Devon Theater for the Performing Arts
6333 Frankford Avenue,
Philadelphia,
PA
19135
6333 Frankford Avenue,
Philadelphia,
PA
19135
4 people
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Now that Pennsylvania’s State Representative John Perzel — who’s credited with the Devon restoration project (there’s a poster plastered on its front entrance saying as much) — is no longer the state’s House Speaker, it’s not clear yet where the Devon Theatre’s future now stands. I truly hope the project continues going forward (although it would help if it could do so a lot more quickly) but there’s no telling right now where this whole thing stands exactly. Anybody who knows anything about this should post what they know here. For I, along with countless others, am totally clueless.
Sarcasm. Such a bee-you-tee-full thing.
This just in: The Devon Live Performing Arts Theatre will have its grand opening on Saturday, September 20, 2341 from noon till 6pm! There will be a Philly string band performing and free refreshments for everyone! So mark it on your calendars, folks!
I checked the web site in question, but there was a note, but no link whatsoever. Someone’s been sleeping in the web page building room methinks.
Howard, the design of the Devon Theatre, at least exterior-wise, was never particularly exciting. In fact, given how dull its exterior design is is why for so many years it could pull off being an adult movie house so close to residential areas with little to no public outcry. Back when I was in high school in the late ‘60s it was an adult theater that was simply where it was with a very high degree of invisibility. Had it been the Mayfair Theatre, the Merben or even the Orleans, no way could it have pulled off having such invisibility. Meaning, I think its most exciting era is still ahead of it — and, of course, no one has photos of that just yet. Those currently restoring it, though, might have renderings projecting how it should look when it’s fully restored — PA House Speaker John Perzel and so on. So why not check with them to see if they have any renderings they’d like to make public? For with Perzel’s recent reelection I would think the full completion of restoring this theater now holds top priority. (Or at least I would hope so, given the long length of time the voting public has been kept on hold awaiting its grand reopening, this time around to be a live entertainment venue.)
Photos from its last season (for classics) have appeared at http://www.cinematour.com/tour.php?db=us&id=6951
Does any else have photos? If so, please share them.
Revelations on what the latest is with the Devon Theatre can be seen at the following link:
View link
But whether any of it will pan out to be true is yet to be seen, of course.
Well that’s certainly very good news to hear! I am curious, though, to know what sort of live performances it will present when completed, given how “live performance” can mean a whole variety of different things ranging from concerts (classical, rock, rap, hiphop, jazz, etc.) to stage plays to musicals to operas to dance reviews to magic shows and so forth and so on. In determining this, I presume the restorers of the Devon are conferring with the residents of Mayfair constantly. Or…is that just another case of “dream on” on my part?
Fortunately in the case of the Devon the photos I have of it are likely very unflattering in relation to how it will look when fully restored, and the only reason why I took them when I did (last October) was to see if that theater might have ideas that would prove useful for the Holme/Pennypack Theatre’s restoration. For of all historic theater buildings still in existence here in Northeast Philadelphia, the Holme/Pennypack is by far the most significant of them all. But see, because of the time when it was built, which was right at the onset of the Great Depression, it never got to be all that its architect, William Harold Lee, had intended it to be. All through the Depression years it was operated in a very watered down sort of way, and by the time newer communities to its south rose up, Mayfair especially, it was all but forgotten. And to this day there are people who for whatever reasons (though certainly none level-headed) are fiercely determined to block the Holme/Pennypack from ever being properly restored. It’s a much larger theater building than either the Mayfair or the Tyson, and it dwarfs the Devon completely. Furthermore, it was designed especially wide by W.H. Lee in anticipation of wide-screen Cinerama format for future generations, but which it never got to see.
