Capitol Theatre

Having just recently visited the Capitol Rome (and taking a four hour drive to do so), I must say that it was completely worth the visit. The staff and atmosphere is very kind and knowledgable, and the theater is well preserved. Certainly worth the visit!

My Grandfather was Joseph Kallet of the Kallet Theatre chain. He was the Managing Director of the Capitol Theatre and three other Kallet theatres in Rome. I grew up in the theatre and now I'm on the Board of Directors. We are very proud of the theatre and hope you check out the Organ Society page for information and pictures.

Joe Pfeiffer, Jr

pfeiffer@telenet.net

Can anyone tell me about another theatre in NYS that was known as the Capitol located in Skaneateles NY on Lake Skaneateles?

Patsy....I think there was a Colonial Theater on Genesee St or East Genesee St in Skaneateles NY. I'm not familiar with a Capitol theater located in Skaneateles NY.

I wasn't either until I visited the town over the weekend and spoke to the Skaneateles Historical Society President, Karlene Miller.

This was in a newspaper story that I came across:

"The idea of the Clintons coming to Skaneateles conjured up irresistible visions of funny movies I saw at the long-gone Colonial Theatre when I was a kid. Films such as Bye Bye Birdie, The Russians Are Coming! The Russians are Coming!, and After the Fox -- films in which small-town people suddenly become part of the bigger world they both long for and fear. In this case, it was a matter of Democratic oil being poured on 17 miles of Republican water".

Apparently there was a Colonial theater in Skaneateles NY during the 1960's. Could the Colonial theater be the same theater as the Capitol theater? I have no idea. Why not add the Capitol theater and we can fill in the blanks later.

I'm really sorry, but somehow I wrote and thought the name was the Capitol and in reality it was the COLONIAL. Thanks for the news story as I was in Skaneateles the summer that the Clintons came to visit. They have friends who have a beautiful home along the shores of Skaneateles Lake and it is pointed out from the local tour boat.

Capitol. Colonial. Close enough. They both start with a "C". LOL You can add the Colonial theater instead of the Capitol theater.

Its not the Captitol, it was the COLONIAL Theatre, located at 64 E. Genesee Street. It was located on the second floor with about 250 seats and a raised stage. It was owned by Mr. Cantor from Syracuse. I'm sure I have seen over 100 films there as a boy growing up since we received free unlimited admission because my mother rented space on the first floor for her fabric shop. The theatre is now high end condos.

The Capitol has a new website up and running: www.romecapitol.com Check it out.

This website has a few photos of the Capitol Theater. Click on the photos to expand them.

Great photos, but so sad that the fabulous marquee, the art deco front doors and the ticket kios are all gone!

More information and photos can be found here.

Very interesting photo with lots of "when in Rome" information!

Be sure to click on the small photos at the bottom of the page. And click the arrows next to the small photos to find additional photos. There are some interior photos included.

Thanks. The interior photos are fabulous, but too bad the marquee was taken down along with removing the ticket kios as seen in the 40's photos.

I grew up in Rome and the Capitol was my childhood movie house.
I'm now the primary projectionist at the Capitol. We're proud to continue quality carbon arc projection. We also have variable speed motors with digital speed indication in .1 frames per second for silent film exhibition.
Projectors are Simplex XL with SH 1020 soundheads installed in 1953. We also have Ashcraft Core Lite lamps and a Dolby CP50 provessor.

Hope to see everyone at CAPITTOLFEST this weekend! A great film festival and something the folks in Rome can be very proud of!

Here is a nice photo of the Capitol Theater.