Arcana Theatre
5139 Penn Avenue,
Pittsburgh,
PA
15224
5139 Penn Avenue,
Pittsburgh,
PA
15224
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Additional Info
Functions: Retail
Previous Names: Ysabel Theatre, Evaline Theatre, Claybaugh Theatre, Ira Theatre, Garfield Theatre, Nickelodium Theatre, Pitt Photoplays
Nearby Theaters
The Ysabel Theatre was opened by 1911 and continued with that name until 1915. In 1916 it was renamed Evaline Theatre a name it retained until at least 1929. No further information beyond the inordinately frequent name changes for a long-gone theatre. It was located in the Garfield section of Pittsburgh.
Contributed by
Ed Blank
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
Here is an item from the August 26, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World which might be about this theater under one of its early names:
The building at 5139 Penn Avenue is obviously very old, so if this was the correct address of the Arcana Theatre I don’t think it has been demolished. It’s a very small building, though, and not what I would call a "medium sized house” as the MPW article called the Evaline Theatre, but perhaps the standards were different in 1916 Pittsburgh.It is believed that this opened as the Ysabel Theater in 1911, a nickelodeon that was aligned with Edison Studios' films for the venue’s first two years. The Edison equipment was sold off in 1913 suggesting a new arrangement and distributor of film titles. One thing that is certain for this venue; it later operated concurrently with the Evaline Theatre which was on the corner. So the Evaline - a new-build facility - likely deserves its own Cinema Treasures' page.
Reading the history of the building - sorry if there’s hurt feelings - but much of its operational lifecycle strongly suggests that it was a front for illicit activities on the building’s second floor. The constant name changes upstairs are as common as the name and management changes downstairs. An example: a 1917 raid of the Pittsburg Musical Club on the building’s second floor netted dozens of participants at craps tables, two concurrent poker games and absolutely no musical instruments detected in the musical club. Downstairs, the Pitt Photoplay Theater had light business. The club was shut and the movie theater changed owners and names to the Victory Theater (which needs to be added to the list of operational names).
Two Prohibition era raids in the 1920s in the second floor club / speakeasy led to name changes both upstairs and down, as well. Two sheriff sale auctions of the theater in the 1920s suggest either bad financial luck, police intervention, or both. The only trade press article about the business activity at the theater suggests that business was “fair.” Not a ringing endorsement. It is suggested - perhaps incorrectly but plausibly - that the theater was an easy entry and exit point for patrons of the second floor speakeasy and gambling fronts that existed in the 1910s and 1920s. This would also explain the eight names and near comical turnover in ownership that this theater had in 18 operational years during the silent era of film. And if this is erroneous for any and/or all periods of this venue’s operational lifecycle, apologies.