As for the community of Holmesburg itself, where this theater building stands, long before there was what we call Philadelphia’s Main Line today, Holmesburg itself had been Philadelphia’s original Main Line. And a much better one at that I might add. For as such it was home to the man who invented the ready-made suit which revolutionized the whole garment industry (making it so suddenly the common man could afford to dress as nicely as society’s wealthiest), and it was home to Baldwin of Baldwin Locomotive fame. Actress Ethel Barrymore (Drew’s great aunt) grew up in and attended a private girl’s school here in Holmesurg. And prior to and all during the Civil War, it had been home to some of America’s leading Abolitionists. In fact, right behind the Holme/Pennypack Theatre there’s an African American community with roots tracing directly to that era — their having been given safe refuge there by my ancestors and others. And just caticorner to the Holme Pennypack Theatre stands an historic colonial house dating to the late 1600s that had belonged to various members of Philadelphia’s Peale family. Rembrandt Peale did his most famous self-portrait in the attic of that house, and “The Staircase Group,” a painting by Charles Willson Peale that today is on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art originally hung in its parlor, while the staircase it depicts is part of it. And legend has it that George Washington, in his latter years, and when his eyesight was failing, stopped by that house one day on one of his many visits to it, and he tipped his hat to that painting, thinking the figures it showed were for real. And Holmesburg, of course, is home to the oldest stone arch bridge in the country. Another thing I should point out, when Holmesurg was in its rightful place of glory, Kensington, which is where the Art Holiday Theatre is, was not in the hopelessly impoverished state it is in today, that is, not when the wealthy industrialists of Holmesburg held reign over it. All that came later, when Philadelphia’s Main Line of today came into being. But when Holmesburg was in charge, Kensington thrived.
As for why anyone would want to prevent Holmesburg from rising up again to its former glory — with properly restoring the Holme/Pennypack Theatre building as a classy single-screen neighborhood theater being a huge step in that direction — you got me. For Philadelphia’s Main Line of today certainly isn’t doing anything worthwhile these days. And did it ever? Look at how miserable and rundown Kensington and North Philadelphia and so on are, and you tell me.
I agree with what Theaterbuff1 says in the first paragraph above, especially the “remote possibility” that things will change. It certainly isn’t impossible that a theater building could again be reused as a theater in the future. At this point in time, most theaters have a greater chance of being reused for live performance or church than for daily single screen cinema.
We have found photos of the Boyd over time to be invaluable for its restoration, as well as documentation of its history, and our public relations campaign. We are still seeking and obtain such photos.
You will find Art Holiday on this site, but search under Holiday Art, and you can issue your comments on that page. I found it by google “Art Holiday Philadelphia cinema treasures” and found its title in this website.
TheaterBuff1: nice pictures of the Holmes/Pennypack. Very much ashame the way it looks and the care its been given. Probably was a beautiful place in its time.
TheaterBuff1: Any photos of the Devon. Would like to see what it looked like.
Rg, it’s not that you and I are in total disagreement, as I understand where you’re coming from in that you’re basing what you say on how things are here and now. And basing everything on that you couldn’t possibly be more right in what you say. And no one can predict when or if that situation will ever change. Which leads me to say that your idea is excellent, Howard (and glad to see we’re on positive terms again!), in that at the very least for now we can document all we can of Philadelphia’s theaters past so that knowledge of this won’t be lost completely, and, of course, with the remote possibility that at some future date things do actually change. Meaning that whatever knowledge we compile now might prove very useful when those of the future seek to recreate what had been lost. Needless to say, I have plenty of photos I’ve taken of closed down theaters here in Northeast Philadelphia — including of the Devon — that I would like to provide links to, while right now the only link I have is for just a few of the many I took of the Holme/Pennypack last year, which can be seen at this link: Http://www.flickr.com/photos/TheaterBuff1/
As for the Art Holiday, John, I’ve been wondering what the story is on that myself, as years ago I used to pass it by regularly on the Market-Frankford elevated, its green neon sign brightly lit up at night. And what used to amuse me as I look back now was that the el stop it was closest to was called “Church”! And it was one of the stops along the el that no one, unless they absolutely had to, would get off at — boarded up stores, drug dealers on every corner, etc. Meaning that I’d be totally surprised if that theater is even still open. So Rg, if you have any info on what the latest on that theater is please share it with us. This site doesn’t even have it listed, so maybe you could research and provide a Cinema Treasures page for it.
Tell me what the Art Holiday is like. I know its an X-rated theater. Does anyone know anything about it…when it was built, prior names, etc. etc.?
