1931 Rapp and Rapp Movie Palace and Performing Arts House
1300 Winchester Avenue, Ashland, KY 41101
Age
All Ages (varies by show)
Cost
$$
Ticket prices vary by performance; the Paramount runs a full season of concerts, classic film screenings, and stage productions. Self-guided lobby viewing is free during box-office hours.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved sidewalks, interior carpeted lobby and aisles. Some balcony seating reached by stairs only.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1931 · Rapp and Rapp Design · Early Sound-Era Movie Palace · Billy Ray Cyrus Music Video Location
The Paramount Theater was designed by the Chicago architectural firm Rapp and Rapp, who were responsible for many of the Paramount-Publix chain's flagship picture palaces. Opening on September 5, 1931, the building was distinctive as one of the first theaters in the country built specifically to handle synchronized sound rather than retrofitted from a silent-era venue.
The Paramount operated as a first-run movie house for four decades before closing in 1971 amid declining downtown ticket sales. Rather than allow demolition, a group of community leaders chartered the Greater Ashland Foundation, which purchased the building in 1972 and reopened it as a performing-arts center.
The Paramount has hosted regional and national touring acts since its conversion. In 1992, Billy Ray Cyrus filmed the music video for "Achy Breaky Heart" inside the theater, an event still commemorated by autographed posters displayed in the box office's Wall of Fame.
The building remains in active use as a non-profit performance space with year-round programming and is one of the most architecturally intact Rapp and Rapp interiors still operating in the United States.
Sources
The legend of Paramount Joe centers on a construction worker who is said to have died inside the theater during early renovation work, found hanging from the curtain rigging by his coworkers when they returned from lunch. Independent historical sourcing of the specific incident is thin, but the story has been carried by venue staff for decades and is now part of the theater's identity.
In 1992, when Billy Ray Cyrus filmed his "Achy Breaky Heart" music video at the Paramount, the singer was told about Joe and reportedly chatted with him between takes. Cyrus autographed posters for the women who worked at the theater, including one inscribed personally to Joe. When years later staff began removing some of the duplicate Cyrus posters from the Wall of Fame to make room, they took down Joe's signed copy. The next morning, every signed 8x10 and poster in the box office was reportedly found on the floor, many with shattered glass. Joe's poster was returned to the wall and now hangs in the Marquee Room near Paramount Joe's Rising Star Cafe.
A frequently retold staff story involves the basement stairwell, where independent switches must be used to turn lights off at the same spot they were turned on. Two new employees descending the stairs called up to the marketing director to switch on the next light, only to learn that he had been on a phone call and had not touched the switches. When they returned, the light had been turned off again.
In 2004, marketing director Tyson Compton reported that, while telling Joe's story to a group of high-school students, he stopped to address Joe directly. He heard a single seat squeak in the empty auditorium. The next day, he received an unsolicited call from a local psychic who said she had been instructed to tell him "Joe says he is here."
Notable Entities
Behind-the-scenes tours of the 1931 Rapp and Rapp auditorium, including the Wall of Fame in the box office where every performer's signed 8x10 hangs alongside a personally autographed Billy Ray Cyrus poster dedicated to the theater's resident ghost, Paramount Joe.
Catch a concert, classic film screening, or stage production in the restored 1,400-seat auditorium. The lobby and Marquee Room can be explored before the show.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Albuquerque, NM
The KiMo Theater opened on September 19, 1927 in downtown Albuquerque as a Pueblo Deco picture palace. Italian-American entrepreneur Oreste Bachechi commissioned the theater; Carl Boller of the Boller Brothers firm designed it after studying Southwestern Indigenous architectural traditions. The City of Albuquerque purchased and restored the theater in 1977, and it remains a working performance venue.
Joliet, IL
The Rialto Square Theatre opened May 24, 1926, designed by Chicago firm Rapp & Rapp for the six Rubens brothers. Its Neo-Baroque interior — modeled in part on the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles — earned it a place on the American Institute of Architects's '150 Great Places in Illinois' and a listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Charlotte, MI
The Eaton Theatre opened January 7, 1931, in downtown Charlotte, Michigan, with its inaugural film 'Whoopee' starring Eddie Cantor. Designed by architect R.V. Day in the Art Deco style with a characteristic large square marquee and vertical sign, the original 750-seat single-screen cinema was expanded to two screens in 1992. It remains an operating first-run cinema.