Bijou Dream Theater

6017 Penn Avenue,
Pittsburgh, PA 15206

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The Bijou Dream Theatre was opened by September 1907. It was equipped with a Wurlitzer electric organ. It was closed before 1926.

Contributed by Ed Blank

Recent comments (view all 4 comments)

edblank
edblank on June 3, 2008 at 3:25 pm

That’s an astonishing facade for a theater that did not survive long.

edblank
edblank on March 26, 2009 at 8:38 pm

Renewing link.

SethG
SethG on August 19, 2025 at 4:54 pm

This listing is really awful. There is no history or anything. It is also sort of a mess. Most of the pictures are of the much larger Bijou downtown, which I will create a listing for. Only the color postcard is correct.

This theater was not shown on the 1906 map. It is listed in the 1914-15 AMPD, and appears to have closed before 1926. The 1924 volume of the Sanborn maps covering this area is unfortunately missing. This was demolished many years ago. The buildings on the site today appear to be 1940s department stores.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on August 27, 2025 at 5:26 pm

As Bijou Dream was a popular name for nickelodeons, it is difficult to track down information about this place, and much of what I have seen is inaccurate, but I did manage to find this paragraph from the July 22, 1911 issue of Moving Picture World

:“The Bijou Dream, at 6017 Penn Avenue, is the oldest house in East Liberty, being one of the first houses built by Mr. Harry Davis. No expenses were spared at its building and it is a veritable dream. The seating capacity is 275, but it has standing room for a hundred more. It is well ventilated and lighted, and last but not least, is very comfortable. Being the only theater in this city using a Mirror screen, the projection is exceptionally good. The projecting battery consists of two No. 6 Power’s machines and is well housed in one of the best ventilated booths in the vicinity. The program consists of three licensed reels from the General Film Co., 436 Fourth Avenue, and an illustrated song by Mrs. Garret Lehman’s locally noted soprano. Mrs. Flora Herrick is the proprietress. Mr. B. G. Ross, the manager, is, by the way, one of the first men to run a moving picture machine in that village. An additional musical feature is a $1,500 piano orchestra.”
If the MPW item is correct about the Bijou Dream being the first house in East Liberty, and they are including vaudeville houses, then it had to have been opened by September, 1907, which is when the first Liberty Theatre, later called the Harris Family Theatre, opened nearby.

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