I would add that Theaterbuff1’s photos of current exteriors of Mayfair and Holmes theaters adds to our history and documentation of our theaters, and of our changing neighborhoods. I would encourage him to continue to photograph those theaters as their uses change, and other theaters, too and post such photos online (linking to this website) and provide copies of those photos to places like the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, the Central Library of Free Library of Philadelphia’s Theatre Collection, and the Theatre Historical Society of America (by print, CD, etc.). Future generations should know what happenned to each theater, and see photos of any surviving original features such as marquee, poster cases,etc. That service is invaluable.
TheaterBuff1: It’s TIME to get real! This area will never return to the way it was theatre style. It’s over and in the PAST. Be thankful the Devon is being saved. You only theatre left to SAVE is the Art Holiday. Put your effort into that theatre.
QUICK CORRECTION:
The architect who designed the Mayfair and Tyson was David Supowitz, not Sopowitz. Sorry about the typo!
If you have firsthand familiarity with the GCC Northeast you most certainly wouldn’t expect the story of that theater to have played out any differently than it had. Not only was it never ever a classy theater, but it was designed so poorly that there’s no possible way it could ever be transformed to be. Have you ever known anyone who, no matter how hard they tried, could never possibly hope to be a singer? Well, the same exact thing could be said architectually of whoever designed that theater. To list that theater in an intelligent discussion of Northeast Philadelphia theaters would be the same as attempting to discuss Andrea Bocelli, William Hung, Placido Domingo and Luciano Paveratti in the same breath. That is, if Northeast Philadelphia theaters are going to be discussed intelligently, the GCC Northeast cannot even be mentioned.
At the opposite extreme, the Holme/Pennypack, Mayfair and Tyson Theatres are significant works of art which are forced to be otherwise given the hands they’re currently in. They’re part of the other Northeast Philadelphia that few people, not even the top experts in Center City, even know about.
As for the Devon Theatre, while that, too, is not in the same league as those other three, I believe it will make for a half decent live performing arts theater when its restoration is completed — whenever that will be. But as theater buildings go it is not all that valuable architecturally. With those other three, however, we’re basically talking “Cinderella,” though it’s hard to tell it right now with all the “chimney soot” they’re currently caked under.
“Works of art” theaters are distinguished by the fact that if they’re torn down they cannot be replaced. As is true with all genuine works of art, they have a life and soul within them, and unto themselves, so much so that, when they get demolished, the crime of this is right up there with murder itself. And it all has to do with their being so irreplaceable once they’re gone. And when they’re misused — which is how I feel it is right now — I place it in the same league as slavery itself. And why not, given the fact that the Holme/Pennypack Theatre WAS designed by William Harold Lee and the Mayfair and Tyson Theatres WERE designed by David Sopowitz, both men ranking very high among the 20th century’s top movie theater architects — as this Cinema Treasures website will readily confirm. Can we allow business and politics to overshadow that fact?
We think of Northeast Philadelphia right now over all as being this easily writable off wasteland, yet without knowing all the actual facts about it. We see it this way now due to its current very beat up state and the lack of recognition it rightfully deserves. And with few if any fighting for the soul of it. To the artists of Center City, Northeast Philadelphia, with all its architectural and other wealth, is but a world unknown, an untapped but exciting new frontier for them — provided that aspect doesn’t all get totally destroyed by the time they do learn of it. And to be sure there are many people in Northeast Philadelphia, in positions of power in Northeast Philadelphia but who are not actually of it, who are quite fiercely determined to see that they and the architectural experts of Center City — and elsewhere — never do learn of it, that it can fully be destroyed with sprawl and other poorly thought out unscrupulous development by the time they finally do learn of it.
As for the bank that’s going to be taking over the Mayfair Theatre building making money, that is yet to be seen, just as is true of the new stores that will be filling out the mini mall the Holme/Pennypack Theatre building is currently being converted into. For the Eckerds Pharmacy that previously occupied the Mayfair Theatre building clearly wasn’t making any money, nor was the Daley’s Furniture and Appliance Store that previously occupied the Holme/Pennypack Theatre building. As for the furniture store that currently occupies the Tyson Theatre building, that does look like it’s doing well, and that might actually be the case, but not necessarily. Outward appearances can be very deceiving. For who knew just how much the Eckerds Pharmacy was hurting in its last days? To everyone, including me, its closing came as a sudden and unexpected surprise. And that could just as easily happen in the Tyson Theatre building’s case, or not, who really knows right now?
