Cocoa in Brevard County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

Cocoa Village Playhouse

(originally Aladdin Theater)

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, March 1, 2020

1. Cocoa Village Playhouse Marker

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

Has been placed on the

National Register
of Historic Places

by the United States
Department of the Interior

1924

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Arts, Letters, Music • Entertainment. A significant historical year for this entry is 1924.

Location. 28° 21.317′ N, 80° 43.568′ W. Marker is in Cocoa, Florida, in Brevard County. Marker is at the intersection of Brevard Avenue and Oleander Street, on the left when traveling south on Brevard Avenue. Marker is mounted at eye-level, directly on the subject theater building, just to the right of the main front entrance. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 300 Brevard Avenue, Cocoa FL 32922, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. The S. F. Travis Company (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Historic Cocoa Post Office (about 500 feet away); Edward Postell Porcher House (about 600 feet away); Emory Lawrence Bennett (about 600 feet away); Staff Sergeant Melvin Morris

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(about 700 feet away); St. Mark’s Episcopal Church (approx. 0.2 miles away); Historic Derby Street Chapel (approx. 0.3 miles away); Hernandez Trail (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Cocoa.

Regarding Cocoa Village Playhouse. National Register of Historic Places #91001541

Also see . . .
1. Aladdin Theater (Wikipedia). In 1924 the Aladdin Theater first started showing silent movies and live acts. It was built for $80,000. The Sparks Theater chain purchased the Aladdin in 1939 and changed its name to the "State Theater." The Kent Theater Chain purchased the building in 1960 and renamed it the Fine Arts Theater. Subsequently, the city of Cocoa bought the building and renamed it the Cocoa Village Playhouse. The city sold it to Brevard Community College for $1 in 1984. Through donations, and grants, the building was restored from 1985 through 1989. In 1990, the playhouse began staging community based musicals. (Submitted on March 2, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

2. History of the Playhouse. Established as the Aladdin Theater, the doors opened to the public

Cocoa Village Playhouse Marker<br>(<i>tall view</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, March 1, 2020

2. Cocoa Village Playhouse Marker
(tall view)

The Aladdin Theater is also on the Brevard County Register of Historic Buildings.

on August 18th, 1924, showing silent movies. Later, Brevard’s first “talkie” movie house became known as “the showplace of the Indian River Section”. Several owners and several decades later, the building was purchased by the City of Cocoa and renamed The Cocoa Village Playhouse. (Submitted on March 2, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Cocoa Village Playhouse Marker • <i>wide view<br>(marker visible just right of entrance)</i> image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, March 1, 2020

3. Cocoa Village Playhouse Marker • wide view
(marker visible just right of entrance)

Cocoa Village Playhouse Restoration Plaque<br>(<i>mounted at eye-level, just left of entrance</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, March 1, 2020

4. Cocoa Village Playhouse Restoration Plaque
(mounted at eye-level, just left of entrance)

Built in 1924 as the Aladdin Theater, this building was restored and reopened in 1988 through gifts from the community, public grants and the cooperation of Brevard Community College and the City of Cocoa.

Cocoa Village Playhouse, Inc.
Original Directors – 1985
John A. Scott, President
Sara Nisbet Barnhart • Noretta C. D’Albora • Lewis H. Berman • Lady Marie Louise Grundy • Richard Blake • Frank E. Sullivan, III • Phyllis Clifton • Richard B. Sydnor

Cocoa Village Playhouse Ticket Booth image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, March 1, 2020

5. Cocoa Village Playhouse Ticket Booth

Cocoa Village Playhouse / Aladdin Theater image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, March 1, 2020

6. Cocoa Village Playhouse / Aladdin Theater

Credits. This page was last revised on August 20, 2020. It was originally submitted on March 2, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 375 times since then and 228 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on March 2, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.