Hyannis Theater
626 Main Street,
Hyannis,
MA
02601
626 Main Street,
Hyannis,
MA
02601
1 person
favorited this theater
Beautiful Summer theater in the west end of Hyannis (Cape Cod). It is located at the corner of Main Street & Sea Street. At one time it was operated by the Interstate Theatre Corporation.
Contributed by
Richard Doane
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Recent comments (view all 17 comments)
The story about the hundred dollar bill was told to me by George Nelson who worked as a projectionist at the Center Theater for years until it burned down. A manager left a plastic trash container near the furnace and that started the fire as I was told. George had a room in the Hyannis theater and worked summers on the cape until he retired. He was appalled that the manager at the Hyannis Theater didn’t just let Liz and Mike go in for free.
One interesting story few know is that after they ran Sound of Music all summer in the tent where Cinema 28 was later built the mag optical print was sitting in the lobby of the Center Theater waiting to be shipped back and George noticed it. Seeing it was a mag optical print and as the Center Theater was the only theater on Cape Cod that could run stereo he took a couple of reels up to the booth and ran them. The district manager walked in and commented on who good it sounded. His words were, “You mean I have been listening to this all summer in optical when it could have sounded like this.” The district manager hearing how good it sounded booked it to run the following summer at the Center Theater.
Doesn’t this still stand as retail, which is contrary to the demolished status above?
The last time I was there the space had been converted into retail and housed a variety of shops but all remains of the theater are gone as the interior of the building had been gutted.
A picture of the Hyannis Theater
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The second floor used to be an ice cream parlor. The entrance was on the side. Later is was used as a domitory for Interstate’s summer employees.
I was one of those summer employees and the second floor has private rooms for Interstate’s summer projectionists but only three were from off cape and lived there. George Nelson was there the longest. I had never heard of the space being used as an ice cream parlor.
I also resided there during the early 50’s when I was manager of the Center and later on when I was projectionist at the Hyannis. I remember George when he came and replaced Paul Dion (Motorcycle Man)at the Center.
The Ice cream parlor when much earlier than this.
The 1927 Film Daily Yearbook lists the Hyannis Theatre, 1,020 seats.
The theater is not demolished! It is still standing, now with retail on the ground floor. The upper floors are condominiums and my mother is moving into one right now. I am trying to get some memorabilia from the theater for her, but so far, no luck. There are a couple of photos floating around online, but not enough resolution to blow up and frame. But the condo is quite nice and the big wooden beams from the roof are exposed. It is her dream come true!
The theater was gutted long ago. So far the only photo I have seen is the one I posted.