Bethesda Theatre
7719 Wisconsin Avenue,
Bethesda,
MD
20814
7719 Wisconsin Avenue,
Bethesda,
MD
20814
4 people
favorited this theater
Opened on May 19, 1938 as the BORO Theatre, the movie house changed its name just a year later to the Bethesda Theatre. It kept this name and operated continuously until the early 1980’s, when it closed.
In 1983, the historic theater was purchased, renovated, and reopened as the Bethesda Cinema ‘N Drafthouse. In addition to watching a movie, moviegoers could feast on a steady diet of pizza, sandwiches, and beer. In the early-1990’s, the Bethesda Theatre changed its name again to the Bethesda Theatre Cafe, to bring more families and adults to its seats.
The Bethesda Theatre closed when construction of a new hi-rise began above the cinema, but in 2007 it re-opened for live shows. Closed in 2010, it is due to reopen in late-2012.
Contributed by
Ross Melnick
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Recent comments (view all 32 comments)
1988 Photo
This is a 1984 night photo.
The Cinema & Drafthouse was a great place to hang.. saw many movies there in the late 80’s, early 90’s… On Sundays they showed Redskins games and once I remember the Greaseman doing a live show – I was pretty drunk that night, so dont remember much.. there were a ton of creepy dudes there that night.
A good place to watch a cheap movie and have a few drafts. The pizza was pretty crappy but edible after a few pulls on the glass.
Here is a March 2010 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/ylh7o6r
Sme more Bethesda Theatre photos.
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well… um…. even converted to showcase ‘live’ plays/musicals – this theatre is not surviving. I’m not sure where the fault lies, but it’s not able to operate under current management (or lack there of). Personally I’d book concerts and comedy acts/comedians – or even, (shock!] put a screen back up and show movies! Even in it’s current configurement, which I must admit isn’t well suited to live performances – the stage is set way too back.
This theater is going on the auction block as the current owners are in default on a mortgage: View link
No bids on the Bethesda
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the NBC channel 4 story (which they misspelled auction as “acution”) stated that the theatre is to remain, if and when a bid/purchase is made, as a performing arts venue
the marque now states the theater will reopen in the Fall (2012) as a Jazz/Blues music venue – I think they’d also might want to branch out and include other musical genres as well – it actually might work.