Capitol Theatre
212 S. Second Avenue,
Walla Walla,
WA
99362
212 S. Second Avenue,
Walla Walla,
WA
99362
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Alliance Theater Corp., Midstate Amusement Corp.
Architects: Bjarne H. Moe
Previous Names: Legion Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Capitol Theatre was remodeled in 1938 by architect Bjarne H. Moe and it was operated by the Midstate Amusement Corp. This was a beautiful legit house in downtown Walla Walla that by the 1970’s was showing mostly art films. In addition to the art films, I saw such films as ‘Man of La Mancha" and a re-release of “Gone With the Wind” at the Capitol Theatre.
Periodically the theatre was used by local amateur dramatics groups but union people were always needed to run the lights, etc. An original show about President Kennedy was set to open at the time of JFK’s assassination. It never opened. The author of that show had provided piano and organ accompaniment for films in the silent days. I believe the Capitol Theatre was demolished in the early-1980’s.
Contributed by
Parke Thomas
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
Here is a 1952 ad for the Capitol:
http://tinyurl.com/y63vnx
In 1963, the Capitol was part of Alliance Amusements, a large Chicago chain. Besides the Capitol, Alliance also ran the Liberty, Roxy and Sky-View Drive-In in Walla Walla.
Here is an April 1970 ad from the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin:
http://tinyurl.com/o8mzdb
Here is an ad from the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin circa 1952, along with one for the nearby Liberty Theatre.
View link
Actually the play about Kennedy did open: one performance.Then they closed and rewrote the show making it about the Washington governor at the time. It opened about a week later.
This brief biography of architect Bjarne H. Moe, from the Washington State Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation, says that he was the architect for a remodeling of the Capitol Theatre in Walla Walla in 1938.