Colony Theatre
4935 Georgia Avenue NW,
Washington,
DC
20011
4935 Georgia Avenue NW,
Washington,
DC
20011
1 person
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Crandall Amusement Company, K-B Theatres, Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp.
Architects: John J. Zink
Functions: Senior Center
Styles: Art Deco
Nearby Theaters
Opened by Harry Crandall on May 8, 1926 with Harry Langdon in “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp”. It was designed by architect John J. Zink and contained 26 apartments on five storeys and six retail stores on its Georgia Avenue frontage. It was equipped with a 3 Manual theatre organ. The Colony Theatre was operated for a time in the 1940’s and 1950’s by Warner Brothers. The Colony Theatre was taken over by K-B Theatres in 1953. It was closed in 1973. It became a live theatre for the African American community for a while.
Today the building has been converted into a senior home.
Contributed by
Bryan
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
The COLONY was a 3rd Run house under Warner management, playing films one week after, and slightly cheaper, than Warner’s newer and nearby KENNEDY and SHERIDAN. (All 3 still exist, as churches.) The COLONY had one glorious last harrah under Warner’s. Somehow they got Audery Hepburn’s ROMAN HOLIDAY one day earlier than other theatres and filled all 3 shows to standing room only. The really smart KB chain later leased the COLONY where they’d showcase AAA+ movies that had played-off too quickly elsewhere. Revivals of pictures like MARTY, a few months after playing elsewhere, lasted several weeks at the COLONY. As the neighborhood declined into unchecked crime, that option eventually failed. The COLONY is part of a larger building and that saved it. Anyway, nobody’s building anything new near here.
I was in this area last week and could not locate any building with a 4935 Georgia Avenue NW address. There are a couple of structures in the 4900 block which kinda look like former theatres, but not with this street number.
Some photos of the theater building are on this site:
http://tinyurl.com/l4oh5j
The Colony was at Georgia Avenue and Farragut Street, N.W., a block south of the spot indicated by the Google Street View. (It’s the light-brick building in the distance, in fact.) The blog linked above has a drawing of the building whose caption gives the cross street (also posted on Flickr below).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40433497@N05/4054269159/
Possibly the 4935 Georgia address is a little off.
My mother grew up a few blocks away on Allison Street in the 1920s and regularly walked to this or other theaters around the Petworth area.
Here’s a better view of the Colony’s building:
http://g.co/maps/te2rq
As 2014 closes there is scant trace of the Colony Theatre. The present remodeled building is called The Colony, but the interior is rebuilt as a senior center. Look at the 2nd floor of the facade and you can spot a few signs of the former theatre, which later survived many decades as a church.
May 8th, 1926 grand opening ad in photo section.
Grand opening ad as Colony International from October 23rd, 1960 in photo section. Adult movies were shown.