Embassy Theatre

A Robert-Morton organ was installed in the Embassy Theater in 1929.

The Lyceum Theater and the Embassy Theater were one and the same. I was in the Embassy once as a little boy, probably in 1954 or 1955. The Embassy closed and was demolished in the early 1960s, a victim of New Britain's horribly ill-conceived plan for downtown 'urban renewal.' A parking garage sits on the theater site.

Mentioned in Images of America: New Britain, Volume I. Page 128, picture showing 3-sided marquee and a worker under a ladder removing letters for the last time. "As strains of Auld Lang Syne played, movie-goers exited the Embassy Theatre for the last time in the summer of 1964."

It contained 1300 seats. The owner was John Dabrowski.

Images of America: New Britain, Volume II. Page 110 shows the low marquee and entrance with "Hermie Dressel - Alan Freed" and "Rock, Rock, Rock" on the marquee.

John D. Amato was the assistant manager.

Images of America: New Britain, Volume III. Page 2, long marquee showing "It's a Wonderful Life". Page 13, showing "Small Town Girl" (1936 version) with Robert Taylor.

Was originally built in 1893 as The Russwin Lyceum.

See http://www.biblestudents.com/htdbv5/zwt0289.htm at the bottom at 277 Main Street as Russwin Lyceum.

Here is part of an article from the Hartford Courant dated 9/12/64:

Theater Demolition Resumes After Collapse into Store

NEW BRITAIN (Special) -- The job of removing huge wooden trusses 70 feet above the stage of the Embassy Theater while avoiding any further collapse of the weakened walls got under way at about 6 p.m. Friday.