Main Street Theatre

10 Main Street,
Asbury Park, NJ 07712

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Walter Reade Theatres

Previous Names: Opera House

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Fire

Located on Main Street, across the street from the Ocean Grove gates, just a few yards south of the Asbury Park border. Was originally called the Opera House, and was open before 1900. Underwent a major renovation in 1921, it burned to the ground on April 10, 1926.

At the time, Walter Reade planned to rebuild, including a 50-foot vacant lot next door, and double the seating to 6,000. It was never rebuilt, possibly because the Mayfair Theatre was being built at the time and that venue was planned to be Reade’s showplace.

Along with motion pictures, Main Street Theatre was also used to test Broadway stage shows before they played New York.

Contributed by Gary Crawford

Recent comments (view all 1 comments)

Luis Vazquez
Luis Vazquez on January 1, 2012 at 8:45 am

Sad to see that there is so little info about this huge theater. Even in the book, Asbury Park’s Glory Days there are scant details. How did a 3000 seat theater in a major resort town in the 1920’s receive so little press when it burned to the ground?

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