Prince Edward Theatre
55 Grafton Street,
Charlottetown,
PE
C1A 1K8
55 Grafton Street,
Charlottetown,
PE
C1A 1K8
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Famous Players
Architects: Charles Benjamin Chappell, Lemuel J. Phillips
Firms: Phillips & Chappell
Nearby Theaters
The original Prince Edward Theatre building was built in the 1890’s on Grafton Street in downtown Charlottetown as a Masonic Temple which doubled as live theatre space. Famous Players acquired the building and converted it into a single-screen movie house in around 1935, with seating for 1,050.
The Prince Edward Theatre was destroyed by fire on December 13, 1955. In 1973, Famous Players opened the twin-screen Prince Edward Cinemas on the former theatre site.
Contributed by
Mark
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
According to this web page there are three photos of the Masonic Temple Opera House in the Public Archives and Records Office of Prince Edward Island, but they do not appear to be available online.
The page says the cornerstone was laid on 24 May, 1892. The page also says the theater was built in 1891. I’m not familiar with the custom of laying a cornerstone after a building has been built, but perhaps that is the way it’s done in Canada, or perhaps Canadian web sites are as inclined to be mistaken as American web sites are.
The page also says that the architects were Phillips and Chappell, of Charlottetown. Lemuel J. Phillips and Charles Benjamin Chappell were in partnership as Phillips & Chappell from 1890 to 1895, though Chappell had worked in Phillips’s office since 1884. After the firm was dissolved Phillips appears to have left the profession, while Chappell went on to become Charlottetown’s most prolific architect until his death in 1931. It is likely that he was the lead architect for the Opera House.
I’ve been unable to find any exterior photos of the Prince Edward Theatre, but this interior photo dates from 1894.
The Prince Edward Theatre actually began screening movies during the 1910s as part of its mixed policy of movies, vaudeville, live performances, and performing arts among others, but didn’t became a full-time movie theater until April 11, 1935, when Famous Players acquired the theater and relaunched it that day with Warner Baxter in “Broadway Bill” along with the Happy Harmonies cartoon “The Lost Chick”. The Prince Edward Theatre was also the dominant first-run mainstreamer for not just in Charlottetown, but in all of Prince Edward Island. It was also the first in the island to receive CinemaScope.
Unfortunately the dominance was taken over by the nearby Capitol Theatre following the devastating December 13, 1955 fire at the Prince Edward Theatre. The fire happened during the early hours at approximately 2:07 AM local time, with its last performance being held on the previous day, December 12, 1955 with Bing Crosby’s “The Country Girl” along with the Popeye cartoon “Car-azy Drivers”.