Thanks, Joe. Another note: in September 1919, the Lyric Theatre installed a $10,000 Seeburg-Hope-Jones pipe organ. The Lyric hired Ellen Heartsick as the new organist.
When Manos bought the theatre, they indeed simply closed the Grand and demolished the building a block away for the Blair Theatre at 213-215 Allegheny. From 1937 to 1957, the building appears to have been leased for 20 years as a home furnishing and appliance store.
Chingos indeed returned to the location giving the Grand Theatre an encore after 20 years to reopen it with widescreen projection on October 2, 1957 with “Bail Out at 43,000 Feet” and “Kiss Before Dying.” The grand re-opening page is in photos.
According to the trade press and local paper, A. Edward Campbell opened the new Lyric Theatre on December 14, 1948 with a film and festivities to African American audiences likely on a 15-year lease. The booth had two Motiograph Model AA projectors, Motiongraph Mirrorphnic sound with Altec Lansing speakers, and Radiant Perfold screen. It also had a cry room. The theatre’s entertainment included second-run double features, first-run and second-run African American films including Sack Amusement titles, and live musical acts. It closed at the end of its 15-year lease awaiting its 21st Century redevelopment.
The new Lyric Theatre launched here on October 22, 1906 with Keith vaudeville. It was built on the site of Louis Plack’s Theatre which had opened in February of 1888 by was destroyed by fire just one year after its launch on March 5, 1889. Unfortunately, the Lyric had even less success. A fire gutted the structure after just its fourth month of operation on February 24, 1907. The theatre’s foundation and possibly a bit more was used by the Silverman Brothers and Plack who rebuilt the theatre for a third time. They sold the project to Wilmer & Vincent - which may have changed the site’s luck for the better - which (re-)opened it as the Orpheum Theatre on March 9, 1908 again with Keith vaudeville.
Motion pictures were where the money was in the 1920s and on September 12, 1927, the Orpheum gave way to the Embassy Theatre with first-run First National Picture films. The opening title was “The Stolen Bride” with Billie Dove. The Warner Bros. Circuit took on the Strand creating the Warner Theatre there and that ended the Embassy’s movie run. It stumbled into the Depression with an assortment of live plays and burlesque.
Louis J. Alleman took on the venue renaming it as the Penn Theatre on October 17, 1933 and going back to its Orpheum roots with nine acts of “first class” live vaudeville. It would also stage lower tier burley shows. The theatre gradually began to reduce vaudeville and burlesque moving more to second-run, double-feature showing of motion pictures. In 1938, A. Notopoulous and Publix Theatres purchased the property ending its movie run on September 30, 1942. It was then used for sporadic political speeches, rallies and War Bond drives during World War II. After the War, it appears to have gone dark. Demolition of the Penn Theatre for parking took place August and September of 1951.
Anast N. Notopoulos took on the Gamble-Paramount two blocks from here in 1919 closing it July 23, 1919 for a major refresh. He gave it an entirely new interior and exterior look and renamed it the New Victora Theatre opening on November 15, 1919 for what turned out to be a temporary stay of just over a year.
It turned out Notopoulous would have bigger ideas for the Victoria. Creating a steel interior theatre costing $1 million by local architect Walter Frieling, a new, New Victoria would open at this location at 11th Avenue and 16th St.. Meanwhile, the Gamble/short-term New Victoria Theatre would be renamed from the Victoria to the Capitol Theatre opening now with a Greek architectural theme on March 17, 1921. But the New Victoria fell well behind schedule.
While work continued on the New Victoria, the building’s Victoria Danceland dance hall opened four months prior to the theatre’s grand opening. The new Victoria’s giant sunburst sign had a grand launch all to itself prior to the theater’s opening in June of 1922. The well-placed Palace Confectioner and the Victoria Cigar Store also opened in June prior to the theater’s launch. One of the State’s largest pool halls, the Victoria Pool Hall, also opened in the entertainment mecca with 35 Brunswick pool tables in the basement of the theatre building in July of 1922.
The New Victoria, itself, finally opened on July 20, 1922 with Owen Moore starring in “Reported Missing.” In 1923, the Victoria became a publicly-held entity called the Victoria Theatre Corporation likely trying to recoup its over one million dollar and behind-schedule investment. That company went bankrupt quickly in 1924 and was disbanded in 1925. Wilmer & Vincent Circuit took over the bankrupt property giving it a major refresh and relaunching September 19, 1925 as the renamed State Theatre. The State opened with Harold Lloyd in “The Freshman” and music from the $35,000 Marr & Colton organ with J.F. Keith at the console. The State installed sound and then widescreen to stay competitive lasting to the Victoria/State venue’s 50th Anniversary. But at the end of its 50-year lease, the theatre closed in 1971 and was demolished a year later.
