Royal Theatre
1524 South Street,
Philadelphia,
PA
19146
1524 South Street,
Philadelphia,
PA
19146
3 people
favorited this theater
The Royal Theatre opened in 1920 seating 1,200. It was located on South Street between 15th and 16th Streets. The architect for the theatre was Frank E. Hahn whose Neo-Georgian style exterior contrasted with the 1925 Art Deco interior designed by William H. Lee. When it opened it was touted as “America’s Finest Colored Photoplay House”. The staff of the Royal Theatre went on to become the nucleus of the Negro Motion Picture Operators Union. The theatre closed in 1970.
Contributed by
Chuck
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 21 comments)
Here are some early 70s photos from Temple U:
http://tinyurl.com/yzjvj9g
http://tinyurl.com/yfcozbw
http://tinyurl.com/yzzh5k2
I remember when I used to come into Philly in the ‘70s I would park my car somewhere down and over from South St., one of the few places you could leave it overnight.
Thus I used to walk by the Royal quite often and always noted the letters gradually falling off the “Last of the Mobile Hot Shots” title, apparently (and appropriately) the Royal’s final film attraction.
It seemed incredibly symbolic and poignant to me at the time.
Also especially meaningful because I had seen the original Tennessee Williams play, “The Seven Descents of Myrtle” with Estelle Parsons, during its Philadelphia try-out. It played a few blocks over from the Royal at that legit theater right next to the Academy of Music. (I think that theater was later turned into a restaurant. I still have the theater program somewhere).
These Temple photos brought back a lot of memories.
Do these comments mean the Royal is still there, and perhaps is being restored?
Here is another view of the Royal:
http://tinyurl.com/yz5fkzw
Found my program. “Seven Descents” played at the Walnut Theatre. The play was later revised as “Kingdom of Earth”.
The Royal was one of a list of segregated Philadelphia theaters in the 1947 IMPA, along with the Booker, Dixie, Colonial, Douglas, Globe, Joy, New Garden, New Jewel, Pearl, Rex, Ruby, Standard, Strand and Upsal.
Some interesting 2009 photos here:
http://tinyurl.com/2ds9327
This article includes a picture of the theater and a mention that the current plan for the theater is apparently conversion to residential use, although it doesn’t go into detail about what form that residential space might take (the theater is not the sole focus of the piece).
Another news story about how there’s nothing new with the Royal and the neighbors are starting to get ticked off.
Below is from today (July 9, 2012) Philadelphia Inquirer article on South Street:
The other major sore spot is the abandoned Royal Theater owned by Kenny Gamble’s Universal Companies.
“In another couple of years, the building will fall over,” said Feibush of OCF Realty. “It’s in terrible shape. It can be fixed. A dozen developers would love to turn it into something beautiful.” So far, Gamble’s group has only proposed leaving the facade up and building houses behind it, Feibush said, and the community rejected that plan.
Universal Companies did not return several calls for comment.
Owner proposing demolition of auditorium: http://planphilly.com/articles/2013/05/30/universal-seeks-ok-to-demolish-most-of-royal-theater