“There once was a time in this business when I had the eyes of the whole world! But that wasn’t good
enough for them, oh no! They had to have the ears of the whole world too. So they opened their big
mouths and out came talk. Talk! TALK!”
~Norma Desmond, lines taken from the movie, ‘Sunset Boulevard’
Kicking around northern Nebraska on Saturday afternoon, I ran across this marvelous old theater in Neligh. Originally built during the second great war, The New Moon was designed by Omaha architect, H.A. Raapke, and seated approximately 550. Interestingly, the raw materials used to construct this treasure were confined to those largely not restricted by the War Production Board. Thus, a stone base surmounted by glazed brick in black and cream was used for the facade, and the entrance lobby was floored with asphalt tile in a herringbone pattern.
Pre-war carpet was selected for the inner lobby and the auditorium’s aisles, and both inner and outer lobbies received wallboard paneling with an imitation walnut finish. The ceiling of the 552-seat auditorium featured three offsets concealing indirect lighting from fluorescent tubes, and the walls were paneled in an acoustic-friendly material. To save money, the auditorium’s decoration was mostly stenciled, some of it using the crescent moon shape which was the theater’s signature. The theater’s facade, pictured here, had a small central tower surmounted by a neon crescent moon.
Still in operation today, The New Moon Theater is open from Labor Day to Memorial Day.
Special thanks goes out to Sandra for her kindness and willingness to open up the doors of The New Moon to an outsider.
The New Moon Theater Marquis, Neligh, NE
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