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Harris Du Bois Theatre


rich00

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The October 30, 1937, issue of Boxoffice said that the new Harris DuBois Theatre had opened the previous Wednesday. The architect of the Harris DuBois Theatre was Victor A. Rigaumont. A photo of the marquee appears in an ad for the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company in Boxoffice of October 15, 1938.

 

Any theatre stories?

harris_du_bois_theatre_286.jpg

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that was at the pershing right?

Yes, also the 'Playhouse'.DuBois had 3 theaters, at one point..remember those were the days before TV...The 'Carlton Theatre' was located on Long Avenue, where the DuBois Historical Society is now located. The Avenue Theater ran 'serial' cowboy and indian movies every Saturday. You had to go every week, so you didn't miss an episode. It cost .25 cents admission. Gene Autry, the singing cowboy, Roy Rodgers and Dale Evans, The Lone Ranger, and Tonto were the stars we went to see, though the serial movies were mainly not so well known stars. Then down to Nick's for a hot dog, for .20 cents, or Widman Teah for a cherry coke....

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Opera Houses and Theaters in DuBois

The City of DuBois has had a number of theaters over the years. Some contained stages and others contained movie screens. Either way, the locals were entertained.

 

An Opera House was built in 1880. It opened in November and was destroyed by fire the third night after opening

 

The Central Opera House opened on January 2, 1883 and seated 900. White pine was used instead of steel. The third and fourth floors were used for the opera house. In the beginning, due to the City

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One weekend we went to see the Disney movie " Old Yeller" in 1957.  It was about a family ,a youg boy and an old stray dog. Sunday afternoon showings had very long lines. We were lucky was able to get into 1st show. In the end Old Yeller died protecting the boys from a wild animal.  When we came out of the movies my Aunt,Uncle and cousins were waiting in line to see the second show. My younger brother told them there was no sense in going in because Ol Yeller was dead.

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  • 2 weeks later...

One weekend we went to see the Disney movie " Old Yeller" in 1957.  It was about a family ,a youg boy and an old stray dog. Sunday afternoon showings had very long lines. We were lucky was able to get into 1st show. In the end Old Yeller died protecting the boys from a wild animal.  When we came out of the movies my Aunt,Uncle and cousins were waiting in line to see the second show. My younger brother told them there was no sense in going in because Ol Yeller was dead.

that cracked me up!!!!! :rofl::ty:

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  • 1 month later...

Actually, among the very first movies to be shown at The Twin Cinemas were "Rocky" and "Freaky Friday".  "The Deep" came well after the theaters' opening.

 

 

Opera Houses and Theaters in DuBois

 

 

The DuBois Mall opened in 1972 and, a few years later, after a plaza was added in 1975, the Twin Cinemas opened. One of the first movies shown there was

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  • 4 years later...

The seats in the Harris Theater, prior to demolition, were purchased by the Reitz Theater. They were stripped of their red vinyl covers and reupholstered, and now grace the auditorium. (Given the seats' not-so-illustrious history in the final days of the Harris theater, one can only hope they were cleansed with fire.)

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I remember seeing a ballet at the Pershing Theater.  The stage was large.

I believe you are thinking of the Avenue Theater....It had a large stage. I don't remember the Pershing theater , formerly the Harris Theater, having a stage. It was a movie theater only. A third theater, the Carleton Theater, was on Long Ave. on or near the site of the historical society. The Civic Concert Association had their programs at the Avenue theater, and they had dance groups, orchestral groups, opera singers, etc. as their programs. As far as I know, they are still having programs at the High school. They had four programs a season. 

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Nope, the Pershing.  Hal Garvin's Dance group performed but I think they pulled up the screen for more room.  There was also a musical group with Buddy Spicher.  This was a LONG time ago! 

 

I have a Buddy Spicher CD!!!

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Yep, that's a copy of a picture I submitted, and there should be an article that I wrote to go along with it.  Buddy was here for a fund raising event (Maybe for the hospital?) and the article was advertising.  I used to submit articles when they used to accept them.

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I remember seeing a ballet at the Pershing Theater.  The stage was large.

They had Chippendales there once too.  I was about 6 or 7 and the only reason I remember is because women all over town were talking about it.  I was so excited!  Then again, I thought they were talking about Chip n Dale from Disney!  lol

 

Now, I don't go for the chipmunks lol

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Wednesday night at the Avenue theatre was LUCKY {like bingo}.night. Everyone got a few LUCKY cards at the box office, with your movie ticket. Before the movie started,.or half way through, a big rolling board was rolled out onto the stage, and numbers called until  someone yelled LUCKY !. A lady named Mrs. Bojalad conducted the LUCKY session..I think she was related to the owners of the theatre, the Marlin Way family.{who also built and owned the Highway Drive In Theatre}.... There were maybe 10 or 15 winners a night. The winner selected a numbered envelope hanging on the board for a prize, usually $10 to $25 dollars. {not a bad prize, then}...They frequently gave a prize, maybe a cup or saucer, or even a plate, etc. as a lure to get people in..The theatre was usually very full...Those are very happy memories of a much simpler time.

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