Ritz Theatre

The theater you are talking about on Broad Avenue was in North Belle Vernon. Belle Vernon and North Belle Vernon are two different town and they are even in two different counties. The two towns run together and it is very difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins. Belle Vernon had a movie theater that was on Main Street. I believe that this was the theater that was owned by John Perry. My brother and I worked at the Belle Vernon Theater on Main Street. In fact that was my first job. I started sweeping up after the movies when I was 9 years old. The theater on Main Street was closed in the mid to late 50’s. My dad was a scrap iron dealer in Belle Vernon and we purchased all the old theater seats for scrap. The seats sides and frames were made of cast iron and they were sold as scrap. The main street theater in Belle Vernon became a school for brick layers but I don’t think that lasted very long.

Much confusion here as to whether we are discussing the theater in Belle Vernon or North Belle Vernon. Different names, addresses and cities for both.

This one has been a bit of a puzzler for me, too. Boxoffice mentions North Belle Vernon three times that I can find, in 1938, 1940, and 1971, and never gives a theater name in connection with the town. However, various other sources reveal the magazine’s error. Boxoffice invariably places the Verdi Theatre in Belle Vernon when it was actually in North Belle Vernon.

After much searching I’ve concluded that the Vernon Theatre must have been the Verdi, which was probably the town’s only theater. I’ve found no references to a name change from Verdi to Vernon Theatre, but it was operating as the Verdi at least as late as 1961, and multiple sources indicate that it was located on Broad Avenue.

The Verdi was built in or about 1916 by Zefferio Marini, who operated the house himself until 1932 and then leased it out according to a Boxoffice item of February 12, 1938. This item said he intended to resume operation of the theater when the lease was up on May 1. The lessees, Joe and Mike Mazzei, at first intended to build a new theater at North Belle Vernon, but eventually abandoned the project.

Boxoffice of September 4, 1954, said that CinemaScope was being installed in the Verdi Theatre. By 1961, the Verdi was being operated by Geno and Mary Tonarelli, mentioned in Boxoffice of July 24 that year (an item earlier that year gives the name as Gene Tonarello.) That was the last mention of the Verdi I’ve found in Boxoffice, and I’ve been unable to find any mention of a Vernon Theatre in either Belle Vernon or North Belle Vernon. After 1961, Boxoffice only ever mentions the Super 71 Drive-In.

The Ritz Theater on main street in Belle Vernon was originally part of my grandfather, Tony Sidari’s estate. He passed away and his wife Katherine married John Perry, who subsequently took ownership of the properties. Unfortunately, the property was not maintained and fell into an state of disrepair.

Going up the hill from lower Belle Vernon, approximately halfway up begins North Belle Vernon. Westmoreland/Fayette Counties. State Street, turning up Broad.