Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
In 1917, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Got a $1,430.00 contract from the Murat Theatre.”
Sosman & Landis previously provided scenery for the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The Shrine building was named for the Nubian desert oasis Bin Murat. Bin Murat was named after Napoleon’s general Joachim Murat during his Egyptian campaign. The Murat Shrine in Indianapolis was located at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and New Jersey Street. The theater officially opened on March 1. By March 3, 1910, “The Waterloo Press” included a lovely article on the new structure in an article entitled “New Murat Theatre Opens” (page 2). The article reported, “The Murat Theatre, contained in what is said to be the most elaborate Mystic Shrine temple in the United States, was opened at Indianapolis, Ind., under the management of the Schubert Theatrical Producing Company. The temple, completed, will cost $250,000, but only the theatre has been finished. James T. Powers and his company, in the musical comedy, ‘Havana,’ gave the first performance in the theatre. Only the members of the Mystic Shrine were admitted but the subsequent performances will be public. The theatre is decorated with mural pictures representing camel caravans passing through a desert and approaching an oasis, and with other allegorical paintings symbolic of the significance of the Mystic Shrine.” The Schuberts leased the theater from 1910 to 1930. In 1910 Sosman & Landis also provided stock scenery for the Schuberts’ newly acquired Great Northern Theatre in Chicago.
Over the years, the building was known as the Murat Shrine Temple, Murat Shrine Theatre, Murat Theatre, and Old National Centre. It is now called the Murat Theatre at Old National Centre, located at North and New Jersey Street in Indianapolis. Noted at the oldest stage house in downtown Indianapolis, it is still in use.
To be continued…
