Capitol Theatre
208 Penn Avenue,
Scranton,
PA
18503
208 Penn Avenue,
Scranton,
PA
18503
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Comerford Theaters Inc., Paramount Pictures Inc.
Previous Names: Miles Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Miles Theatre was opened by Charle Miles on November 7, 1921 with Lon Chaney in Bits of Life" and vaudeville. On December 25, 1922 it was renamed Capitol Theatre after being taken over by the Comerford Amusement Co. A Kimball organ was installed in the theatre in 1924. It offered programs of vaudeville and movies. By the early-1940’s it was operated by Paramount Pictures Inc. through their subsidiary Frank Walker.
By 1950 it was operated by Comerford Theaters Inc. and they were still the operators in 1957.
Contributed by
Dave Bonan
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
Nancy McDonald’s If You Can Play Scranton says that the Capitol Theatre opened as the Miles Theatre on November 7, 1921. It started out attempting to compete with the Poli Theatre, then Scranton’s leading vaudeville house, but had little success. In 1923 it was sold to Michael Comerford who renamed it the Capitol Theatre. Comerford’s management so completely reversed its fortunes that he was able to buy Poli’s Theatre in 1925.
The Capitol operated as a combination house for many years, and though after the 1920s it ran movies most of the time, through the 1930s and 1940s it also hosted performances by the popular bands of the day, and even presented occasional vaudeville shows.
According to this web page, this 1954 advertisement is from the Capitol Theatre in Scranton. Assuming the attribution is correct (the town’s name does not appear on the ad), this is the most recent mention of the Capitol I’ve found.
Hello. I am doing research on the career of Bela “Dracula” Lugosi. I read elsewhere that Lugosi once appeared on the stage of the Capitol in Scranton in a vaudeville act. If anyone has any information regarding this appearance, please contact me at with whatever information you may have. I appreciate any responses!
As an addendum to a post I made about Bela Lugosi at the Capitol Theater (see above), I have narrowed down the likely dates that he would have appeared in his vaudeville act on the Capitol Theater stage to Oct 16 and 17, 1948 or October 21 through 23, 1948. He also was interviewed on the local radio station of the time, I believe WSCR, while he was in town. If anyone can confirm this or has any solid information regarding this appearance, please contact me at Thanks!
Reopened on December 25th, 1922 as the Capitol theatre. Grand opening ad posted.
Also uploaded the Miles grand opening ad.