I’m hoping that this newest incarnation of the Miller will preserve all of the architectural elements that make it distinctive, and an asset to the community. Now if only the movies of today were as good as those I watched there back in the ‘40s and '50s….
It’s Charles Jefferson, not Johnson. Sounds like a guy who gets things done; let’s hope his “thing” is preservation/restoration! Great if movies return, but the important thing is keeping it as a theater!
Very big news indeed! This is the only movie theater remaining in downtown Bethlehem. Allentown lost its last one when the Colonial was demolished (still has Symphony Hall a/k/a Lyric of old), and Easton has the State. Under all the later trappings in the Boyd there is a real vintage house that will be a treasure again if the restoration is properly handled. Let’s hope so!
Was the Valencia (note correct spelling: it isn’t “Valenica”!) by any chance a twin of the Loew’s Grand Concourse theater in the Bronx? The top photo looks almost identical to the rendering in Ben Hall’s “The Best Remaining Seats” book. And BTW, does anybody know whether that Loew’s theater in the Bronx is extant?
Drove by this theater today. It doesn’t look active. Date on stone entablature is 1926. I’ve never been inside, but it would appear from photos that it’s strictly a movie house, i.e., no real stage, which limits its usefulness for other events and organizations that would require one, such as drama and musicals. Exterior evidence for the lack of a stage is that there’s no stage house; the building has a gable roof for its entire length behind the head house. Economic viability for this theater is going to be a difficult challenge, IMO.
Yesterday’s Morning Call (12/13/14—ha!) reported sale of the Boyd to Moravian College, which plans to restore the Boyd for its theater program. This is good news! As a former production house, the Boyd has an ample stage house, dressing rooms, orchestra pit (to be uncovered?), etc. One drawback is the tiny lobby, which is scarcely a lobby at all, but rather an extension of the entrance foyer (corridor). We’ll see how extensively they plan to restore the interior features, which have been covered by curtains for years, probably due to deterioration from leakage. I think that there are box seats behind the curtains. Also, at present the AC machinery occupies a substantial area on stage! This will have to be moved, of course. Let’s hope that the College does it right and returns this venerable old treasure to its former state of restrained dignity (it’s not an elaborately fancy “movie palace” by any means).
I loved this theater, which I attended in the period 1950-53. It had the most beautiful blue-lit curtain which opened upwards in large scallops. I hope that somehow the house manages to survive within the museum.
Here’s the full citation for the Chronicle article:http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2012-06-22/historic-miller-theater-renovation-moves-forward
Lots of pros and cons to the proposed project: see readers' comments. I’d love to see the Miller restored as I remember it fondly from the 1940s-50s, but today it probably wouldn’t fly as a movie house only, for lots of reasons. As a retired symphony musician who has played in many halls, including Carnegie Hall in New York, I question the suitability of the Miller as a symphony orchestra venue. Eight more feet of stage (thrust, presumably, not backstage) will still not be sufficient to accommodate a typical 85-90 piece orchestra, and the acoustics will be all wrong. Meanwhile, some attractive features of the house will be forever altered or removed. In an ideal world, the Miller would be restored (not repurposed) to its original purposes (movies and live stage presentations) and design. It is an Art Moderne gem that very few cities have. But we don’t live in an ideal world, alas.
Right you are. I wasn’t thinking of the national chain stores, like Sears and Penney’s, but rather the local/regional stores. The elevated system you mention was a vacuum tube system, common in the days when transactions were handled not by clerks at cash registers in each department, but in a central, unseen location somewhere in the back offices of the store. Your cash went into the cartridge, which was inserted into the tube, and it whisked away to the nether regions; in a minute or two, your receipt and change were returned in the same tube.
The drugstore at the corner of 7th and Broad was Gardell’s Drug Store, part of the Rexall chain. Gardell’s later moved out near the University Hospital. Gardell’s had little hexagonal tile floors, ceiling fans, wire frame chairs, and the best fountain Cokes in town. It had a full range of cosmetics, etc. And it even sold medicine!
I remember the Youth Revue (Review?), sponsored by Sancken’s Dairy. It was broadcast from the stage of the Miller Theater over radio station WRDW (I think; might have been WGAC), followed by a cartoon (Bugs Bunny, hopefully) and a feature film suitable for kids. Saturday mornings at the Miller was “prime time” growing up in Augusta in the 1940s!
The link http://tinyurl.com/njnc6a shows the Broad Theatre as it appeared in the late ‘40s-early '50s. I have in my possession a video copy of a 16mm b/w movie of a Lehigh Valley Transit “Liberty Bell” interurban trolley car passing in front of the theater. This film could not date later than Sept. 1951, when the line was discontinued. Unfortunately, the quality of the print doesn’t permit me to read the movie title on the marquee, or I could more precisely date it.
That would have been Cullum’s Dept. Store, IIRC. I have a matchbook cover with a picture of the store. It was one of three department stores on Broad St. that I remember: J.B. White, Davison-Paxon(sp?), and Cullum’s. But my favorite store in downtown Augusta was Bowen Bros. Hardware.
