Cayuga Theatre
4371 Germantown Avenue,
Philadelphia,
PA
19140
4371 Germantown Avenue,
Philadelphia,
PA
19140
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The Cayuga Theatre opened in 1911. It was the first theatre to be designed by architect David Supowitz. It was closed in 1957. It became a church for several years.
On October 20, 1961 it reopened as the Aardvark Theatre with Laurence Olivier in “Henry V”. Programing varied from Classic movies, Independent, Foreign and repertory programs to finish with exploitation movies. It closed on January 16, 1964 with Yvonne Sanson in “The Shameless Sex” (aka Wanda, the Sinner) & Harry H. Corbet in “Cover Girl Killer”.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
A section about the Cayuga Theatre on this web page gives the theater’s opening year as 1911. It also says the house was renamed the Aardvark Theatre in the early 1950s. After closing in 1955, the building as a church for some time, and was eventually demolished to make way for expansion of the Roosevelt Expressway.
The Cayuga Theatre was at the corner of Germantown Avenue and Cayuga Street, which is the 4300 block- probably 4371 Germantown Avenue.
4731 Germantown Avenue is LOUDOUN PARK at Germantown Avenue and W. Apsley Street. It is definitely not the where the Cayuga/Aardvark Theatre was. The Cayuga/Aardvark Theatre was located on the corner of Germantown Avenue and W. Cayuga Street, now NICETOWN PARK (former site of the theatre). Joe sounds correct with 4371 Germantown Avenue! It appears that the middle numbers were reversed.
P.J. Kileullen built and launched the Cayuga Theatre in 1911. The building was technically 4367-4371 Germantown taking up three addresses. It was sold to a new operator in 1913. The Cayuga closed in December of 1957. It appears to have been a house of worship for two years likely losing its attractor.
A classified ad next appeared offering the venue for lease and operator Max Raab took on the venue as the Aardvark Theatre on October 20, 1961 with “Henry V.” The Aardvark tried art, repertory and exploitation for the next two plus years before closing permanently on January 16, 1964 with “The Shameless Sex” and “Cover Girl Killer.” Another classified ad looking for a new operator appears to have gone unheeded.