Nineteenth Street Theatre
527 N. 19th Street,
Allentown,
PA
18104
527 N. 19th Street,
Allentown,
PA
18104
2 people
favorited this theater
The Nineteenth Street Theatre opened September 17, 1928 with 1,000 seats the silent movie “The Sawdust Paradise”. The theatre was designed by the Philadelphia firm of Thalheimer & Weitz. The Moller Deluxe pipe organ is still played today. The interior walls were painted green with gold and silver accents. The auditorium now seats 501.
Since the summer of 1957, the Civic Theatre of Allentown has owned the building and presented plays. The theatre has also served as Allentown’s art house movie theatre for several decades.
Restoration is ongoing. On October 7, 1994, the restored marquee was turned on and it looks just like it did on opening day. New restrooms have been built on the main floor, where stores used to be.
About 2004, a 100-seat black box theatre for live shows and movies opened across the street in a former warehouse building.
Contributed by
Jonathan M. Crist, Howard B. Haas
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
A view of the Nineteenth Street’s exterior can be seen here. Check out the stylized terra-cotta elephant heads on the top of the facade!
The Nineteenth Street is home to the Civic Theatre, which moved into the 1927 former vaudeville house in 1957, after previously being located in the Madison Theatre since the 30s.
The 19th Street is a ‘20s, not a '50s, suburban theatre. It still features its original Moller organ and shows art and revival films while also housing the Civic Theatre.
That Moller is opus 5139, installed in 1928 at a cost of $10500.00.
Here are some recent photos of the Nineteenth Street Theater. Click each photo to expand it.
Here is a June 2004 photo from the opening of “Fahrenheit 9/11':
http://tinyurl.com/7lk7dc
Shouldn’t the name of this theater be Nineteenth Street Theatre?
This is a nice recent photo of the Nineteenth Street Theater.
Too bad there are no photos of the original interior posted here. Unfortunately, today the proscenium arch, with its elaborate comedy/tragedy masks top center, and the gold-leaf decor, has been covered by the thrust stage and curtains, added by the Civic Little Theater owners for their stage productions. Likewise the organ pit has been covered by the thrust stage, and the console moved over to the right side (stage left) of the house down front. This theater has no fly loft and no orchestra pit; it was designed strictly as a neighborhood picture house, albeit an elaborate one, but never intended for stage productions, so there are no stage facilities at all. The best interior feature visible today is the stunning ceiling: a gigantic glass cartouche, lit from behind, ringed by plaster film reels. The theater has a false balcony, i.e., there is a balustrade fronting a blank wall behind a shallow set-back where a real balcony would be, and this wall is penetrated by the projector and operator openings. I knew a former projectionist, now deceased, at the Nineteenth Street, and he informed me that the projection booth is accessed only by walking across the roof! At this point, the exterior of the theater, with its terra cotta elephant heads and associated exotic motifs, is the major point of visual interest. That, and the aforementioned ceiling. If the interior were fully restored to its original glory, it would be a sight to behold, but this is unlikely given the present use as a production house/movie venue.