Refowich Theatre
531 Centre Street,
Freeland,
PA
18224
531 Centre Street,
Freeland,
PA
18224
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Construction for the Refowich Theatre began in 1912 and the theatre opened for the first time in February 1914. The theatre was located at the intersection of Centre Street and Main Street and had a total of 650 seats. A heavy winter storm hit the area during the same week as the grand opening and brought snowdrifts that reached fifteen feet. This adversely affected business during the first weeks and management was forced to reduce prices to 5 cents for all admissions!
The theatre offered both vaudeville and movie presentations. Along with the lobby, the building contained several storefronts on the first floor and offices on the second floor. A popular ice cream parlor called Candyland was located in one of the first floor storefronts for many years. Stage shows were discontinued in 1930 but local groups occasionally used the stage for presentations. The Refowich Theatre closed on June 8, 1975 with Eddie Albert in “Escape to Witch Mountain”. In the late-1970’s, the building interior was totally gutted and today houses senior citizen apartments.
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Bobs
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
An early image of the Refowich Theater can be seen here.
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Another small image of the theater (with snow) can be seen here. Don’t click to expand the image unless you’re a member.
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Here is an expanded view of the PAB thumbnail posted on 7/26/05. The photo date is 1965, and comes from the Irvin Glazer theater collection:
http://tinyurl.com/399qws
The last film shown at The Refowich Theatre was Disney’s “Escape From Witch Mountain”, which puts the closing in 1975. I was at the last matinee, I think there was one last evening show later that night.
I was a ten year old Marx Brothers fanatic in 1974 when “Animal Crackers” was reissued. For a weekend, “The Ref” ran the film, and it’s the one and only time I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing The Marx Brothers on the big screen.
The Refowich was a big part of my childhood. I still have dreams about that theater from time to time.
There was a fire in the old Refowich building this week contained to one of the apartments now located in what was the auditorium. A news link is pasted below.
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In a classified advertisement in the May 9, 1914, issue of shoe trade journal Boot and Shoe Recorder, the Refowich Brothers offered for rent: “Store room in the new Refowich Vaudeville Theatre, Freeland, Pa. Best corner in town, best town for its size- 7,000 population.”
The Refowich Theatre closed for the final time on June 8, 1975 with Walt Disney’s “Escape To Witch Mountain” and a marathon of Disney’s Donald Duck and Chip And Dale cartoons beforehand.
The last showing of the movie was attended by only eleven moviegoers, not even fifty or a hundred. Right after the “The End, A Walt Disney Production” card fades out, the screen went absolute blank at approximately 9:26 PM ET. Not even a tail, and not even a “Thank you for all the years we served” type of message. The walls are starkly naked with most of the furnishings, mirrors, and curtains being removed. As the eleven patrons walked out of the theater, the “Coming Attractions” boards are already blank.
One of the staff members on its final day of operations replied that it “was bad to not have a movie theater in a town of 4,500, and they could’ve fixed the theater up”. John Urishin, its last manager, flipped the switch and wiped clean the top of the refreshment stand. John Komishock, its last projectionist, carried the prints of the movie and cartoons to the outside lobby for their last trip from Freeland. After the three remaining light bulbs of the marquee were powered off, Centre Street went dark.
Mary Lynn Welshko of Freeland was the last ever moviegoer that entered the Refowich Theatre. It was last managed by John Urishin, alongside its last projectionist John Komishock.