Colonial Theatre

Grand opening ad posted.

While the front building which housed the Colonial Theatre’s entrance is still standing, the auditorium section was entirely demolished in 1983. There are press photos of the event available on ebay from the Historic Images Company. The auditorium’s site is occupied by a fairly sensitively designed five story office and retail building which harmonizes well with the historic front structure but is clearly built of modern materials.

Unless they built an exact duplicate, this building has not been demolished.

Still operating as of February 16, 1977, when this theater made what must have been a very rare appearance in the Philadelphia papers' display ads, showing the double bill of “Blast” and “TNT Jackson” (seen on the marquee in one of the pictures). Only a few Philly-area theaters booked this pairing, so the ad space was padded with some houses in outlying cities.

The story I heard about the Colonial from a veteran vaudvillian who had a dance team with his wife (and later was Mae West’s road manager), they loved playing the Colonial; it was a short skip and a jump from the train station with their trunks and props down the alley to the Colonial’s backstage door.

I wonder if gremlins got into somebody’s keyboard along the way, and the “Flin, Cla” that the NRHP document (cited in the very first comment on this theater by LostMemory) names as one of the architects or builders of the Colonial Theatre is actually Fuller Claflin? Claflin did design at least one theater in Harrisburg- the Lyceum (later the Orpheum), built in 1903 and reportedly demolished in 1925 to make way for the State Theatre. I’m skeptical that anyone has ever borne the odd name Cla Flin.

This is a grainy and not especially good crop of the Colonial marquee. I wish I had a better one.

But my FLICKr caption give a detailed description of the unusual L-shaped entrance/vestibule area which had doors on both Market St. and 3rd St. and enclosed a commercial business which was on the corner of those streets.

It’s also of interest because the marquee is no longer advertising movies, but Harrisburg’s traditional balloon parade (which I remember from when I was a kid) and an “Elvis” concert!

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The Colonial Theatre is mentioned in a magazine at least as early as 1913, when the January 13 issue of trade journal Electrical Review and Western Electrician said “The Daupin Electrical Supplies Company of Harrisburg, Pa., …recently wired the Colonial Theater, in Harrisburg….”

More interesting is an item in a magazine called New York Topics and International Courier, issue of June 27, 1914:[quote]“‘Local talent is now being enlisted in the 'Moviement,’ according to an advertisement appearing in newspapers of the Pennsylvania Capital:

“‘WANTEDâ€"Motion picture plays, motion picture players. The Colonial Theater announces the formation of a motion picture dramatic company, to be composed of Harrisburg actors and to pose for films made in Harrisburg. Harrisburg comedies, Harrisburg dramas. Harrisburg tragedies. Company will be made up at once. If you want to be a motion picture player, apply now for a position in the companyâ€"no experience required. Scenarios wanted. Cash prizes for the best motion picture stories with scenes laid in Harrisburg. Write your own motion picture and see it played on the screen. Full particulars upon inquiry at the Colonial Theater. If you can act, become a motion picture actor If you can write, become a motion picture author.’

“Well, if Gifford Pinchot wins that Keystone State Senatorship there will be a fine bunch of Penrose machine politicians available as ‘movie actors’ in Harrisburg.”[/quote]I’ve found nothing else about this attempt to launch a local movie production industry in Harrisburg, but it apparently did nothing to help business at the Colonial. The July 31, 1915, issue of The Moving Picture World ran this item:

“The Colonial theater, Harrisburg, Pa., prominent vaudeville and moving picture establishment, recently closed its doors to the public and will remain so for several months to come, according to announcement made by the management. No definite reasons were assigned for the temporary closing of the theater, but it is generally supposed that the closing Is a matter of business policy decided upon to prevent operation at a loss, for at this season of the year the theatrical business is very poor. The coming to Harrisburg of an International League baseball team has had a decided effect upon the attendance of the afternoon matinees at the theaters.”

Now on FLICKr:
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Damn shame typical theatre owners get all the money you can make and don’t pay out one dime for anything. My dad was the same way, never wanted to pay out one penny.

It was alot bigger than you think it was. I recall all the steps I had to go up yo get to the booth. The balcony itself stretched out pretty far from the booth.I will say it had over a thousand seats.

The color I associate with the Colonial is olive-drab. The curtains and other fabric hangings were that color. Yes, it always seemed dark there too.
I managed to take a photo of the proscenium after the theater collapsed. It gave me something of a pang to see those hangings that I remembered so well from my childhood still suspended there and waiting for the bulldozer. Perhaps I’ll put this shot on my blog at some point.
I thought they sort of spruced up the State for the premiere of CinemaScope in 1953. It was probably the largest theater in Harrisburg.
I really did not attend it in its latter days. Friends from Lancaster mention that they saw “2001” there. I’m not sure if it was first run or a re-issue.

The Colonial had a curious L-shaped lobby/vestibule, a kind of arcade. There was a main entrance behind the ticket booth on Market St. When you got to the doors to enter the actual theater there was also a hallway to the left that led to an exit on 3rd St. The stairs to the balcony were to the right of this lobby as I recall.
The interior space at the rear of the auditorium was rather cramped. There was a downstairs lounge (or men’s room) there.
It did become run down but maintained a sort of faded elegance. There was a rather ornate water fountain with eerie orange lighting. I think there may have been box seats too, from its days as an old theater.
I remember the Colonial as small and narrow. But it had a very high ceiling (so it seemed to me as a small child) and a rather steep balcony that ran right up to the projection windows.
I remember seeing “The Day the Earth Stood Still” from the very top of the balcony and being so shaken up by Bernard Herrmann’s Main Title music that I wanted to leave right away. Fortunately my father urged me to stay, as I ended up loving the film. (And still do).