The Citrus Live

10/28/2024

Growth is like planting a seed — you won’t see the bloom right away, but with patience, a little sunlight, and steady care, something incredible starts to take root. 🍊

10/25/2024

💥GIVEAWAY ALERT!💥

One lucky winner will get the following:
🍊 A One-of-a-Kind Citrus Live Plaque from Re-Imagined & Transformed
🍊 ...and maybe some other goodies 😉

GIVEAWAY RULES:
-Follow us & Re-imagined and Transformed: From That to This by Karen Sánchez
-Tag your friends (each name is an entry)
-*Share this post and tag us for a bonus entry!!

Good luck everyone!!

🏆 Winner will be picked next Friday, November 1st.

10/24/2024

Over 2 years ago, a dedicated group of people secured a piece of history by purchasing their one-of-a-kind Citrus Theater seats during our Farewell Tour. Their support from the very beginning of this project has meant the world to us. 🧡

And last night, we were able to deliver their seats during an exclusive evening at the Citrus filled with awe, amazement, wonder, hope and joy. 🤩

We don't mean to sound like a broken record, but it truly is something special when we can feel the immense support from the community. It was indescribable, though, to hear it in person from our special guests. 🥰

If you're interested in purchasing your piece of Citrus history, we still have a few seats available. Send us a DM or purchase via the website to secure your's. 🍊

10/23/2024

🧡 Thank you to Re-imagined and Transformed: From That to This by Karen Sánchez for the lovely and unique gift. As we've been told, this used to be an old clock that was ♻️ saved from ending up in the landfill; it now has a new home and purpose. 🤩

We appreciate all the support and love 🤗 we've received over the course of this project from the community. 🥰 From your tokens, your photos, your memories, your gifts, and your 🙏🏻 prayers, they continuously motivate the team each and every day. 💪🏻 Thank you!

We're so eternally grateful. 🍊

10/15/2024

Take a seat and roll the reel! 🎥 This showing is definitely deserving of a 5-Star Review! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The historic theater seats at the Citrus Theater have been here for decades, witnessing countless movie nights and classic films in our beloved Downtown Edinburg. 🎞️

We're proud to preserve this piece of local history and cannot wait to invite the public to experience the new chapter firsthand. ✨

It is our hope that you'll join us as we continue this wonderful and storied legacy. 🍊 Stay tuned, Edinburg. 🧡

10/01/2024

🍊 NOW ACCEPTING BOOKING APPLICATIONS FOR 2025 🍊
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Due to the overwhelming response we've received over the course of this project from the community, we're now taking applications from those interested in booking their events within the Citrus Theater.

While we promise to do our best to accommodate everyone who sends in an application, please note that some dates might not be available. Those who submit an application will be contacted individually to coordinate Event Exploration Meetings with our team regarding availability, pricing, and the booking process. For those interested in booking multiple events, we ask that you please submit a Booking Application for each proposed event.

On behalf of the team at The Citrus Live, THANK YOU for your continued support and for your interest in our historic venue for your upcoming events. 🧡
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*Please Note An application submittal is NOT a confirmation of availability of your requested date. Event dates are NOT confirmed until a signed Service Rental Agreement is on file and the deposit to hold your date has been received.

The application can be found at- https://forms.gle/DZ3ELEL6gpzRwMmN6

09/13/2024

What an honor to coordinate with the Edinburg Chamber and Explore Edinburg to host several attendees of this year's South Texas International Film Festival during a morning cruise around Edinburg highlighting several important film, theater, & art locations. 📽️

Our team loves to talk about the history and legacy of the Citrus Theater with all who are eager to hear it, and to share what our soon-to-come-alive vision is for her new iteration as The Citrus Live. 🍊

Thank you to all the guests in attendance this morning 🤗 for their questions, their intrigue, and their secrecy. 😉

We cannot wait to announce the Grand Re-Opening & Reveal of The Citrus Live...very soon. 😎

Stay tuned! 🧡

07/29/2024

We know it's been a while since you've seen the exterior entrance of The Citrus Live...but with good reason! 🙈

So on this , we wanted to share a reminder of what the facade last looked like before the remodel process started. 🚧🔨

Our team has been hard at work to bring the interior back to life before we focus our efforts on the exterior! 🤩 We cannot wait to open the doors and show Her off in all Her glory. 🍊

06/25/2024

Back in 1941, there weren't high tech spreadsheets or software dedicated to figuring out the statistics of reels, shorts, and feature films back in the day. 🎞

Through the course of this project, we've unearthed some really unique and interesting discoveries! One of those was a Manager's Ledger recording the shorts, news reels, and feature films shown on a particular day, such as the one here from March 1, 1947. 📽

What's your guess as to what the numbers correspond to? 🍊

06/03/2024

We're excited to be part of this amazing organization. And we look forward to partnering together for a ribbon cutting in the near future. 😉 🧡🍊

Help us extend a warm welcome to our latest members! Your membership is valued and we're committed to providing invaluable resources, networking opportunities, and support to help you succeed.
Explore our complete member directory at www.edinburg.com.
Thank you for being part of the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce! 🥳


College Scholarship Leadership Access Program - CSLAP
Financial Advantage Consultants @ Member Construction, Auto Servicio El Viejon, G&G Liquor Play Street Museum Mail It TX The Citrus Live, The Good & The Bad Food Truck, The Dirty Bird

05/27/2024

A Letter From 🍊The Citrus Theater:

I debuted in January 1941. War was raging in Europe. I was here in December 1941 when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. This began a hard four years of war for our families.

