Arcadia Theater
734 Penn Street,
Reading,
PA
19602
734 Penn Street,
Reading,
PA
19602
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The Bijou Theatre launched February 1, 1900 with Hartzell’s Circus Royal performing on the stage. On February 28, 1910, it became the Palace Theatre.
After becoming the Arcadia Theatre, its claim to fame was Reading’s first converted to sound location with Warner Bros. Vitaphone system on February 21, 1927 with “Don Juan.” The audiences were greater than expected and the Vitaphone system would be moved to the larger Strand Theatre the following year; the Arcadia was demolished to make an even bigger venue in the Astor Theatre.
Reading’s original Bijou Theatre was destroyed by a fire in the spring of 1900. The opening of the new Bijou Theatre was reported in the January 8, 1901, issue of the Reading News-Times. The auditorium was on Cherry Street, and access from Penn Street was via a new lobby through an existing building called Keystone Hall
The June 26, 1916, issue of the Reading Times rhapsodized about the pleasures awaiting the public at the opening that afternoon of the Arcadia Theatre:
There followed a very long, and equally effusive, preview of the Arcadia’s opening attractions, with much of it devoted to Bille Burke, star of the serial Gloria’s Romance, the first chapter of which was to be part of the program.An article in the September 9, 1937, issue of the Reading Times says that the old Bijou Theatre, a burlesque house at 734 Penn Street, was renamed the Palace in 1910. In 1916 it was taken over by Carr & Schad and completely remodeled, reopening on June 26 as the New Arcadia Theatre.
The Bijou was in operation prior to 1905, so even with Carr & Schad’s remodeling of 1916 the house was probably quite ready for replacement when it was demolished in 1928 to make way for the new Astor Theatre.
CinemaTour also lists the Ritz at 819 Penn St. They state that it was opened in 1941 and closed in 1951.
OK, here it is. The address was 730 Penn St.
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Here’s a 1919 ad from the Arcadia looking to by used equipment, but they don’t give an address. It’s the 4th post down under “Business Opportunities”.
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Guess I must be wrong about the Ritz. I found a photo in my files of Penn St. looking west from 8th Street. It shows the Astor, Warner, Embassy and Loews Colonial, but I don’t see anything else that looks like a theatre in the 800 block.
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I’m certain that that is the same site as the Astor. I see that one of the owners of the Arcadia is listed as Carr and Schad. They were the owners of the Astor and Strand.
Before my time there was a theatre in the 100 block of North 5th Street. The building may still be there, on the east side of the street a few doors up from the Berkshire Hotel building. I believe at one time someone told me that it was the Arcadia.
If the address is correct for the Victor, it definately is the same address as the Astor, and I see the Victor was also built by Carr and Schad.
As far as the Ritz goes, I don’t remember any theatre building in the 800 block of Penn St. Maybe 719?
FDY must have meant Penn Street, rather than Pennsylvania Street, since Penn Street is where the local commenters on the Park Theatre page (MikelD and JimmiB) place it. But it wasn’t the Victor in any case. I suppose it still might have once been the Princess/Arcadia, though.
Joe; The 1950 edition of Film Daily Yearbook lists the 528-seat Ritz Theatre at 819 Pennsylvania Street.
The Irvin Glazer Theatre Collection contains a promotional piece for the Astor Theatre in Reading, which says that the new house was to be built on the site of the Arcadia. If that was the case, then the original Arcadia must have been demolished in 1927 or 1928.
As an Arcadia Theatre was still listed in the FDY as late as 1941 the name must have been moved to another theater when the original house was closed and demolished to make way for the Astor. An October 3, 1928, ad for the Arcadia Theatre in the Reading Eagle has the words “Formerly the…” (Princess? The scan is hard to read.)
The ad gives no address for the Princess/Arcadia, but it’s possible that the Princess was a theater that had been opened in 1909, originally called the Victor, which was located at 748 Penn Street. Here is a scanned clip of an item from The Moving Picture World, issue of April 17, 1909, telling about the New Victor Theatre. There is a small photo of the entrance. Perhaps someone from Reading will recognize it.
It’s also possible that the Victor eventually became a theater called the Ritz, which was mentioned in comments on the Cinema Treasures page for the Park Theatre. The comments only say that the Ritz was on Penn Street somewhere between 7th and 9th. Perhaps it is listed in an FDY from the 1950s. If the Ritz was at 748 Penn, then it must have been the Victor, and maybe the Princess and Arcadia as well.
AKA:
PALACE
1910-1916 Palace?
1916-1932 1935-1936 open?
Owners:
1920 Stanley Co.
1920-1926 Carr & Schad
1926-1927 Franklin Theaters
1927-1929 Equity Theaters
1929 Warner Equity
1930-1932 Warner Bros.
More info and more photos?
From the 1940s a picture postcard view of the Arcadia Theater in Reading.