Still Old School
The Ellen Theatre
Theaters go dark between shows. This intermission just ran long.
The Story
Bozeman's 1919 Main Street theater, saved and restored by Montana TheatreWorks. Live shows and film nights again, for more than 55,000 people a year.
The Ellen opened on December 1, 1919, with a film called The Miracle Man. Fred Willson designed it. The Story family built it and named it for Ellen Trent Story. For decades it carried vaudeville, movies and civic nights on Main Street, which covered about everything a town needed a big room for.
By the 2000s the building needed saving. Montana TheatreWorks bought it, renovated it, and reopened it on December 4, 2008, with A Christmas Carol. Good choice for a comeback.
Now more than 55,000 people a year come through, and the 2025 calendar kept the shows and film nights coming. Theaters go dark between shows. This one’s intermission just ran long.
Catch a show on Main. If you remember the movie-house years, tell us what was playing.
Why It's Still Old School
A 1919 playhouse named for Ellen Trent Story. By the 2000s it needed saving. It got saved, and reopened in 2008 with A Christmas Carol.
Photos
Coming soon. Know something that belongs here?
Still There.
- Address
- 17 W. Main St., Bozeman, MT, 59715
- Phone
- 406-585-5885
Sources
Got a Story About This Place?
You're Old School Montana if... you picked up ranch pants and fence clips in the same aisle and called it running errands
You're Old School Montana if... you checked for the blue light on the Baxter before anybody started arguing about Bridger snow
What do you say?
While You're Here
Montana Original
Bridger Bowl
Opened with one employee. One.
Somehow Still Here
Haufbrau House
Nobody has sanded anything.
Been Here Awhile
The Western Cafe
Bozeman changed fast. The chicken fried steak didn't.