Just checked the public records on this theater. The Mayfair Housing Development Corporation (a neighborhood redevelopment group) bought the theater and stores for $740,000.00 in June 2004.
Skip Hicks and his staff do a fantastic job here. Definitely worth driving a few extra miles to see films presented the way they should be. I have never had a bad experience at the Allen. Even bad movies are enjoyable here.
I agree that use of the Devon as a performing arts center sounds exciting, but I frankly have a hard time thinking of it as a “grand old theater”. Compared to architectually interesting theaters on Frankford Avenue like the Mayfair and the Merben, the Devon wasn’t much more than a box with seats.
For what it’s worth, my brother was an usher there in the early 80s, and I worked there a couple times fixing seats, working in the candy stand, and helping with projector problems. (Although I mainly worked at the Mayfair.)
I worked at the Mayfair Theatre (always spelled “theatre”, never “theater”) from 1979 through 1983 as an usher, projectionist, and assistant manager. I met my wife there when she was hired to work in the candy stand in the summer of 1981. We married in June, 1983, and our kids are now older than we were!
Not 100% sure of this piece of trivia, but I believe Lincoln High School (2 blocks away) was almost named Mayfair High, but the thinking was that too many places were already named Mayfair.
Also not sure I agree that the theater had 1,000 seats. I think it may have been around 700, at least in the 70s and 80s.
Until 1980, the theater had a round ticket booth under the marquee, but it was removed when the thick curved glass broke and it would have been too expensive to repair. The official story was that it was broken when Phillies fans were celebrating the World Series, but the truth is that it broke when a boyfriend of a ticket seller punched the glass as a joke. A cheapo plywood booth was then built in the lobby.
Around 1981 the dual carbon arc projectors were replaced with a single projector and a Potts platter system. The owners fired the two union projectionists, one of whom had been there 50 years, and made the manager the projectionist. I got my projectionist license so the main manager could get a night off once a week.
There was small balcony box next to the projection booth, but it was not used by the public during at least the last 20 years.
The murals on the side walls of the auditorium were great, but water damage was a big problem by the 80s. I think my friend has photos – I’ll try to get him to post them.
Finally, be sure to check out the 1937 film “It Happened In Mayfair”, a tour of Mayfair businesses presented by the then manager of the Mayfair Theatre, Herb Shulman. It’s a public domain film posted in several places on the web.
Just checked the public records on this theater. The Mayfair Housing Development Corporation (a neighborhood redevelopment group) bought the theater and stores for $740,000.00 in June 2004.
Skip Hicks and his staff do a fantastic job here. Definitely worth driving a few extra miles to see films presented the way they should be. I have never had a bad experience at the Allen. Even bad movies are enjoyable here.
I agree that use of the Devon as a performing arts center sounds exciting, but I frankly have a hard time thinking of it as a “grand old theater”. Compared to architectually interesting theaters on Frankford Avenue like the Mayfair and the Merben, the Devon wasn’t much more than a box with seats.
For what it’s worth, my brother was an usher there in the early 80s, and I worked there a couple times fixing seats, working in the candy stand, and helping with projector problems. (Although I mainly worked at the Mayfair.)
I worked at the Mayfair Theatre (always spelled “theatre”, never “theater”) from 1979 through 1983 as an usher, projectionist, and assistant manager. I met my wife there when she was hired to work in the candy stand in the summer of 1981. We married in June, 1983, and our kids are now older than we were!
Not 100% sure of this piece of trivia, but I believe Lincoln High School (2 blocks away) was almost named Mayfair High, but the thinking was that too many places were already named Mayfair.
Also not sure I agree that the theater had 1,000 seats. I think it may have been around 700, at least in the 70s and 80s.
Until 1980, the theater had a round ticket booth under the marquee, but it was removed when the thick curved glass broke and it would have been too expensive to repair. The official story was that it was broken when Phillies fans were celebrating the World Series, but the truth is that it broke when a boyfriend of a ticket seller punched the glass as a joke. A cheapo plywood booth was then built in the lobby.
Around 1981 the dual carbon arc projectors were replaced with a single projector and a Potts platter system. The owners fired the two union projectionists, one of whom had been there 50 years, and made the manager the projectionist. I got my projectionist license so the main manager could get a night off once a week.
There was small balcony box next to the projection booth, but it was not used by the public during at least the last 20 years.
The murals on the side walls of the auditorium were great, but water damage was a big problem by the 80s. I think my friend has photos – I’ll try to get him to post them.
Finally, be sure to check out the 1937 film “It Happened In Mayfair”, a tour of Mayfair businesses presented by the then manager of the Mayfair Theatre, Herb Shulman. It’s a public domain film posted in several places on the web.