Circle Theatre
4650 Frankford Avenue,
Philadelphia,
PA
19124
4650 Frankford Avenue,
Philadelphia,
PA
19124
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2019 google street view shows new retail stores in the front, otherwise no change.
Stanley Warner closed the Circle on December 6, 1953 with a double feature of :Blowing Wild" and “Sea of Lost Ships.” According to the local paper, the theatre building was repurposed for retail stores in July of 1954 and then sold in late April 1955.
This opened on April 30th, 1929, just one day after the opening of the State. Grand opening ad for both theatres can be found in the photo section.
The link for Howard Haas’s photo of the Circle Theatre interior has been moved. Here is the link for the blog posting:
http://www.historictheatres.org/philadelphias-circle-theatres-atmospheric-auditorium-seen-again/.
Here is a link directly to the photo: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150225757800818&set=a.10150225757795818.339858.51659460817&type=1
Thanks for the link Howard!
Perhaps because links don’t auto link, I neglected in June to post this link here of current photo of auditorium facing stage! follow link to photo of lighting control panel, too http://theatrehistoricalsociety.wordpress.com/2011/06/18/philadelphias-circle-theatres-atmospheric-auditorium-seen-again/
On May 17, 2008, peregrinearts visited the Circle Theatre and Sang Koo Park, one of the Circle’s present owners, mentioned that the 1929 Kimball theatre organ is still intact (to some unconfirmed degree). Eleven days later, diaphon comments that the organ “appears” to have been removed in the 1950’s. Diaphon also comments that he “was told an apocryphal story”, meaning the story is questionable. The Park’s have owned the theatre since 1991. Why would Mrs. Park report that the organ is still intact if in fact it was removed? After seeing the recent photo of the stage and proscenium, it is believable that the organ is still in the Circle!
It would be interesting to see a photo of the original facade of the Circle Theatre. Also a photo of the auditorium and balcony as they exist today. I do know that the present retail stores occupy the theatres former vestibule, lobby, and foyer. I do not beleive that the retail stores extend under the theatres balcony. This area was sealed off as was the rest of the theatre. .
Here is an interior photo circa 1929 from the Irvin Glazer theater collection:
http://tinyurl.com/o2s7l5
Photos 8-21-08 of pinnacle of front facade of Circle by Rob Bender:
View link
The Kimball organ from the Circle Theatre appears to have been removed and reinstalled in Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church, Malden, MA sometime in the 1950’s based on this and other links…
http://www.pellandorgan.com/news.htm
I was told an apocryphal story that most of the Stanley-Warner organs (virtually all S-W organs were Kimballs with six notable exceptions) were removed from theatres and stored in the basement of their flagship Mastbaum theatre, and that row after row of Kimball consoles were seen, waiting to be sold off.
On May 17, I visited the Circle Theater, which is now owned by one couple, including adjacent 1-story shops. Bong Ho and Sang Koo Park have own the properties encompassing 4648 – 4662 Frankford Ave (which include the Circle) since 1991. I spoke briefly with Sang Koo, who confirmed that the theater exists in some state above the retail outlet. (They have a sporting goods and remaindered electronics business in the former vestibule and lobby spaces.) She even mentioned that the 1929 Kimball theatre organ is still in tact (to some unconfirmed degree).
She was very circumspect and rather suspicious of my interest. (They currently have $90,000 in tax liens against these properties according to the BRT.) A few more visits may be necessary to gain access to the theatre space.
So it was the Circle, as west would have been on the left going north. Thanks.
Around the Market-Frankford Line’s Margaret-Orthodox Station’s area, on the westbound side platforms was the Stanley Warner’s Circle Theatre, and just north of the Eastbound side platform were the Frankford Theatre (which was demolished), and the Roosevelt Theatre (which is still standing)
One of the PAB thumbnails posted by LM on 12/4/04 implies that New Garden was an aka. I recall seeing an old theater from the Market-Frankford el, approximately in this area, in the early 1980s. The theater was visible on the left side of the train if you were going northbound. I wonder now if that was the Circle:
The former Stanley Warner’s Circle Theatre was the theatre that had the Spanish-like porticoes around the interior walls.
Maybe I have The Circle and The Roosevelt mixed up, but I thought The Roosevelt was the one that had the Spanish-like porticoes around the walls of the theater.
I drive by the old Circle Theatre everyday on my way to work. It’s now a shoe and athletic clothes store. If you look above the store’s sign, you can see the artwork and columns on the building to this day.
The Circle Theatre should now be listed as closed.The building still stands.
Here is a link for a partial view of the Circle Theatre.
http://world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?16583
MikeRa;
Thanks for the update on the status of the Circle Theatre. It is good to know the building still stands, I wonder what condition it is in nowadays?
I will go back and check my source regarding it’s demolition which I ‘think’ I got from a Theater Historical Society of America document.
Just to let you know, but the Circle Theatre was not demolished. I can tell you for a fact that the Circle Theatre is still standing. The theatre on Frankford Ave. that had the auditorium demolished was the Eliis Theatre, which was located across from SEPTA’s Frankford Transportation Center.
The Circle Theatre was Philadelphia’s only ‘Atmospheric’ styled theatre (the Circle was Spanish atmospheric). It closed as a movie house in the 1950’s and the area under the balcony and all the lobbies were converted into retail use, with the rest of the theatre sealed off intact. Sadly all is now gone with the subsequent demolition of the building.