Embassy Theatre
739-49 Penn Street,
Reading,
PA
19601
739-49 Penn Street,
Reading,
PA
19601
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Mike, did you look at those prices.
April 4th, 1931 grand opening ad is at View link
Here is a larger version of the circa 1931 photo posted on 2/26/05:
http://tinyurl.com/qxrw8x
Here are new links to vintage photos copied from a now long defunct trade journal. I’m told that the Reading Historical Society has a large collection of photos and other material about the Embassy.
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When I was an usher at the Astor, across the street, I often went to the Embassy (we could get in for free). It was a magnificent building. I remember the fire. That was a shame. The same company owned the Reading Drive-In Theatre in Temple, PA, the first drive-in in the Reading area, where I also worked as a ramp boy, the drive-in equivilant of an usher. That was like a promotion! I went from an usher at the Astor at 50 cents an hour to the drive-in for 75 cents.
1965 photo of the Embassy Tehatre.
View link
Someone is selling programs from the Embassy on eBay:
http://tinyurl.com/24zbuq
John, my scrapbook was closed for repairs. You should be able to view the images now. Enjoy!
Warren…how can I access your photos of the Embassy. The site tells me they are not there? Can you repost them or send them to my email address? Thanks Warren
Wow! Totally not what i was expecting. From what i can see in these photos, it looks more like an Art Deco Gotham City Scape. Yes, very futuristic, but completely different from the deco detail in the Auburn Schine. Complimentary, but not the same treatment.
Warren please email me at – i have a question for you!
Here are some images copied from a 1931 trade journal. Most of the auditorium seats were on the ground floor, but there was also a small mezzanine section at the rear, below the projection booth:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/embassypa1.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/embassypa3.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/embassypa2.jpg
Thank you Warren, I will check that out.
(I have just figured out that the time stamp on these posts must be pacific time. I certainly wasn’t posting at 6:44 in the morning!)
The Reading Historical Society claims to have many photos of the Embassy Theatre, but I haven’t been able to visit to examine them. Reading is difficult to reach from New York City unless one drives, which I don’t…The Embassy was a true atmospheric, with twinkling stars and floating clouds on the ceiling. The clouds were created with real steam, but had to be discontinued because they kept raining down on the audience.
Do any interior photos exist of this theater? From the brief description above, it sounds like it may have resembled the Auburn Schine Theater which also takes a futuristic bent. I would be very interested in seeing photos.
“….demolished in 1972 to make way for a shopping mall that never got built.” So sad, Reading!
The last operator of the Embassy Theatre (with his partner and former Reading mayor Paul Angstadt) was Cinema Treausres favorite Richard Wolfe who currently runs the Roxy in Northampton PA.
This was one of the most amazing atmospheric theatres ever built. The auditorium was futuristic, and reminded of “Buck Rogers.” I’m presently writing an article about it for Marquee, the quarterly journal of Theatre Historical Society of America, so I can’t divulge details of my research except, sadly, that the Embassy was heavily damaged in a fire in 1970 and demolished in 1972 to make way for a shopping mall that never got built.
Here is a small photo (DON’T try to expand without a subscription):
View link