Loew's Majestic Theater

The Loew's Majestic Theatre is located at 1347 Main Street.

As of January 1st, 1930, the Majestic Theatre was operated by Fox New England Theatres, Inc.. The Fox company operated 14 former Poli chain theatres at that time. When Fox left the area those theatres were picked up by the Loew's chain.

The Majestic is not renovating. It is falling apart. The marquees of the Majestic and the Palace next door were removed last year since they posed a danger to pedestrians.

During restoration of our home we unearthed an ad from a Hartford newspaper for the Majestic. The Majestic was showing D.W. Griffith's "Orphans of the Storm". The date was either late 1921 or early 1922.

I'd be shocked if this ad were for the Majestic in Bridgeport. Bridgeport is too far awaway from Hartford, especially in 1921, for a Hartford paper to run an ad for a Bridgeport theatre. Maybe the ad was for the Majestic on Asylum Avenue in Hartford?

Obviously this once magnificent theatre cannot be restored and looks destined for the landfill. What a waste! I lived around the corner on High Street during my youth (1947-65) and remember this theatre well. I would love to see more pictures both in and out. Maybe someone knows where to look.

Does anyone out there have any info about vaudeville in Bridgeport? I'm doing a masters degreee project on vaud and would love to include some facts trivia etc about vauseville in my hometown with its once great theaters.
Thanks

I was in both the Majestic and the Palace last year on a visit for folks interested in Bridgeport preservation. I was surprised to see amidt the damage, the theatres are in near original condition ... don't get me wrong, they are in rough shape. However, when the last owners bought the theatres, nearly nothing was ripped out. Even the original carpets are still in place. Organ consoles, the boxes, carpets, proscenium, dressing rooms, orchestra pits, faded wall paintings, ornamentation, seats ... nearly everything is in tact. There was even an old painted show curtain still hanging in one theatre.

The bigger theatre is in better shape. The seats have been removed in the smaller theatre, and some drywall partitions have been punched into the rear orchestra of the smaller one. It is currently being used as a storage warehouse for a local theatre group ... wood and big pieces of scenery leaning against the wall paintings and plaster ornamentation ... yikes!

I gotta tell you - looking down on a crumbling Thomas Lamb theatre from the balcony was a combination of amazing and heartbreaking. Anyhow. The theatres are amazing, the lobby is breathtaking, and I was fascinated by the arrangment of dressing rooms in-between and shared by the two theatres.

There was a lot of water damage several years ago, but the roof was completely replaced thanks to a grant from the state. The building also housed a traveling salesman type hotel that is in good shape - of the several small interconnection rooms variety. We went from the basements to the roof and the structure is in good shape. Because the interiors are basically untouched, with lots of money, these theatres could look like they originally did without much replication.

I have a collage of several pictures of the interiors of both theatres that I would be happy to email to anyone interested. I am at BrooklynTheatre@aol.com

I biked past this last week and saw a sign on the side that said it was to be restored with help of the DSSD (downtown special services district).

There is talk that they will be demolishing this and the smaller Palace theater.

I was in here less than one year ago. Toured both theatres. In one word - unbelieveable! I hate to sound pessimistic, but something on this scale and in a city as run down as Bridgeport...

So what is going on? is it being renovaed or not?

Still no answer, huh?

Well, don't rely on us to give you answers, try calling the City of Bridgeport.

I foolishly assume that if people talk about plans for a certain theater on the website that they would follow up with updates as they find out. That is what I would do. So yes, I do rely on others just as I would expect others to rely on me if the shoe were on the other foot. :-)

But people have lives and other theaters they are into.