The Gamble Brothers, Robert and Andy, had an early regional circuit of silent film houses in Central Pennsylvania including Huntingdon and the Grand in Altoona. In 1912, Architect Julian Millard of Altoona drew the plans of a new Moorish styled theatre for the Gambles. It opened as a 700-seat theatre and was designed to be added to so that it, in the future, could be a skyscraper. The facility featured a Wurlitzer automatic orchestra which purportedly was the larges musical instrument every installed outside of the pipe organ in Wanamaker’s Department Store in Philadelphia. With an admission price of just a nickel, the Gambles hoped that quantity would pay for the building.
The new Gamble Theatre launched March 8, 1913 with motion pictures and live music. But in 1918, the Gamble Brothers sold their theatres and went into the auto industry before Andy came back into the movie business a decade later. The Gamble became the Gamble-Paramount operated by Publix circuit.
Anast N. Notopoulos took on the Gamble-Paramount in 1919 closing it July 23, 1919 for a major refresh. He gave it an entirely new interior and exterior look and renamed it the New Victora Theatre opening on November 15, 1919 for what turned out to be a temporary stay of just over a year. The new Victoria’s opening film was Douglas Fairbanks starring in “The Knickerbocker Buckaroo.” It now had a gold fibre screen surrounded by purple velvet. It received a horseshoe-shaped balcony that was in the original plans but never executed.
But Notopoulous would have bigger ideas for the Victoria. Creating a steel interior and new look by local architect Walter Frieling a new, New Victoria would return there and, later, be taken over by Wilmer & Vincent and converted to the long-running State Theatre.) Meanwhile, the Gamble/short-term New Victoria Theatre would become the Capitol Theatre opening now with a Greek architectural theme by Sholler & Hersh and the film, “Behold My Wife,” on March 17, 1921. The Capitol installed sound and then widescreen to stay competitive . The theatre appears to have closed June 28, 1963 with “The Nutty Professor.”
The Strand launched with Pauline Frederick in “The Moment Before” on May 29, 1916. Warner Brothers Circuit took on the venue after a refresh with Vitaphone sound and the Richard Barthelmess film, “The Dawn Patrol” on August 15th, 1930. On March 10, 1933, Warner Brothers dropped the theatre.
The Silverman Brothers took over the venue briefly as Silverman Brothers' Warner Theatre on March 19, 1933. On November 9, 1933, the Silvermans changed back to the Strand Theatre moniker with Paul Lukas starring in “Captured.” The Strand closed on October 10, 1954 with a double-feature of “Three Forbidden Stories” and “The 39 Steps.”
The Pastime Theatre launched at 1504-6 11th Avenue on June 5, 1907 with “refined” motion pictures and vaudeville by the Silverman Brothers. Operating on a ten-year lease, the theatre closed on May 1, 1917.
The Juniata Theatre opened on October 8, 1912. It had a variety of operators in the 1910s including common ownership with the Pastime Theatre beginning in 1915. The Juniata added sound in 1929. It suffered the October 30, 1945 fire which gutted the facility with a reopening there in 1946.
CMX Cinemas closed this along with all of its locations on March 16, 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. A month later CMX declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy trying to renegotiate as many leases as possible. It was unable to do so with this location and closed it permanently. The venue awaited a new operator.
CMX Cinemas took on this location in a buyout of Cobb location in October 2017 as the CMX CinéBistro Solaris. It closed along with all of the chain’s locations for the COVID-19 pandemic on March 16, 2020. CMX then declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy one month later and tried to renegotiate many of its leasing agreements. CMX made the closure of the Solaris permanent in an announcement in July of 2020.
Thanks, Joe. Another note: in September 1919, the Lyric Theatre installed a $10,000 Seeburg-Hope-Jones pipe organ. The Lyric hired Ellen Heartsick as the new organist.
When Manos bought the theatre, they indeed simply closed the Grand and demolished the building a block away for the Blair Theatre at 213-215 Allegheny. From 1937 to 1957, the building appears to have been leased for 20 years as a home furnishing and appliance store.
Chingos indeed returned to the location giving the Grand Theatre an encore after 20 years to reopen it with widescreen projection on October 2, 1957 with “Bail Out at 43,000 Feet” and “Kiss Before Dying.” The grand re-opening page is in photos.
