Colonial Theater

The pin icon on the Google map for this page is only a few blocks off from the theater’s location, but for some reason the Street View is set to an entirely different location a mile or so distant from where it ought to be.

Jimmy T’s initial entry is not correct. I was projectionist at the Colonial Theater from 1977-1980. It had heat and was open year-round. The owner at the time was Jim Corbett who also owned the Jackson Cinemas in Jackson, NJ (which is not listed in CT.org yet). The Corbetts tried running 7 nights a week year round when they first bought the place. It was overseen by Jim’s son (I believe his name was Skip) who made occasional visits. The second story had living quarters and offices that were unoccupied. I was told at the time that the mayor of Keansburg was once headquartered up there for several years. The building was nestled amongst the attractions of the Keansburg Amusement Park on Beachway which was open during the warm weather. Once the park closed for the season, the theater attendance suffered and the owners went to a Thursday-Sunday policy. It was an ancient and unkempt theater with terrible acoustics and many useless seats that had no cushions. The Corbett’s got their heads caved in on this investment. I once had a $75 payroll check bounce. Mr. Corbett was mortified and took care of it out of his personal account. A very nice man who I believe may have wished he never got involved with the place. I knew every inch of that theater … it was old, deteriorating and smelled. But it was “my theater” and I enjoyed every second of working there! BTW, I took over as projectionist from a man named Val Straub whose son also did occasional fill-in. The co-managers at the time were Jim Woods and John Coffey, two wonderful characters who made working under such crippled circumstances a lot of fun. A small condominium now occupies the site.

Listed as the Casino Theatre in the 1944, 1951 & 1956 Film Daily Yearbooks.