach lessons in safety, discipline, how to
focus, teamwork and conflict resolution all within the safe framework of basic stage combat
movement.
Adventures in Theatre 1 (ages 6-8)
Wednesdays 4pm-5pm January 14th-March 18th
Take a journey through drama and the basics of acting, improvisation, and character development
through theatre games and fun acting exercises. $200
Creative Drama Mama (Ages 2-4 with adult)
Saturdays
10am-10:45am January 17th-March 21st
Creative Drama Mama (and Dads and Grandparents and Caregivers too!)
Take a trip with your child through their imagination and yours. The instructor will guide the class
on a theatrical journey through fairy tales, fables, tall tales and more. Instructor guided, and child
inspired (working toward child guided).
Pre-School Adventures in Theatre (ages 3-
The Atlas Retail block has become a popular dance studio.
The Uptown Theatre
opened just across
Connecticut Avenue from
the National Register
Landmark Park & Shop in
1936.
The Park & Shop was renovated about 20 years ago.
Today it is home to a diverse mix of community-themed businesses. They
have a combination of chain, franchise, and, most particularly, individual
ownership.
Why not the Sheridan?