According to the trade press and local paper, A. Edward Campbell opened the new Lyric Theatre on December 14, 1948 with a film and festivities to African American audiences likely on a 15-year lease. The booth had two Motiograph Model AA projectors, Motiongraph Mirrorphnic sound with Altec Lansing speakers, and Radiant Perfold screen. It also had a cry room. The theatre’s entertainment included second-run double features, first-run and second-run African American films including Sack Amusement titles, and live musical acts. It closed at the end of its 15-year lease awaiting its 21st Century redevelopment.
The new Lyric Theatre launched here on October 22, 1906 with Keith vaudeville. It was built on the site of Louis Plack’s Theatre which had opened in February of 1888 by was destroyed by fire just one year after its launch on March 5, 1889. Unfortunately, the Lyric had even less success. A fire gutted the structure after just its fourth month of operation on February 24, 1907. The theatre’s foundation and possibly a bit more was used by the Silverman Brothers and Plack who rebuilt the theatre for a third time. They sold the project to Wilmer & Vincent - which may have changed the site’s luck for the better - which (re-)opened it as the Orpheum Theatre on March 9, 1908 again with Keith vaudeville.
Motion pictures were where the money was in the 1920s and on September 12, 1927, the Orpheum gave way to the Embassy Theatre with first-run First National Picture films. The opening title was “The Stolen Bride” with Billie Dove. The Warner Bros. Circuit took on the Strand creating the Warner Theatre there and that ended the Embassy’s movie run. It stumbled into the Depression with an assortment of live plays and burlesque.
Louis J. Alleman took on the venue renaming it as the Penn Theatre on October 17, 1933 and going back to its Orpheum roots with nine acts of “first class” live vaudeville. It would also stage lower tier burley shows. The theatre gradually began to reduce vaudeville and burlesque moving more to second-run, double-feature showing of motion pictures. In 1938, A. Notopoulous and Publix Theatres purchased the property ending its movie run on September 30, 1942. It was then used for sporadic political speeches, rallies and War Bond drives during World War II. After the War, it appears to have gone dark. Demolition of the Penn Theatre for parking took place August and September of 1951.
Anast N. Notopoulos took on the Gamble-Paramount two blocks from here in 1919 closing it July 23, 1919 for a major refresh. He gave it an entirely new interior and exterior look and renamed it the New Victora Theatre opening on November 15, 1919 for what turned out to be a temporary stay of just over a year.
It turned out Notopoulous would have bigger ideas for the Victoria. Creating a steel interior theatre costing $1 million by local architect Walter Frieling, a new, New Victoria would open at this location at 11th Avenue and 16th St.. Meanwhile, the Gamble/short-term New Victoria Theatre would be renamed from the Victoria to the Capitol Theatre opening now with a Greek architectural theme on March 17, 1921. But the New Victoria fell well behind schedule.
While work continued on the New Victoria, the building’s Victoria Danceland dance hall opened four months prior to the theatre’s grand opening. The new Victoria’s giant sunburst sign had a grand launch all to itself prior to the theater’s opening in June of 1922. The well-placed Palace Confectioner and the Victoria Cigar Store also opened in June prior to the theater’s launch. One of the State’s largest pool halls, the Victoria Pool Hall, also opened in the entertainment mecca with 35 Brunswick pool tables in the basement of the theatre building in July of 1922.
The New Victoria, itself, finally opened on July 20, 1922 with Owen Moore starring in “Reported Missing.” In 1923, the Victoria became a publicly-held entity called the Victoria Theatre Corporation likely trying to recoup its over one million dollar and behind-schedule investment. That company went bankrupt quickly in 1924 and was disbanded in 1925. Wilmer & Vincent Circuit took over the bankrupt property giving it a major refresh and relaunching September 19, 1925 as the renamed State Theatre. The State opened with Harold Lloyd in “The Freshman” and music from the $35,000 Marr & Colton organ with J.F. Keith at the console. The State installed sound and then widescreen to stay competitive lasting to the Victoria/State venue’s 50th Anniversary. But at the end of its 50-year lease, the theatre closed in 1971 and was demolished a year later.
The Gamble Brothers, Robert and Andy, had an early regional circuit of silent film houses in Central Pennsylvania including Huntingdon and the Grand in Altoona. In 1912, Architect Julian Millard of Altoona drew the plans of a new Moorish styled theatre for the Gambles. It opened as a 700-seat theatre and was designed to be added to so that it, in the future, could be a skyscraper. The facility featured a Wurlitzer automatic orchestra which purportedly was the larges musical instrument every installed outside of the pipe organ in Wanamaker’s Department Store in Philadelphia. With an admission price of just a nickel, the Gambles hoped that quantity would pay for the building.
The new Gamble Theatre launched March 8, 1913 with motion pictures and live music. But in 1918, the Gamble Brothers sold their theatres and went into the auto industry before Andy came back into the movie business a decade later. The Gamble became the Gamble-Paramount operated by Publix circuit.
