Capitol Theatre

Joe Vogel on October 20, 2017 at 12:44 pm

The building that became the Capitol Theatre was built in 1867, opening in the fall of that year. The ground floor housed a public market, and upstairs was a public space called Shenango Hall. In 1898 the building was sold to Jacob F. Genkinger, who remodeled it into a ground floor theater called the Opera House. It was listed in the Cahn guides with 1,300 seats and a stage 34x62 feet.

In 1924 the Opera House was remodeled, and the November 22 issue of Moving Picture World reported that the Capitol Theatre had been one of six new movie houses to open in western Pennsylvania on November 10:

“Ben Burke opened the old Opera House at New Castle and rechristened it the Capitol. The house has also been extensively remodeled, and $20,000 was spent in building the lobby alone.”

This web page has an early photo of the Opera House, probably from around 1900, and scans of advertisements for the theater over a span of about two decades.

Jack Oberleitner on August 12, 2010 at 5:20 pm

This was a very ornate theatre used for both movies and vaudeville.
Many notable acts of the time were featured on the Capitol stage including Al Jolson and a very young newcomer, Bob Hope. A former cashier in many New Castle theatres, Helen Harding, remembers the time a (then poor) Bob Hope split his trousers while performing his comedy/variety act. Since they were Hope’s only pants, Miss Harding invited him home where she mended his pants and fed him a welcome, hot meal. She reported to say that “Hr (Hope) was very kind and a perfect gentleman.”

The night the Capitol burned down the marquee announced the next attraction: “Fireman Save My Child.”