Finished book this week. Very thorough telling of Roxy’s life story: his life, like the book, ended too soon and leaves you wanting more. I even read the footnotes! Two comments, not intended to distract from the very positive aspects: 1) It’s a tad repetitive in spots, but Roxy had a busy career and there is a lot to cover; 2) More photographs, and higher quality reproduction, would have filled out the story considerably (publisher please take note!). Readers will certainly want to look up on this website the various theaters mentioned, and those with access to Ben Hall’s book, with its unparalled collection of period photos, will want it close at hand. Overall, a good read, especially for us theater geeks, and one which makes me regret again that I missed out on the glorious era it chronicles.
To the best of my recollection (from my college years at the UofR 1959-63), the Loew’s Rochester was on the same side of S. Clinton Ave. as the later Xerox tower which replaced it, and the U-U Church, IOW, the east side (if I have my directions right).
The 30% discount merely pays for UPS shipping ($11.25). Be sure to select “USPS media mail” when you order from Columbia, and you’ll pay only $29.65 total instead of $37.75.
From the preview pages on the Amazon site, I gather that the Melnick book is heavy on the detail (“the curse of scholarship,” we call it in academia). The man has certainly done his research, no doubt about it. Ben Hall’s “The Best Remaining Seats,” in which Roxy holds a central position, is probably more accessible for the typical reader, and there are other books specifically on Samuel Rothafel. I’m fortunate enough to own a first edition of the Hall book (c. 1961, o.p.), and I did see a movie at the New York Roxy in the late 1950s, long after its glory days with symphony orchestra in the pit. I don’t have much memory of the theater (it was awfully dark in there!), but it gives me small bragging rights in my dotage.
Having said all this, I’m probably going to order the book, because (as a retired professor myself) I’m willing to wade through the detail, and also because Roxy spent part of his early life in my adopted state, up in n.e. Pennsylvania (specifically, the area around Forest City and Carbondale in Susquehanna County, in the Northern Anthracite Field—-really the sticks, folks). I’m sure it will be money well spent!
I’m hoping that this newest incarnation of the Miller will preserve all of the architectural elements that make it distinctive, and an asset to the community. Now if only the movies of today were as good as those I watched there back in the ‘40s and '50s….
It’s Charles Jefferson, not Johnson. Sounds like a guy who gets things done; let’s hope his “thing” is preservation/restoration! Great if movies return, but the important thing is keeping it as a theater!
Very big news indeed! This is the only movie theater remaining in downtown Bethlehem. Allentown lost its last one when the Colonial was demolished (still has Symphony Hall a/k/a Lyric of old), and Easton has the State. Under all the later trappings in the Boyd there is a real vintage house that will be a treasure again if the restoration is properly handled. Let’s hope so!
Was the Valencia (note correct spelling: it isn’t “Valenica”!) by any chance a twin of the Loew’s Grand Concourse theater in the Bronx? The top photo looks almost identical to the rendering in Ben Hall’s “The Best Remaining Seats” book. And BTW, does anybody know whether that Loew’s theater in the Bronx is extant?
Drove by this theater today. It doesn’t look active. Date on stone entablature is 1926. I’ve never been inside, but it would appear from photos that it’s strictly a movie house, i.e., no real stage, which limits its usefulness for other events and organizations that would require one, such as drama and musicals. Exterior evidence for the lack of a stage is that there’s no stage house; the building has a gable roof for its entire length behind the head house. Economic viability for this theater is going to be a difficult challenge, IMO.
Tiny URL: http://tinyurl.com/mktrhc7
Be sure to enlarge each photo! It’s really spectacular.
George Eastman died (by his own hand, incidentally) in 1932, so whoever “instituted” the Dryden Theatre, it wasn’t he! Please revise your description!
Yesterday’s Morning Call (12/13/14—ha!) reported sale of the Boyd to Moravian College, which plans to restore the Boyd for its theater program. This is good news! As a former production house, the Boyd has an ample stage house, dressing rooms, orchestra pit (to be uncovered?), etc. One drawback is the tiny lobby, which is scarcely a lobby at all, but rather an extension of the entrance foyer (corridor). We’ll see how extensively they plan to restore the interior features, which have been covered by curtains for years, probably due to deterioration from leakage. I think that there are box seats behind the curtains. Also, at present the AC machinery occupies a substantial area on stage! This will have to be moved, of course. Let’s hope that the College does it right and returns this venerable old treasure to its former state of restrained dignity (it’s not an elaborately fancy “movie palace” by any means).
If Moravian bought it, that would be the best outcome, IMO. It would be great to see this fine old theater restored for stage productions.
I loved this theater, which I attended in the period 1950-53. It had the most beautiful blue-lit curtain which opened upwards in large scallops. I hope that somehow the house manages to survive within the museum.
No doubt it should, but in the (near?) future our descendants will wonder what “Kodak” was. 8-(
Hi Mike. Yeah, they’re old and getting older. But better. Merry Christmas!
