Royal Theatre
131 Smith Street,
Perth Amboy,
NJ
08861
131 Smith Street,
Perth Amboy,
NJ
08861
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walterk, my father who was a longtime projectionist in the area mentioned Snapper many times when I was a young boy. He basically ran theatres into the ground. He ran the Royal into the ground eventually selling it to Fernando Bravo who also took over the Fords Cinema. Snapper also ran the State in Woodbridge and the Forum in Metuchen. When S & S theatres saw the condition of the State and Forum (they owned the buildings), they immediately closed the State and moved all the projection and sound equipment to the Forum and remodeled it. They sold the Forum in 1983. My father did not have any kind words about Snapper.
markp, there is a reason this theatre and the newer Royal located up the street shared a name.
The Royal Amusement Company which opened this theatre in 1911 consisted of two men, David Snaper and William Brown. In 1916 they became the initial operators of a new theatre two blocks further up Smith Street, originally called the City Theatre. Snaper closed the City in early 1918 (most likely the closing days of 1917), by that time Smith had departed. I’ll write more about what happened to the City Theatre on its page, it eventually became the Royal most are familiar with and you worked at.
Snaper went on to build a small circuit of theatres, mostly in Middlesex County and Staten Island. After closing the Royal he disappeared from the Perth Amboy theatre scene until he acquired the Crescent in the early 1950’s and renamed it the Royal. The 1953 Film Daily Yearbook listed the Royal as one of the theatres in the Snaper Circuit.
I am curious if the closing of this theatre is the reason the Cresent eventually changed their name to Royal further up the street?
Opening Ad added to photos page.
Not sure why this theatre isn’t visible on the map or showing any theatres within 30 miles, there are six listed on CT within 3 blocks. It is also not showing up as a nearby theatre on any of those pages. Hopefully this can be fixed? It seems other recently listed theatres are having the same problem.