Wayne Avenue Theatre
4910 Wayne Avenue,
Philadelphia,
PA
19144
4910 Wayne Avenue,
Philadelphia,
PA
19144
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Opened in 1919 with a saeating capacity of 480. When it first opened it was known as the Wayne Avenue Playhouse later being known as the Wayne Avenue Theatre.It closed as a motion picture theatre in 1968. It was later converted to retail use. In October 1990 it was purchased by St. Andrews Fellowship Baptist Church who opeates on the property today.
Contributed by
Chuck
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I have very fond memories of the Wayne Ave Playhouse. In the 50’s it was mainly a 2nd-run house for foreign releases. I remember vividly seeing “Diabolique,” and the Jacques Tati comedies “Mr Hulot’s Holiday” and “Mon Oncle,” and many others. In later years, the house was used on weekends for “Nickelodeon Nights,” a selection of comedy shorts, particularly Laurel & Hardy, and was very successful.
The Wayne Theatre, also known as the Wayne Avenue Theatre, was located at 4910 Wayne Avenue, about a block from the Happy Hollow Recreation Center. Opened in 1919 with a seating capacity of 480, it first opened as the Wayne Avenue Playhouse, with the name later changed to the Wayne Avenue Theatre. According to a newspaper clipping from the time, it was a “one-story motion picture theatre 46 x 138 feet located on the south side of Wayne Avenue, east of Logan Street, erected at a cost of $12,000”. It closed as a motion picture theatre in 1968. It was later converted to retail use. In October 1990 it was purchased by St. Andrews Fellowship Baptist Church and is today used as a church.
First saw Chaplin’s The Great Dictator here when it reopened in the US.