The present owners and business owners of these buildings are not going to sell, move or close what is making money to return it to a theatre. Look at the old GGC theatre on the Blvd. in the N/E. GGC closed it. It sat forever empty and at one point it was going to be turned into a school. Now it’s ready for the wrecking ball do to the fire. Look at Franklin Mills Mall theatre IT’S NOW A CHURCH. It’s a LOST cause.
Every single one of the area theater buildings Northeast Philadelphia has could be restored as theaters. And most certainly this would be a lot less expensive than building an all new one from the ground level up. And I’m talking about restoring them as single screen theaters, of course. For forget multiplexes! Gahhhhhh! And what’s stopping it from happening? Several things, the biggest thing of all being that Northeast Philadelphia, because it is part of Philadelphia, is under Center City Philadelphia’s oppressive political thumb, and Center City has other ideas for this part of the city — really really stupid ideas I might add, given how beautiful this part of the city could be otherwise. Center City Philadelphia is currently governing Northeast Philadelphia with knowing next to nothing about it. Thus it’s governing Northeast Philadelphia very colonialistically. Whenever it’s called upon for help in exchange for all the taxes Northeast Philadelphia pays to it, it takes the wrong side always. It never misses a mark. In essence Northeast Philadelphia is Center City’s “whipping boy.” and at present Northeast Philadelphia is taking it all sitting down. If that changes and Northeast Philadelphia decides to fight for Northeast Philadelphia, don’t worry, I can assure you our historic theater buildings up here WILL be restored as classy neighborhood movie theaters once more. I’ll see to it personally!
In my area (Lebanon/Dauphin counties) they’re building all kinds of new theaters. After having no theaters for several years, they just started building a new 12 screen multiplex in Lebanon, and a 10 screen is planned for across town. There’s also at least 1 huge multiplex planned for Harrisburg. Can’t say I like the multiplexs too much, but it’s (marginally) better than nothing.
TheaterBuff1: What area theatres could be restored. The structure that are left are stores, etc. NO ONE is going to build a NEW one from the ground up. It’s over!
Since the Devon Theatre of the future is to be for live performances only, the issue of digital — or 3D for that matter — is not to be a worry. But what the Devon will have to worry about are all the questionable new developments occuring around it, whether it be Tacony Pointe or whatever else. Which is what I’ve been looking at in addition to the possibilities of various area theaters being restored. By rights, before anything positive gets introduced around here, these things should get resolved first. For how will the Devon play out if this isn’t done? And right now, rather than these other issues — which will have an impact on the Devon — being resolved properly, it’s just the opposite. It’s the same as saying that building an amphitheater on the deck of the Titanic is a great idea….but just when it’s striking the iceberg?
It’ll probably take George Lucas (or someone similar) requiring digital projection in order to show a particular movie before there’s widespread adoption of digital projection. (Lucas had specific audio requirements for a theater before they could show the new Star Wars films. Many theater owners paid for expensive upgrades as a result.)
Guess we’re at about 5 posts now since the Devon was mentioned, so I’ll mention it.
When 3D movies came back in 1981-1983, the Devon ran one (I think called “Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone”) because the Devon had an actual silver screen. (It would have played at the Mayfair, but no silver screen there.) In order to run a 3D movie, a special lens must be put on the projector, extra care must be taken with focus, etc. I don’t know what the projectionist did, but the movie was horribly out of focus and out of sync when I saw it, and you could not see any 3D effect or anything resembling a picture. Complaints were ignored, and most people eventually got up and walked out. I got in for free, but still walked out.
Those who manufacture digital cinema projectors for Texas Instruments have deals where they cover the full financing of a theater’s switching over to digital. Of course, there’s a good reason for this, because it is still very experimental. Many theater operators are afraid of making the switchover otherwise, which in many ways I think is a fear of a repeat of what happened with Betamax v. VHS. And in Hollywood there’s ongoing disputes as to what should become the industry standard, especially with Sony and others coming forth with digital projection systems not compatable with Texas Instruments'. Add to this that if LED and plasma screen technology develops more it could well do away with the need for a projector completely, though that’s still a long ways down the road. What I’d like to see is something similar to how PanaVision works it. With PanaVision, you can’t buy their equipment, only lease it. But at least with this you’re guaranteed a constant upgrade when it’s needed.