I was the main source of visual news for you in the time before Television. At that time, and through the 1960’s, Theaters like myself showed you newsreels of current national and world events in “News Reels”. At the end of every movie showing I showed you world news- both the good and the bad. Unfortunately, our boys were sent to war in Korea in 1951. You saw that news here, too. I showed you the ugly pictures of war in Vietnam, but by this time in the mid 1960’s you got a lot of your news from T.V., but I still showed news reels. As the times changed, and news reels were no longer necessary, we continued to lose our fine boys in war as we did in Afghanistan and Iraq.

We've lost many boys; all were heroes. Our boys have always answered their call to duty and distinguished themselves doing so. I hereby respectfully list all Edinburg boys lost in war beginning with WWI. I consider them all my boys too, as all their families continued visiting me.

Thank you for your service and your sacrifice. ❤️🤍💙

04/08/2024

Over the course of our project bringing the Citrus back to life, we've come across some amazing discoveries and peeks into her former life. 🎞️

Thank you to Joshua Kennedy for his assistance in cleaning and cataloging the projection room. It's been amazing to look at parts of film history that were previously lost to time. 📽️

Everyday we get closer and closer to announcing her Grand Reveal. ✨ Thank you, once again, for being supportive and patient with our team. 🍊🧡

11/28/2023

➡️ Let's take a step back in time...

For all the kids out there, before you could walk around with the world in the palm of your had, you had to 🪙 pay! each time you needed to call your parents to pick you up after the movie. There was no texting back then. 🙈

Pay phones 📞 were public usage phones that allowed someone to make a quick phone call from your location. Because it was open to the public, though, many locations imposed ⏰ time limits. Note how long you were allowed on the phone at the Citrus Theater! 😬

Who did you used to call on the pay phone?
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Thank you 🙏🏻 and for helping to capture this unique look into history during our Farewell Tour. 🤩

10/13/2023

In 1948, the Citrus Theater 🍊 showed the 📽️ feature film "Night Song". It starred Ms. Merle Oberon and Mr. Dana Andrews.

As you can see on the marquee, a 🎞️ news reel was also shown. So was a cartoon. This was commonplace in the early years of movie theaters- patrons received much of their visual news while watching a movie. Personal 📺 TVs were not commonplace in households until the 1960s.
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📸 : Metal Print of Original Photo As Displayed at Denny's on W. University Dr.

10/04/2023

The 📽️ Projection Room

➡️ Did You Know: The most dangerous room inside the Citrus Theater was the Projection Room. This room high above the theater housed the movie projectors that showed the films featured on the big screen. And while, today, we might think of a movie projector as a small and compact item we can easily fit in our pocket, back in 1941, these mighty and massive machines were powered through 🔥 combustion! 😳

One mishap...and well...😬🙈 Thank goodness that NEVER happened at our beloved 🍊 Citrus! 🙏🏻

But the remnants of the safety features of the day still remain- a fire tight door that sealed automatically in case something went awry, a pulley system to close the projection holes to keep any flames and 💨 smoke away from the patrons, and the precariously delicate holder for a "fire extinguisher 💣 bomb" that not only removed all the oxygen in the room so as to 😵 kill the fire, but, well, the person in the room, too. 🙈

Our team has been continuously 💪🏻 hard at work to preserve the historical integrity of some of these unique features inside The Citrus Live. 🤗 We look forward to the day when we can unveil Her in her new glory- a blending of Her 20th Century charm with the comforts of 21st Century amenities.

Thank you, Edinburg, for all your support and patience. 🧡

08/03/2023

Marquee signs rose to prominence in the 1930s when they were used outside theaters. The rise of the automobile directly impacted the design of marquee letters. No longer was the only traffic via foot, and as a result, signage needed to be seen from a moving car on a road. Marquee signs are a significant part of theater architecture and history.

Through the course of our cleaning and working on the revitalization project, we came across the original marquee letters used to announce the films being shown at the Citrus Theater! 🤩 You may have seen our messages over the last months during our project. The years had not been kind to their condition previously, but this endeavor has put us in touch with many local experts within the film, restoration, construction, and history industries. 🤗

THANK YOU once again to 🎨 artist 🎞️ film enthusiast and local historian, Laura Sofrito, for her encouragement and for being one of the first supporters of the restoration efforts to help us put this amazing piece of Citrus Theater history back together for others to admire. 🙌🏻

07/17/2023

Back in 1968, 🍊 The Citrus Theater featured a British film that was nominated for an Academy Award in 1969 for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay- "Hot Millions". The film, starring Peter Ustinov, Bob Newhart, and Maggie Smith, was about a con man who steals a computer whiz's identity, falls in love with his secretary, and runs away to Rio all while on the run after it's discovered he's stolen millions of dollars.

Through the course of our cleaning and working on the revitalization project, we came across the original movie poster that had been displayed to market the film! 🤩 The years had not been kind to its condition, but this endeavor has put us in touch with many local experts within the film, restoration, construction, and history industries. 🤗

THANK YOU once again to 📽️ filmmaker and 🎞️ film historian Joshua Kennedy for his support and for volunteering to help us put this amazing piece of Citrus Theater history back together for others to admire. 🙌🏻

07/10/2023

Back in 1969, 🍊 The Citrus Theater featured one of the more risque films of its time- "If He Hollers, Let Him Go!". The film, starring Dana Wynter, Raymond St. Jacques, and Kevin McCarthy, was about an escaped convict who tries to clear his name, but ends up in a murder-for-hire scheme.

Through the course of our cleaning and working on the revitalization project, we came across the original movie poster that had been displayed to market the film! 🤩 The years had not been kind to its condition, but this endeavor has put us in touch with many local experts within the film, restoration, construction, and history industries. 🤗

THANK YOU to 📽️ filmmaker and 🎞️ film historian for his support and for volunteering to help us put this amazing piece of Citrus Theater history back together for others to admire. 🙌🏻