The World Theatre is housed inside the historic Masonic Temple Building. Built in 1927, the structure still houses the Rob Morris chapter of the Masons as well as Job's Daughters, Dimolet, and various other community groups. Few pictures of the original building remain, but the World Theatre Foundation is drawing up renovation plans using the original blueprints from 1926.
Architect James T. Allen (1889-1957) of Omaha was chosen to design the Masonic Temple & World Theatre building. Prior to constructing the Masonic Temple & World Theatre in Kearney, Allen gained experience in theatre design in 1923 with the Roseland Theatre in Omaha.
Construction on the Masonic Temple & World Theatre Building finished in the fall of 1927, with the official grand opening of the theatre taking place on November 14, 1927. Upon opening, the theatre could seat 980 people distributed throughout the auditorium and balcony.
Nationwide, air conditioning was a luxury to most people at the time, and it became an important part of the attraction of going to the theatre. In the early years of operation, the World Theatre capitalized on being air-conditioned in an attempt to gain more theatre customers. Throughout the 1930s, Kearney Daily Hub newspaper advertisements added "Always Cool" to the name World, which was covered in icicles. Other local theatres, such as the Fort Theater, later mimicked the advertising of the World Theatre in an effort to compete for customers wishing to keep cool.
The thirty-two-foot wide stage of the World allowed for both movies and stage performances. The design of the theatre reflects a period when vaudeville stage performances and talking movies graced a stage designed to accommodate both. The World used Vitaphone, the latest technology for theatres, which provided audio tracks to movies by playing phonograph discs. In terms of stage performances, the theatre hosted vaudeville and amateur talent shows such as the August 15, 1934 Amateur Nite, which featured songs, dances, and accompaniment from the Guy Hite's Stage Band. Another example of entertainment was seen just two weeks later as Hollywood and radio stars, The Purple Sage Riders, The Lonesome Cowboy, and The Arizona Wranglers appeared on stage to perform cowboy songs at the World Theatre. The singing cowboys were accompanied by a trick roper, The Arizona Kid, and Texas Tommy and his wonder horse, Baby Doll. Throughout the 1930s into the 1940s, these kinds of performances were a common part of the entertainment program at the World Theatre.
Although the World Theatre sponsored shows that were popular with young crowds, they also put on shows of a more mature nature. Popular during the first half of the 20th century, bathing revues were a regular event in the summertime. Without a beach or a large pool area available to them, the people of Kearney, Nebraska, would occasionally hold bathing revues onstage at the World Theatre, such as the one held on June 15, 1934.
On the screen, the theatre experimented with midnight showings limited to adults only. The movie The Burning Question, better known as Reefer Madness, was shown for the first time in Nebraska at the World, according to a January 23, 1941 theatre advertisement. The movie exemplifies the late night show and the theatre's attempt to keep such controversial and risqué productions out of the sight of the youth.
In the early 1980s, the theatre was "twinned" with a wall separating the previously single-screened auditorium into two separate auditoriums. The name was then changed to The World Twin Theatre, which it operated under until it finally closed in June, 2008.
