Theater

Joe Vogel on September 20, 2026 at 5:49 pm

The Royal Theatre (in case it was in fact this house) was mentioned in both the October 7 and October 14, 1922 issues of Moving Picture World. The operator of the house was named Frank Davidson. The Royal was mentioned again in the October 11, 1924 Exhibitors Herald. The item says it was operated by an F. S. Davilon, probably a typo for Davidson. The November 19, 1927 issue of MPW said that “…the Royal Theatre, Cherryvale, Kans., has been re-opened by S. A. and Frank Davidson….”

The Royal had also been mentioned in an ad for Typhoon Cooling Systems in the February 26, 1921 issue of Motion Picture News, and an H. L. Davidson of Cherryvale (another relative or maybe another typo?) was mentioned in the March 12 issue of the same journal.

The Royal was listed in the 1928 FDY with 290 seats, but was gone in 1929. It returned in 1930, with the cryptic notation “Royal (250) unnamed” The Royal was listed again in 1931 with 250 seats, and in 1932 it was listed without notation while the Liberty was listed as closed. In 1933, Cherryvale shows only the 300-seat Lee Theatre. The Lee is the town’s only house until 1938, when a 300-seat State Theatre appears as well. The State is gone in 1940, and I haven’t checked later.

Incidentally, an Opera House, playing legitimate attractions only, was listed at Cherryvale in the 1921 Cahn-Leighton guide. It had 450 seats.