RITZ  . GUILD  .  EVERGREEN   .  CIRCUIT PLAYHOUSE 1705 Poplar      
 
Opened 1928  .     Closed 1967 .  Seats 800.

Renamed The Guild Theatre ... circa 1955 .  Renamed The Circuit Playhouse ... circa 1981

The building was damaged by fire in 1955 and was rebuilt.  Today, the building is structurally sound and has retained many of its architectural features.   It's currently available for rentals.
The Ritz on Poplar is listed in the 1928 through 1958 Memphis Directories.  The address varies from 1705 to 1707 Poplar.

 
 

Ritz - Circa 1930

Ritz at night

Vintage photo of Ritz

The Guild
 

The Evergreen

The Circuit Playhouse

Interior

1940 Ad

1953 Ad
 
 

   




There were other Ritz Theaters -  One on Mississippi and one on Madison.  Neither of these is listed in the  Memphis Directories.  The Mississippi Ritz opened in 1959, closed 1967, had 800 seats, and was demolished in 1969.

 

1490 Mississippi

Madison

 April 4, 1950
 
 
 

Walter Bolton:  "There were two different Ritz Theaters.  At one time the Guild was named The Ritz... In addition, in segregated Memphis, the "white Ritz" was on Poplar, and the "colored Ritz" was on Mississippi.  The one on Poplar had a large fire and after it was re-modeled, it became an art house and the name was changed to GUILD."

 

 
   

 

 Historic Memphis Website
   

Credits
 

The Historic-Memphis website does not intentionally post copyrighted photos and material without permission or credit.  On occasion a "non-credited" photo might possibly be posted because we were unable to find a name to give credit.  Because of the nature of our non-commercial, non-profit, educational website, we strongly believe that these photos would be considered "Fair Use.  We have certainly made no monetary gain, although those using this website for historic or Genealogy research have certainly profited.  If by chance, we have posted your copyrighted photo, please contact us, and we'll remove it immediately, or we'll add your credit if that's your choice.  In the past, we have found that many photographers volunteer to have their works included on these pages and we'll  also do that if you contact us with a photo that fits a particular page. 

 

The "Historic-Memphis" website would like to acknowledge and thank the following for their contributions which helped make this website possible:  Memphis Public Library, Memphis University Library, Memphis Law Library, Memphis Commercial Appeal, Memphis Press Scimitar, Shelby County Register of Deeds, Memphis City Schools, Memphis Business Men's Club, Memphis Chamber of Commerce, Memphis City Park Commission, Memphis Film Commission, Carnival Memphis, Memphis Historical Railroad Page, Memphis Heritage Inc, Beale Street Historic District, Cobblestone Historic District, Memphis Historic Districts, Vance Lauderdale Family Archives, Tennessee State Archives, Library of Congress, Kemmons Wilson Family, Richard S. Brashier, Lee Askew, George Whitworth, Woody Savage and many individuals whose assistance is acknowledged on the pages of their contributions.  Special thanks to Memphis Realtor, Joe Spake, for giving us carte blanche access to his outstanding collection of contemporary Memphis photos.

We do not have high definition  copies of the photos on these pages.  If anyone wishes to secure high definition photos,  you'll have to contact the photographer  or the collector.  (To avoid any possibility of contributing to SPAM, we do not maintain a file of email addresses for anyone who contacts us).