| Oriental Theatre | |
| Address: | 2230 North Farwell Avenue |
| City: | Milwaukee |
| Country: | United States |
| Architect: | Gustave A. Dick Alex Bauer |
| Owner: | Newland Enterprises LLP |
| Operator: | Milwaukee Film |
| Capacity: | 1530 |
| Opened: | July 2, 1927[1] |
| Publictransit: | MCTS |
| Website: | https://cinema.mkefilm.org/oriental-theatre |
Oriental Theatre is a theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin operated by Milwaukee Film. The theater was built and opened in 1927 as a movie palace with East Indian decor. It is said to be the only movie palace to incorporate East Indian artwork.[2] Designed by Gustave A. Dick and Alex Bauer, the theater has two minaret towers, three stained glass chandeliers, several hand-drawn murals, six bigger-than-life Buddhas, dozens of original draperies, eight porcelain lions, and hundreds of elephants.
The Oriental Theatre has been showing independent and art films, as well as a few blockbuster Hollywood films.
The theater is the world record holder for continual showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.[3] It has hosted the film as a Saturday midnight movie since January 1978.
In 2005, the theater was dubbed one of the "10 Theaters Doing It Right" by Entertainment Weekly.[4]
In 2016, local artists oversaw the installation of a new street art destination in the alley behind the Oriental Theater, and named it the Black Cat Alley. '[5] As a part of the Black Cat Alley installation, French artist MTO painted a large mural of a green frog entitled "MTO's Bug" on the south wall of the theater, facing Kenilworth Avenue.'[6] The theater building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2023.[7]