The Ellen first opened its door to the public on December 1, 1919, the first movie screened being The Miracle Man. The theatre also staged theatre and vaudeville productions and, over the years entertained Bozites with variety shows, silent movies, school plays, town band performances and even an opera featuring a live elephant.
Eventually facing competition from television, VCR and DVD rentals and streaming movies, the theatre fell into disrepair and was even in danger of having the doors closed forever when a Knight in Shining Armour appeared, Montana TheatreWorks, a local non-profit theatre group. The group bought the theatre in 2005 and renovated it back to its original resplendency. This came about only with the help of thousands of hours of volunteer labour and substantial donations. The theatre was even the recipient of a $100,000 digital projector and screen.
The Ellen seems to garner about a news story per week in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, as there's always something going on there. Below is a story written when the theatre reopened, the proud possessor of a brand new digital projector.
Ellen Theatre to show movies
AMANDA RICKER, Chronicle Staff Writer | Jan 5, 2012
Located at 17 W. Main St., the Ellen was built in 1919. Lavishly decorated and designed by renowned architect Fred Willson, the theater originally hosted vaudeville shows, silent movie premieres and even an opera featuring a live elephant.
Along with hundreds of donors and volunteers, [theatre Director John]
Ludin and his nonprofit Montana TheatreWorks restored and reopened the Ellen in 2008.
The historic downtown Bozeman playhouse got a high-end projector and screen, courtesy of local donors.
James C. Taylor of Bozeman and the Ruth and Vernon Taylor Foundation of Montana bought the Ellen a Christie Digital Light Processing projector and screen. It’s worth about $100,000, Ludin said, but the theatre got a deal through another benefactor, Abram Maxwell, who works for a projection company and used to run the Willson Auditorium.
The projector arrived Wednesday, and the Ellen’s first screening will be Jan. 20. The theatre will show “A Universe of Dreams,” a multimedia concert featuring images from the Hubble Space Telescope set to music, poetry and stories.
But that first show is the only one that’s set in stone, Ludin said.
A year ago, when the promoters of “A Universe of Dreams” called Ludin, he said he booked the show without knowing whether he’d have a projector. The Ellen has shown movies in the past but outside groups who put on the films had to rent the equipment.
Read more at the Bozeman Daily Chronicle