A theater on the corner of North Claiborne and Ursulines avenues went through a number of transformations and owners before meeting its demise in 2024.
Harlequin, an “airdome” (open-air) theater, opened in 1913. Owned by brothers Rene and Paul Brunet, it was the first theater to have an electrical seating system. Black and white patrons were separated by picket fences. In 1918-19, the theater was enclosed and a balcony was added for Black patrons.
“As an air-dome it was just kind of a low-end theater. You didn’t know when you were going to get rained on or whatever,” historian Jack Stewart told WWL-TV in 2022. “It kept getting bigger and bigger … until it had a balcony and everything in it.”
The next owner, Alex Schulman, changed the name to Plaza Theater. The name changed again in 1938 when United Theaters had a grand opening for the 460-seat Clabon Theater. It “boasted the latest in acoustical treatment and a new sound system,” a New Orleans landmark nomination states.
Clabon theater continued to serve the Black community throughout the Jim Crow era.
“Opened during the early years of the ‘golden age of movies,’” the landmark nomination states, “theaters like the Harlequin/Clabon exhibited a lavishness that soon became the hallmark of later movie palaces.”
Rene Brunet Jr. bought the theater in 1966 and sold it to the Full Gospel Church of God in Christ, pastored by the Rev. Charles Brown, in 1981. At some point, a disco operated in the building.
After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the vacant building fell into disrepair. Tracy Williams purchased it at a sheriff’s sale in late 2010. Plans to turn it into a hotel never materialized.
In 2022, the Clabon’s graffiti-covered Art Deco facade collapsed. The city demolished the rest of the building in 2024.
For more tales from New Orleans history, visit the Back in the Day archives.
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