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Historic Movie Theaters of Columbia

Author Talk

Join local author Dianna Borsi O’Brien as she discusses her newly published book and shares fascinating facts about all 28 movie theaters of Columbia, from the 1894 Haden Opera House to today's Ragtag Cinema. Books will be available for purchase. Adults & teens. Seating is limited, so please register. Masks are required.

For more than 100 years, Columbia’s movie theaters have reflected the changes around them. In 1928, the Hall Theatre showed its first talkie, only the third venue in Missouri to do so. As America fell in love with cars, Columbia’s three drive-ins featured pony rides, monkeys and playgrounds. In response to segregation, which forced Black patrons to sit in the balcony, in 1949 two Black entrepreneurs built the Tiger Theatre, a double-duty movie theater and nightclub. Today, Columbia features a cinema in a repurposed soda bottling plant and holds the international documentary festival, True/False!

Join local author Dianna Borsi O’Brien as she discusses her newly published book, "Historic Movie Theaters of Columbia, Missouri," and shares fascinating facts about all 28 movie theaters of Columbia from the 1894 Haden Opera House to today's Ragtag Cinema.

Books will be available for purchase and signing.

Adults and teens. Seating is limited, so please register. Masks are required.