I worked at Loew’s Capitol Theatre in Washington, DC part time while in the Air Force. I was there from the summer of 1960 until May 1963. I began as an usher making 55 cents per hour. We wore uniforms with cardboard dickies and bowties. Later I was one of the assistant managers and we wore a tuxedo every night. There were three assistant managers and one manager. The regional manager also had an office on the ground floor. There were three fulltime cashiers and a fulltime switchboard operator.
There were six floors of dressing rooms backstage. I was the elevator operator while still an usher for a ballet in October 1960. I think it was The Bolshoi Ballet but am not sure. The Bolshoi ballet was attended by President and Mrs. Kennedy November 14, 1962. They sat in the front loge on the right hand side of the theatre.
In his first social outing since the Cuban crisis began, President Kennedy led a wildly cheering audience at the Bolshoi Ballet, then went backstage with Soviet Ambassador Dobrynin to meet the dancers. Mr. Kennedy left early to prepare for talks today with Chancellor Adenauer, who arrived last night. (1:6) View link
Robert Kennedy and his family would show up periodically to see movies.
The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse premiered February 2, 1962. I remember that Glenn Ford and Yvette Mimieux attended.
Some of the cast came for the opening of Hatari in June 1962.
Some of the dressing rooms still had some of the old props and costumes from the stage shows. At night after the theatre closed I would wander around all the rooms. There were nooks and crannies everywhere. There were catwalks above the whole theatre. I felt like I was part of Phantom of the Opera. The cleaners had to get on the catwalks to lower the three giant chandeliers to clean them.
In late 1962 and early 1963 I helped remove the pipe organ that had been used for stage shows. It was bought by someone in the construction business. He had a special building built for it on the property next to his home. It was built behind and into the walls covering three or four stories of the theatre.
I was too young to really appreciate the beauty and history that I was experiencing.
I worked at Loew’s Capitol Theatre in Washington, DC part time while in the Air Force. I was there from the summer of 1960 until May 1963. I began as an usher making 55 cents per hour. We wore uniforms with cardboard dickies and bowties. Later I was one of the assistant managers and we wore a tuxedo every night. There were three assistant managers and one manager. The regional manager also had an office on the ground floor. There were three fulltime cashiers and a fulltime switchboard operator.
There were six floors of dressing rooms backstage. I was the elevator operator while still an usher for a ballet in October 1960. I think it was The Bolshoi Ballet but am not sure. The Bolshoi ballet was attended by President and Mrs. Kennedy November 14, 1962. They sat in the front loge on the right hand side of the theatre.
In his first social outing since the Cuban crisis began, President Kennedy led a wildly cheering audience at the Bolshoi Ballet, then went backstage with Soviet Ambassador Dobrynin to meet the dancers. Mr. Kennedy left early to prepare for talks today with Chancellor Adenauer, who arrived last night. (1:6)
View link
Robert Kennedy and his family would show up periodically to see movies.
The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse premiered February 2, 1962. I remember that Glenn Ford and Yvette Mimieux attended.
Some of the cast came for the opening of Hatari in June 1962.
Some of the dressing rooms still had some of the old props and costumes from the stage shows. At night after the theatre closed I would wander around all the rooms. There were nooks and crannies everywhere. There were catwalks above the whole theatre. I felt like I was part of Phantom of the Opera. The cleaners had to get on the catwalks to lower the three giant chandeliers to clean them.
In late 1962 and early 1963 I helped remove the pipe organ that had been used for stage shows. It was bought by someone in the construction business. He had a special building built for it on the property next to his home. It was built behind and into the walls covering three or four stories of the theatre.
I was too young to really appreciate the beauty and history that I was experiencing.