Castor Theatre
6631 Castor Avenue,
Philadelphia,
PA
19149
6631 Castor Avenue,
Philadelphia,
PA
19149
3 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 31 of 31 comments
Just as a side note, the name “Castor” is that of George Albert Castor, the Holmesburg man who invented the ready-made suit which revolutionized the whole garment industry. Meantime, the confusion I made between the Castor Theatre and the Tyson Theatre was due to the fact that Cinema Trasures does not list the Tyson. However, the Tyson is listed at the http://www.Cinematour.com website, which is how I knew it was designed by David Supowitz. And further confusion came about when the description given of the Castor Theatre at the top of this page said that today it’s a furniture showroom, which for the most part is what the Tyson Theatre is today. Add to this that before the Tyson became a furniture store it had been a fur and coat store just as Rg said in his comment above. Soooo, given how the Tyson Theatre IS on Castor Avenue, and it IS a furniture place today and had been a fur and coat store prior, why wouldn’t I have made the assumption that the two were one and the same? For in my having grown up in Northeast Philadelphia I have no recollections whatsoever of any theater totally separate and farther down on Castor Avenue. Does anybody?
Castor Theatre:
View link
Tyson Theatre:
View link
THIS page is for the Castor theater, not the Tyson, which was a separate theater at a different address. Why don’t you go visit & see, TheaterBuff1?
I was by the Castor Theatre building just the other day and it’s in excellent shape. The furniture store that’s in that theater building now looks like it’s doing well, but then again looks can be deceiving. It also looks to be a building that’s much bigger than its having had merely 446 seats back when it was in operation as a theater. Also it should be noted it’s at Castor & Tyson, not Fanshawe. That is, unless there had been another theater at Castor & Fanshawe and the theater I’m describing here had been the Tyson Theatre and not the Castor. For I know there had been a Tyson Theatre, I used to see it listed all the time in the old Philadelphia Evening Bulletin newspaper back when I was growing up. In any event, whether it was the Castor or the Tyson, I’m happy to report the theater building at Castor & Tyson looks to be in excellent shape, albeit it’s now being a well-maintained furniture store.
The furniture store is in the theatre. Before this it was a fur and coat store. The aud. was still entact with the stage. Have no ideal what it looks like inside now. rg
In the late ‘60s and early '70s the Castor was booked day-and-date with the Bala in Bala-Cynwyd and the Yorktown in Elkins Park, usually showing foreign or art films.