Hey gang, how come when I enter “imperial, GA” in the search window on this site, it comes up with—-nothing?! Site moderators, please note! Thanks.
More photos here: http://www.thefoxoakland.com/gallery.html
Gorgeous theater!!!
The perfect solution for the Augusta Symphony! ;–)
Here’s the full citation for the Chronicle article:http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2012-06-22/historic-miller-theater-renovation-moves-forward Lots of pros and cons to the proposed project: see readers' comments. I’d love to see the Miller restored as I remember it fondly from the 1940s-50s, but today it probably wouldn’t fly as a movie house only, for lots of reasons. As a retired symphony musician who has played in many halls, including Carnegie Hall in New York, I question the suitability of the Miller as a symphony orchestra venue. Eight more feet of stage (thrust, presumably, not backstage) will still not be sufficient to accommodate a typical 85-90 piece orchestra, and the acoustics will be all wrong. Meanwhile, some attractive features of the house will be forever altered or removed. In an ideal world, the Miller would be restored (not repurposed) to its original purposes (movies and live stage presentations) and design. It is an Art Moderne gem that very few cities have. But we don’t live in an ideal world, alas.
Right you are. I wasn’t thinking of the national chain stores, like Sears and Penney’s, but rather the local/regional stores. The elevated system you mention was a vacuum tube system, common in the days when transactions were handled not by clerks at cash registers in each department, but in a central, unseen location somewhere in the back offices of the store. Your cash went into the cartridge, which was inserted into the tube, and it whisked away to the nether regions; in a minute or two, your receipt and change were returned in the same tube.
The drugstore at the corner of 7th and Broad was Gardell’s Drug Store, part of the Rexall chain. Gardell’s later moved out near the University Hospital. Gardell’s had little hexagonal tile floors, ceiling fans, wire frame chairs, and the best fountain Cokes in town. It had a full range of cosmetics, etc. And it even sold medicine!
I remember the Youth Revue (Review?), sponsored by Sancken’s Dairy. It was broadcast from the stage of the Miller Theater over radio station WRDW (I think; might have been WGAC), followed by a cartoon (Bugs Bunny, hopefully) and a feature film suitable for kids. Saturday mornings at the Miller was “prime time” growing up in Augusta in the 1940s!
The link http://tinyurl.com/njnc6a shows the Broad Theatre as it appeared in the late ‘40s-early '50s. I have in my possession a video copy of a 16mm b/w movie of a Lehigh Valley Transit “Liberty Bell” interurban trolley car passing in front of the theater. This film could not date later than Sept. 1951, when the line was discontinued. Unfortunately, the quality of the print doesn’t permit me to read the movie title on the marquee, or I could more precisely date it.
That would have been Cullum’s Dept. Store, IIRC. I have a matchbook cover with a picture of the store. It was one of three department stores on Broad St. that I remember: J.B. White, Davison-Paxon(sp?), and Cullum’s. But my favorite store in downtown Augusta was Bowen Bros. Hardware.
Finished book this week. Very thorough telling of Roxy’s life story: his life, like the book, ended too soon and leaves you wanting more. I even read the footnotes! Two comments, not intended to distract from the very positive aspects: 1) It’s a tad repetitive in spots, but Roxy had a busy career and there is a lot to cover; 2) More photographs, and higher quality reproduction, would have filled out the story considerably (publisher please take note!). Readers will certainly want to look up on this website the various theaters mentioned, and those with access to Ben Hall’s book, with its unparalled collection of period photos, will want it close at hand. Overall, a good read, especially for us theater geeks, and one which makes me regret again that I missed out on the glorious era it chronicles.
To the best of my recollection (from my college years at the UofR 1959-63), the Loew’s Rochester was on the same side of S. Clinton Ave. as the later Xerox tower which replaced it, and the U-U Church, IOW, the east side (if I have my directions right).
Book arrived today. Am plunging right in and will update from time to time. Looks good so far.
The 30% discount merely pays for UPS shipping ($11.25). Be sure to select “USPS media mail” when you order from Columbia, and you’ll pay only $29.65 total instead of $37.75.
From the preview pages on the Amazon site, I gather that the Melnick book is heavy on the detail (“the curse of scholarship,” we call it in academia). The man has certainly done his research, no doubt about it. Ben Hall’s “The Best Remaining Seats,” in which Roxy holds a central position, is probably more accessible for the typical reader, and there are other books specifically on Samuel Rothafel. I’m fortunate enough to own a first edition of the Hall book (c. 1961, o.p.), and I did see a movie at the New York Roxy in the late 1950s, long after its glory days with symphony orchestra in the pit. I don’t have much memory of the theater (it was awfully dark in there!), but it gives me small bragging rights in my dotage.
Having said all this, I’m probably going to order the book, because (as a retired professor myself) I’m willing to wade through the detail, and also because Roxy spent part of his early life in my adopted state, up in n.e. Pennsylvania (specifically, the area around Forest City and Carbondale in Susquehanna County, in the Northern Anthracite Field—-really the sticks, folks). I’m sure it will be money well spent!
Ok, that works. Thanks!