A long two-story building of dark tapestry brick anchors its corner, the ground floor lined with display windows and a recessed central entrance sheltered beneath a low, tile-clad pent roof. Above the doors an illuminated marquee spells AUBERT in flowing script, with a rectangular attraction board below listing the day's features. Poster cases frame the vestibule, and a row of pendant globe lamps runs the length of the sidewalk beneath a plain bracketed cornice. Paired sash windows march across the upper story, and a brick roadway and lone hydrant complete the streetscape.
The Aubert Theatre opened on February 8, 1923 at 4949 Easton Avenue — the street since renamed Dr. Martin Luther King Drive — seating about 1,064 and equipped with a Robert Morton pipe organ. Paul Klingensmith designed the original house, the brick-and-tile front seen here in 1937. Sitting at the western edge of the Ville, the Aubert is listed among St. Louis's African American theaters in Eric Ledell Smith's historical directory of Black theater buildings. It operated for years under the St. Louis Amusement Company's Arthur chain. In March 1946 architect Leo F. Abrams remodeled the theater with upholstered seats and air conditioning, trimming its capacity to roughly 1,000. The Aubert went dark on March 6, 1953, closing with "Across the Wide Missouri" and "Fearless Fagan." The building still stands on the boulevard, its auditorium long since converted to retail use.
