Paramount Theatre, Historic theater in Downtown Austin, United States
The Paramount Theatre is a four-story brick theatre in downtown Austin, designed by John Eberson and built in 1915. Its upper facade has three arched sections holding busts, set between rows of windows, with three balconied windows below; a white-trimmed marquee and glass entrance doors sit at street level. A vertical blade sign reading PARAMOUNT rises above the roofline.
Austin businessman Ernest Nalle commissioned architect John Eberson in January 1915, and the four-story house opened on October 11, 1915 as the Majestic Theatre on the Interstate Vaudeville Circuit, hosting the Marx Brothers. In 1930 a remodel under new owner Paramount-Publix added carpeting, upholstered seats, air conditioning, a sound system and the illuminated blade sign, and the venue took the Paramount name. The blade sign came down in November 1963 and was never reinstalled; a replica was lit on September 23, 2015.
The theater's name comes from Paramount-Publix, its owner after the 1930 remodel. Its stage hosted the Marx Brothers in vaudeville and the 1966 world premiere of Batman: The Movie. Since 2012 it has been the home of the annual Moontower Comedy Festival.
The entrance sits at street level beneath the marquee, with glass doors and poster cases along the base of the facade. The theatre is operated by the Austin Theatre Alliance together with the neighbouring State Theatre, so check which venue hosts a given event before arriving. The blade sign above the roofline is the easiest landmark to look for when approaching on foot.
The blade sign that crowns the facade is a 2015 reconstruction: the original, removed in November 1963 for refurbishment, was never reinstalled and its fate was never determined. With no surviving plans, designers rebuilt it by studying old film footage of the theatre. It was lit again on September 23, 2015, over 50 years after it disappeared.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,846 contributors worldwide.
