Jacques Opera House
Phoenix Avenue,
Waterbury,
CT
06702
Phoenix Avenue,
Waterbury,
CT
06702
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There are 2 pictures of this theatre (interior and exterior) in Images of America: Waterbury on pages 52-3. They mentioned 1,000 seats including a balcony and private boxes.
Jacques Opera House in Waterbury is listed in the 1897-98 edition of Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guide. Jean Jacques was the Mgr. and the seating was 1,640. The theatre had both gas and electric illumination, and was on the ground floor. The proscenium opening was 33 feet wide X 30 feet high and the stage was 33 feet deep. There were 6 in the house orchestra. Waterbury newspapers were the American, Republican, Democrat, and Herald. Hotels were Scoville House, Franklyn, Arlington, Cooley and Earle. Railroad was the New Haven RR. The 1897 population was 45,000. The Guide also lists the Auditorium in Waterbury. Its manager was also Jean Jacques. It had 1,620 seats and its stage was slightly larger. It was also on the ground floor.
A photo of Jacques in the early 1900s is at View link
I was in Waterbury on Monday and decided to visit every listed Waterbury movie theater, living or deceased. There is a building on Phoenix Avenue right near the main drag that looks like a movie theatre on the left up the hill but that’s not the location.
John M. Fitzgerald operated Jacques' first movie camera and the film was allowed to spin out of the machine and into a paper bag. After the show, the film was tediously rewound by hand. Fitzgerald was a stage manager at Jacques and the old Poli’s. He was one of the first to operate one of the hand-cranked projectors of that era, lighted by live current which arced between two sticks of carbon. The film was celluloid and highly flammable, so that the heat generated by the carbon arc lamp posed a constant threat of fire.
Correction by John Wiehn
Jacques opened up in November of 1886.
Actually t the Jacques opened in 1885.