Anast N. Notopoulos took on the Gamble-Paramount in 1919 closing it July 23, 1919 for a major refresh. He gave it an entirely new interior and exterior look and renamed it the New Victora Theatre opening on November 15, 1919 for what turned out to be a temporary stay of just over a year. The new Victoria’s opening film was Douglas Fairbanks starring in “The Knickerbocker Buckaroo.” It now had a gold fibre screen surrounded by purple velvet. It received a horseshoe-shaped balcony that was in the original plans but never executed.
But Notopoulous would have bigger ideas for the Victoria. Creating a steel interior and new look by local architect Walter Frieling a new, New Victoria would return there and, later, be taken over by Wilmer & Vincent and converted to the long-running State Theatre.) Meanwhile, the Gamble/short-term New Victoria Theatre would become the Capitol Theatre opening now with a Greek architectural theme by Sholler & Hersh and the film, “Behold My Wife,” on March 17, 1921. The Capitol installed sound and then widescreen to stay competitive . The theatre appears to have closed June 28, 1963 with “The Nutty Professor.”
Anast N. Notopoulos launched the New Olympic Theatre on June 3, 1915 with Betty Nansen in “A Woman’s Resurrection.”
The Strand launched with Pauline Frederick in “The Moment Before” on May 29, 1916. Warner Brothers Circuit took on the venue after a refresh with Vitaphone sound and the Richard Barthelmess film, “The Dawn Patrol” on August 15th, 1930. On March 10, 1933, Warner Brothers dropped the theatre.
The Silverman Brothers took over the venue briefly as Silverman Brothers' Warner Theatre on March 19, 1933. On November 9, 1933, the Silvermans changed back to the Strand Theatre moniker with Paul Lukas starring in “Captured.” The Strand closed on October 10, 1954 with a double-feature of “Three Forbidden Stories” and “The 39 Steps.”
The Pastime Theatre launched at 1504-6 11th Avenue on June 5, 1907 with “refined” motion pictures and vaudeville by the Silverman Brothers. Operating on a ten-year lease, the theatre closed on May 1, 1917.
The Juniata Theatre opened on October 8, 1912. It had a variety of operators in the 1910s including common ownership with the Pastime Theatre beginning in 1915. The Juniata added sound in 1929. It suffered the October 30, 1945 fire which gutted the facility with a reopening there in 1946.
CMX Cinemas closed this along with all of its locations on March 16, 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. A month later CMX declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy trying to renegotiate as many leases as possible. It was unable to do so with this location and closed it permanently. The venue awaited a new operator.
Taken over by CMX Cinemas Circuit in October of 2017, this goes by the name of CMX CinéBistro CityPlace Doral
CMX Cinemas took on the location in October of 2017 when it bought out Cobb locations and operating it as CMX Countryside
CMX Cinemas Circuit took on the location in October of 2017 operating it as the CMX Downtown In The Gardens
Taken over by CMX Cinemas Circuit in October of 2017, this one goes by CMX CinéBistro Siesta Key.
Also, the link referenced in the May 6, 2017 is no longer active
Taken over by CMX Cinemas Circuit in October of 2017, this one goes by CMX Tyrone 10.
Also, the link referenced in the May 6, 2017 is no longer active / pictures removed
Taken over by CMX Theatres in October of 2017, this one goes by the name of the CMX Miami Lakes 17
Taken over by CMX Cinemas Circuit in October of 2017, this one operates as the CMX CinéBistro Dolphin Mall
Taken over by CMX Cinemas in October of 2017, this operates as the CMX Plaza Café 12.
Taken over by CMX Cinemas in October of 2017, this venue goes by the name of the CMX Lakeside Village 18 & IMAX
Taken on by CMX Cinemas Circuit in October of 2017, it operates under the CMX Grand 10 moniker
CMX Cinemas took on this location in a buyout of Cobb location in October 2017 as the CMX CinéBistro Solaris. It closed along with all of the chain’s locations for the COVID-19 pandemic on March 16, 2020. CMX then declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy one month later and tried to renegotiate many of its leasing agreements. CMX made the closure of the Solaris permanent in an announcement in July of 2020.
Taken on by CMX Cinemas in October of 2017 and run under the moniker of CMX CinéBistro Liberty Center (aka CMX CinéBistro Liberty)
Taken over by CMX Cinemas in October of 2017, it was then operated as the CMX Village 14.
Taken over by CMX Cinemas in October of 2017 and renamed the CMX CinéBistro Stony Point.
Taken over by CMC Cinemas as the CMX CinéBistro Waverly Place