Mauch Chunk Opera House
14 W. Broadway,
Jim Thorpe,
PA
18229
14 W. Broadway,
Jim Thorpe,
PA
18229
2 people
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The Capitol Theatre closed as a movie theater on April 27, 1959 with Russ Tamblyn in “Tom Thumb” because of poor attendance, and the former Capitol became a warehouse afterward. It wasn’t until December 1976 when the former Mauch Chunk building relaunched as the Mauch Chunk Opera House.
The website lists only live performances by rockers and tribute bands. No mention of any movies, classic or otherwise.
The actual Mauch Chunk opening date is February 3, 1882 with a live presentation of “Edgewood Folks” by the Sol Smith Russell Company along with a speech delivered by A.W. Butler. It was originally planned to be built as a City Council building but quickly turned the idea into an Opera House.
Its actual opening date is December 19, 1927 with Mary Pickford in “My Best Girl” along with an Our Gang short and a local community short.
Comerford Theatre Circuit took on the the theatre on a 30-year lease closing it in 1957. The theatre continued with volunteers and community leaders for the next five years.
There is an “Opera House” listed under Mauch Chunk in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. Robert Heberling was Mgr. Seating capacity not given. Tickets ranged from 25 cents to $1. The house had gas illumination. The proscenium opening was 28 feet wide X 20 feet high, and the stqge was 32 feet deep. It says that the theater was on the “first floor”. Since the building is on a slope, the stage may have been on the first floor in back, but the auditorium was on the second floor. There were 8 members of the house orchestra. There were 2 daily newspapers and 2 weeklies, and 5 hotels for show folk. The 1897 population of Mauch Chunk was 10,000.