The Beach Theatre
Historic cinema & live performance venue
Corey's restored 1940 movie house, showing classic and new films plus plays, concerts and comedy.
Photo: @thebeachtheatre
About
What it's like
A single-screen Art Deco cinema from 1940 that sat empty from 2012 until a full rebuild and a July 2025 reopening. It screens a mix of new releases, classics, documentaries and themed one-offs most days of the week, and increasingly adds live shows: concerts, comedy, a play festival and its first full stage production in summer 2026. The lobby sells popcorn, candy and soft drinks, plus beer and wine for guests 21 and up. The room can also be booked for private screenings, parties and corporate events.
Don't leave without
What to get
- Tickets online through the theatre's Etix page, by phone at 1-800-514-3849, or at the box office, which opens 30 minutes before showtime
- Classic-film nights and themed screenings (e.g. Mamma Mia! on Mother's Day 2026)
- Live theatre, concerts and comedy on select dates
- Beer and wine at concessions (21+ with ID)
- Private event and screening rentals (email hhockman@thebeachtheatre.org for rates)
Plan ahead
Good to know
- Live music
- Occasional concerts and tribute shows, such as Celtic Conundrum (Aug 2025), a Fleetwood Mac tribute (Nov 2025) and The Undercovers (Jan 2026).
- Reservations
- Movies are general admission; some live events have reserved seats (own FAQ). Ticket sales are final except case-by-case refunds up to 1 hour before the show, via Etix.
The story
How it got here
Opened in 1940 as one of Pinellas County's first theatres built for sound films, it later ran as a first-run house, a discount house and for a time an adult theatre. Screenwriter Michael France owned it from 1997 until it closed in 2012; a 2021 buyer never reopened it. Insurance executive Ronald Hockman, his wife Sissy and their daughter Hannah, a theatre director, bought it in March 2024 for $1 million, and Hannah runs it.
Helene & Milton, 2024
Since the storms
Hurricane Helene (Sept 2024) pushed about six feet of storm surge into the auditorium and three feet into the lobby, and Hurricane Milton brought down the back wall, during the renovation. Because new equipment wasn't yet installed, the rebuild continued and the theatre reopened July 18, 2025 with new seats, screen, digital projector, sound, stage, roof and marquee.
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