Yale Theater
227 SW 25th Street,
Oklahoma City,
OK
73109
227 SW 25th Street,
Oklahoma City,
OK
73109
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 32 comments
Cimarron, thanks for the picture, my have things changed guess they use some kind of super HD/blueray disk now no more film and que marks to. Remind you to change projectors. My dad ran yale and the Riverarea theater for a few years his name was Toy if anyone Remembers him and no it’s not misspelled he’s name is really Toy he has since passed.
New developments for the Yale: http://www.okctalk.com/content.php?r=407-Plans-revealed-for-renovation-of-historic-Capitol-Hill-theater
Wow, Looks like Bonnie and Clyde’s old car…Could that be them crossing street in that photo?
Early 1900’s pic of Yale added to Photo Section. Click on pic and enlarge to best view Yale in this pic.
1950’s Yale pic. added to photo section.
RGN5SPA, if you see this note, clik on the photos tab at top of page to see Yale Projector Rm photo I added. The machines would have been in use at the time your dad was Yale Projectionist.
My dad used to work at this theater in the late 60 to early 70s as well as the Riviera Drive in projectionist for Both theaters at the time.
To see a 1951 look at the Yale Theatre when “FLAME and the ARROW” and “WHITE TOWER” were playing go to below link and type in “200 w commerce street"
View link
Glad to see that the building is in use. Party House, it was kind of
a party house working with my other teen friends as we had a lot of fun at that theatre and even got paid.
Thanks Chuck!
Don
Not sure of current status of Yale, I no longer reside in OKC but,
I went by there a couple years back and it looked to be closed as well as several of the near by buildings and stores. Unfortunately,
the entire area was in a state of decline. I did go into google earth and took a look see and there are some indication of it being used for something but, could not read the letters on the marque.
Yes, it was really cool in the 50’s!
Usher at the Yale in the 50s. Some people have all the luck! Do you happen to know the current status of the building?
Thanks!
Don…
In my note above on Mar 3, I believe I found the architectural drawing of the out door theatre the Sam Caporal described to me back in the 50’s while working as an usher at the Yale.
Unfortunately, the sketch is not on a web site that I could find but, here is the pub info..
On page 37 of “OKLAHOMA CITY REDISCOVERED” by William D Welge, Arcadia Publishing, arcadiapublishing.com, Library of Congress Catalog Number 2007921381.
The sketch of the Yale has what looks like an outdoor theatre next to it called “AIRDOME” with what appears to be a ticket window on the front wall with a wide open entrance. The drawing has the name of
C. J. HANCOX, Architect. The information in the article indicates that the name was changed in 1921 from the Capitol Hill Theatre to the Yale Theatre… Interesting!
From the early 1990s a photo of the sad and abandoned Yale Theater in Oklahoma City.
Shown on this web page are recent photos of the Yale Theatre, Oklahoma City,
http://www.roadsideoklahoma.com/node/482
I found a theater in the 1986 Polk City Director called the Mexican Theater at this location (listed as 227 SW 25th). Judging from photos presented above from the mid-80s, it doesn’t look like anyone bothered to change the signage to reflect this name, if in fact it was a legitimate theater.
The original owner of the Yale Theater was Sam Caporal, Sr. and while I only met him a few times while working at the Yale in the 50’s. He was a nice and friendly elderly gentlement and enjoyed talking to people about the history of his theater’s. One day while working behind the concession stand, he came in and engaged me in conversation about some of the history. I recall he told me that the original theater was out door. They had a large screen, organ and a few wooden bench seats and after a period of time, the in door Yale
Theater was constructed. As a young teen, I enjoyed working my first job at that theater while it was only for a few months, I learned a great deal and always have great memories of the Yale.
From Boxoffice Magazine, September 21, 1946: “The Yale Theatre, which has been closed for remodeling the last five months, is due to open late this month, Sam Caporal, owner-operator, said. The house will be completely new from front to back, and will have an additional 300 seats, making the seating capacity about 800.”
I didn’t word that correctly. The father, not the son, built several Oklahoma City theaters.
I’m presently researching an article on Capitol Hill, including, of course, its theaters. Here’s a photo I took of the Yale about a week ago … View link
The original owner was Sam Caporal and I know one of his sons, another Sam Caporal who built some other Okc theaters, also. I coincidentally bumped into him at a 7-11 this afternoon and told him what I was doing (Capitol Hill research) … I asked him when the Yale opened and he said 1904. I’m hoping to get some good pics from him in a few days.
The Yale as it looked in 1994 – no wrestlers in sight!
View link
The ole Yale was a neat second run theatre in the 50’s. I started working their in my sophmore year on week ends taking ticket for a whooooping .35 per hour. I stuck to it and worked my way up the ladder to become the 1st usher for .45 per hour…That was 1957 and the owner required the first usher to wax and buff his law ofc which was on the west side of the box ofc. and I finally gave up that huge opportunity after some 8 months. The owner also owned and operated the old Mayflower Theatre NW 23rd, near Classen Blvd and the kids working at that theatre were also paid about the same..
…..I believe many of the old movie theaters have resident ghosts.
see /theaters/10600/
Don
It’s a ghost story.
Boo: ??
Don……….
Boo:
http://tinyurl.com/6zavu9