Nixon Theatre
417-4215 7th Avenue,
Pittsburgh,
PA
15219
417-4215 7th Avenue,
Pittsburgh,
PA
15219
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The Nixon Theatre was opened on December 7, 1903 with Francis Wilson in “Erminie” a stage production. It was designed in a Beaux-Arts style by architect Benjamin Howard Marshall. The Nixon Theatre was a legitimate stage theatre which seated approximately 2,500. Located adjacent to the Nixon Restaurant, on 7th Avenue downtown, across the street from Mellon Square Park.
Although it remained a legitimate stage house until the very end in 1950, at least one major movie played at the Nixon Theatre, when Cecil B. DeMille’s original "The Ten Commandments" was screened in 1924. The Nixon Theatre was demolished in June of 1950.
Contributed by
David Litterer
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
A picture of the Nixon Theatre (sometimes referred to as the first Nixon Theatre, to avoid confusion with the later one that was on Liberty Ave.): View link
Another view: View link
Why is it named Nixon? Was that a theatre chain back when?
I have a program from the Nixon Theatre from April 26, 1954 for South Pacific. Is this considered a collectible or anything of value?
South Pacific didn’t get released until 1958.
So that South Pacific program must be from a road show version of the stage show.
This is a rather belated reply to KJB2012’s question about the origin of the Nixon Theatre’s name. The original owner of the Nixon Theatre was Samuel F. Nixon-Nirdlinger, a theater operator based in Philadelphia in the late 19th and early 20th century. He owned several theaters in Pennsylvania, and in 1896 was one of the six founders of the notorious Theatrical Syndicate, which for many years controlled bookings for most of the legitimate theaters in the United States.
December 7th, 1903 grand opening ad in photo section.
The historical sketch of Pittsburgh’s first Nixon Theatre on this web page gives the address as 417-425 Sixth Avenue, and says that it was designed by Chicago architect Benjamin H. Marshall.