Added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1979

Palace and Majestic Theaters (added 1979 - Building - #79002626)
1315-1357 Main St., Bridgeport
Historic Significance: Architecture/Engineering, Event
Architect, builder, or engineer: Lamb,Thomas W.
Architectural Style: Beaux Arts
Area of Significance: Architecture, Entertainment/Recreation
Period of Significance: 1900-1924
Owner: Private
Historic Function: Commerce/Trade, Domestic, Recreation And Culture
Historic Sub-function: Business, Hotel, Theater
Current Function: Vacant/Not In Use

In the middle of the page. http://bridgeport.ct.schoolwebpages.com/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=20643

Third from the bottom. http://bridgeport.ct.schoolwebpages.com/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=20643

Here is a July 1951 ad from the Bridgeport Telegram:
http://tinyurl.com/34euk7

This is not a pretty sight.

Isn't Bridgeport experiencing some kind of revival? It's heartbreaking to see this.

This is interesting and was mentioned in the NewsTimes a few weeks ago. It was about a Bridgeport cop who investigated breakins here, The Savoy and at the Colonial and brought his camera with him. He has documented orbs and apparitions of moviegoers in the seats and hooked up with famed CT ghosthunters, The Warrens. http://www.photoshow.com/watch/JE9DF6BY/ Pic 40o-64 with 44 of note.

Here is a whole series of interior photos (267 in the set) of the Loew's Poli and Majestic Theatres. It appears that most if not all photos were taken in 2008.

http://flickr.com/photos/nespirit/sets/72157606904212150/


One photo shows the bedraggled organ console still at the Loew's Poli.

It certainly would be great if both the Majestic and the Palace were restored to their original condition, along with the pipe organ. If this does not happen in the long run, I really do hope someone trys to rescue the organ. Two years ago the Commodore Theater in Brooklyn was torn down (see http://cinematreasures.org/theater/268/) The Commodore's original organ was demolished along with it! Let's hope that the Majestic's organ does not suffer the same fate.

Here is an August 1958 ad from the Bridgeport Post:
http://tinyurl.com/p57x6t

This is a 1983 photo.

A comment about "the organ" referred to two posts above by MikeR.: The organ pipes you see in the recent photos of the Majestic and Palace are display pipes, that is, non-functional, put there just for looks, as is actually done in some churches. The real organ pipes were behind them. The organs themselves--pipes and consoles--were removed from both theatres long ago. In 1990, I toured both the Palace and Majestic with the Theatre Historical Society. A few of us climbed the ladder into one of the organ chambers in the Majestic. There were indeed a few organ pipes in the chamber leaning against a wall, but the chests and wind lines were gone. I can't speak for the Palace--other than being told that the organ was gone--we were not allowed to go backstage at the Palace, as we were told the stage surface was rotted from roof leaks and might not hold our weight. On the same Conclave tour, we also visited the Poli Palace in Waterbury, CN, a very similar Thomas Lamb design to those in Bridgeport. It too, had display pipes intact, though the organ was gone. The Waterbury Palace has since been restored, which makes me especially happy, as my dad went there frequently when it was new, and his memories are one of the ingredients which kindled my own interest in theatres.

Hi, Gary. Thanks for your information on the organs in the in the Majestic and the Palace. The photo I was basing my information on was this one on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nespirit/2567163173/


According to the caption, the photo was taken in 2008. I'm not sure whether this console was in the Majestic or Palace portion of the complex. I'm assuming this is an original pipe organ console and is not electronic.

Exterior photo of the Loew's Majestic Tehate courtesy 826 Paramornal.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nespirit/4138086398/

Two more palaces down the tubes.

Found this set of beautiful pictures on flickr. The location is not listed so it makes it difficult to find otherwise.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/robdobi/sets/72157604232933729/

O.K.

I'm currently trying to get support to restore the theatres and would like to put together a list of people who
1) could provide some historical information about the site or who attended when it was open (e.g. russello)
2) would be interested in aiding with the restoration project
3) are interested on being on a mailing list about it's restoration.

If you're interested please email me at palacemajestic@gmail.com
Thanks, Christina

Any more ghost photos?

Slight mention in CT Post.

Its amazing to see in the photos that the projection equiptment is still there,although in bad shape I am sure.I quess it is hard enough to restore one theatre,but 2 in the same building!Matbe they could at least restore one of them, maybe the one still in the best shape, I know that is wishful thinking.