Hollywood Theater
1449 Potomac Avenue,
Dormont,
PA
15216
1449 Potomac Avenue,
Dormont,
PA
15216
18 people
favorited this theater
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The people behind Row House Cinema transformed a former discount store into a single-screen boutique movie house. After bringing cinema to Lawrenceville, the team has turned its efforts to the South Hills, more specifically the historic Hollywood Theater on Potomac Avenue.
The Row House crew will officially reopen the Hollywood Theater in Dormont, where, from October through the end of the year, they plan to run programming in the 300-plus-seat theater.
https://www.pghcitypaper.com/arts-entertainment/row-house-cinema-to-reopen-dormonts-hollywood-theater-as-part-of-expansion-24525081
The Hollywood reopened in late-May and was the only indoor cinema open in the Pittsburgh metro area (A drive-in was also open at that time.) They have been operating for almost 2 months now.
total capacity still about 300.
Yes, the Hollywood is still a single-screener showing current releases, and operated by the Theatre Historical Society. The seating capacity today is greater than 285 – I think that there are now 400 seats on the main floor and about 200 in the balcony.
On Feb 21, 2020 my friend Josh Silver emailed me as follows (edited down a bit): I happened to come upon the Hollywood Theater on Potomac Avenue close to Liberty Avenue, in a central area of Dormont, which is right next to Pittsburgh.The Hollywood appears to have opened in 1925 and to remain an undivided theater, or at least showing just one movie at a time in the evening, and currently a new release – “Birds of Prey”.
This stretch of Potomac is at least partly viable as an old-time, eclectic neighborhood shopping street, while that appears to have been kept alive by doses of gentrification and immigration from what I have seen of this small South Hills suburb. Next to the Hollywood is Fredo’s (a nice little eatery) and “Beyond Bedtime Books”, which appeared to be a cozy and wonderfully crowded independent bookstore.
The number of seats in the Hollywood is currently less than the space available for seats. As of mid-July, they are removing seats and adding new seats, which came from Bowtie Cinemas. Seats removed are to be sent to the Diamond Th. in Ligonier for re-use. I don’t know what the seat total will be after this work is finished.
Glad to learn THS owns it and has their headquarters in Pittsburgh now.
Finally in good hands…
Hollywood Theater in Dormont sold to Pittsburgh-based Theatre Historical Society
http://www.post-gazette.com/local/south/2018/01/15/Hollywood-Theater-in-Dormont-sold-to-Pittsburgh-based-Theatre-Historical-Society/stories/201801150071
Just learned of this single screen theatre. Thank you Friends of the Hollywood.
The Hollywood has a new director who is working to bring digital projection to the theater: View article
A photo of the Hollywood Theatre illustrates an ad for Cutler-Hammer dimmers on this page of Motion Picture News from December 29, 1928.
Dormont, by the Dormont Historical Society (Google Books preview), says that the Hollywood Theatre opened as Murray’s Theatre in 1922. A few years later, it was bought by RKO-Stanley, remodeled, and renamed the Hollywood.
This comment from 2007 by thespian110, on the Cinema 4 page, says that the original architect of the Hollywood Theatre was Charles R. Geisler, but doesn’t specify if he designed the Murray Theatre of 1922 or if he was the architect of its remodeling a few years later as the Hollywood, or both. The architect of the 1948 remodeling was Victor A. Rigaumont, in any case.
They’ll be showing “The Big Lebowski” this weekend (02/25/2012). Whoo-hooo! One of my three favorite slacker films from my teens and twenties—the other two being “Wayne’s World” and of course “Clerks”.
The theater has reopened as a non-profit: View link
The Hollywood will be used in a movie that will start shooting around Pittsburgh in a couple
of months.
I moved to this area last summer and have thought about how great it would be to have this theater open to walk to. It’s such a cute street to stroll down, the theater would be such an asset. I have also seen the “Opening Soon” sign posted recetly. I can’t wait to find out when that will be!
My mistake. I ment (as of today March, 19. 2011)
The Hollywood Theater will reopen. Has been closed for the past year plus.
The Marquee (as of today March, 19. 2010) states,,,
Opening Soon.
I will provide details soon.
Had the look of a small town Theatre too me,which is not bad.
A 1948 catalog of copyright entries from the Library of Congress includes an entry for a copyright, dated February 10, to architect Victor A. Rigaumont, covering 45 pages of specifications and illustrations of the Hollywood Theatre in Dormont.
The same catalog has five other entries for copyrights granted to Rigaumont, so apparently he was in the habit of copyrighting his designs. As in those days material had to be published in order to qualify for copyright, his plans must have been published, even if only a few copies of each were made. I wonder what has become of those publications?
What’s happening with this place and the Denis?
Nice youtube movie of the Hollywood Theatre.
Neat theatre—neat schedule of movies!!
We show all kinds of formats, 35mm, blu-ray, dvd and digital server