This theatre had several names, starting as the Capitol during construction in 1926-27 by a real estate developer that hoped to make it a magnet for extending the Jamaica Avenue shopping area beyond its then eastern border of 166th Street. The site was at 175th Street, so the builders had a tough time finding a tenant for the Capitol, which was designed by Eugene DeRosa and fully equipped to handle any type of movie or stage attraction.
Broadway producer and theatre owner John Cort finally came through with an offer to turn it into a playhouse. Re-named the Cort Theatre, it first opened on August 22nd, 1927, with the American stage premiere of the Broadway-bound "Mr. What's His Name", starring Lynne Overman. The plays ran for six days, with Sundays featuring vaudeville. To avoid confusion with the Cort Theatre in Manhattan, the house was soon re-named the Cort Jamaica. After a year of low attendance, Cort sold his lease to Louis Werba, who launched it as Werba's Jamaica on September 18th, 1928, but still with the same policy of stage plays that were either before or after their Broadway runs.
Three months later, the Shuberts moved into Jamaica with a new playhouse at 165th Street, across the street from a huge movie palace still under construction as Loew's Valencia. Werba's Jamaica held on into 1929, but finally closed soon after the Wall Street crash. The theatre remained dark until September 1, 1930, when it re-opened as the Carlton, under the management of the Brandt circuit. By that time, the Shubert Jamaica had folded, so Brandt tried to return plays to the Carlton, but without suceess.
The Carlton was switched to double feature movies, playing several weeks behind Jamaica's three leaders-- the Valencia, Merrick and Alden (ex-Shubert). In 1939, the year of the New York World's Fair, Brandt tried presenting vaudeville at the Carlton, but flopped. The Carlton returned to subsequent-run movies. In 1944, Brandt sold the Carlton to the Prudential Circuit, which finally closed it in the late 1950s. The Carlton was converted into a catering hall called Regency House, which survived for about twenty years until the area became too unsafe to visit.
While sitting vacant, the building's interior was almost entirely destroyed in a fire. It was finally demolished in 2002.
Contributed by Warren G. Harris
|
|
Note: Please read our comment policy before posting. Comments which are off-topic, obscene, spam, or personal attacks will be removed. Help us keep the discussion productive!
|
