1938: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE TAYLOR OPERA HOUSE AND THE RKO CAPITOL

Here's an interesting article telling the story of the heritage of the late, great RKO Capitol theater which took over the legendary Taylor Opera House which was built in 1867. To those of us who are interested in music, musicals, theater, acting, etc., the visions that come to mind are the old days when vaudeville was the entertainment of the masses. Judy's father, Raymond Britton came into the theatrical business just as vaudeville was on the way out. He and his partner Mickey Dailey, were end me in a po;ular Trenton area blackface mistrel show.

1935: RKO (RADIO-KIETH'S-ORPHEUM) CAPITOL

What a superb photo! As I indicated in an earlier post it was here that some 14 or 15 years later, I had my first date with my dear wife, the late Judy Britton,. Check out the detail! This photo is a zoomed and and zeroed in extract from the original.

1935: A TRENTON LANDMARK

It was in this theater that I had my very first date with Judy Britton who would ultimately be Judy Britton Glover. We went to see "Show Boad" with Katherine Grayson, Howard Keel, Ava Gardner and Joe E. Brown. It is still one of my favorite movies and every time I watch it I return to the magic years of my late teens. Once again, I zeroed in on this familiar Trenton vestige of the past.

1944: JUNE 6 AND JULY 6, 1944: D-DAY AS IN "DOOMS DAY"

 

The graphic above is the mast head for the Trenton Times as it appeared on D-Day, the 6th of June, 1944. I was only 11 years old but clearly recall the excitement and at the same time fear, that the adults who had boys in the fight experienced. Prayer is schools was a given back then, and I clearly recall a school auditorium assembly and Miss Emily Reynolds, Principal of Kuser School, leading us in prayer for the safety of our boys. This morning when I awoke I said a prayer for them, and this evening when I go to bed, there will be a prayer for those brave fighting men who gave their all on Normandy beach. The graphic below the Times header is an ad 1 month later on July 6, 1944 when Americans everywhere flocked to the movies to see the latest Movietone, Pathe' or Universal Newsreel for graphic movies of the conflict. The featured movie at the RKO Capitol on July 6, 1944 featured an incredible cast of Hollywood stars in the movie, 

"Follow the Boys."

1931: THE CAPITOL THEATER FIRE

 

The Capitol was the location of my very first date with my high school sweetheart and wife of 59 years, Judy Britton. I took her to see "SHOW BOAT;" a musical which has songs that take me back to the years when I courted Judy. As can be seen in the photos above, the building was destroyed as a result of that horrendous fire.

1934: RKO CAPITOL MOVIE-VAUDEVILLE PROGRAM

It took quite a bit of scanning and Photoshopping to bring this interesting RKO Capitol theater July, 1934 program into the 21st century. Wheeler and Woolsey were two very popular motion picture comedians during the 1920's and 1930's. Pay particular attention to the "Vaudeville" page, especially "The Great Gretonas; 'Sensational Feats on the High Wire." Fascinating!

RALPH LUCARELLA said...

HI TOM...WE HUNG AROUND THE CAPITOL THEATRE QUITE OFTEN IN THE EARLY 30'S. ON ONE OCCASION A PERFORMER OFFERED ME 50 CENTS IF I WOULD APPEAR WITH HIM ON STAGE. AS I RECALL THE ONLY THING I HAD TO DO WAS STAND THERE. 50 CENTS WAS A LOT OF MONEY TO A KID IN THOSE DAYS. IT WAS BETTER THAN SELLING PAPPERS FOR 2 CENTS A COPY. BEST REGARDS.

Friday, February 10, 2012

1931: DISASTROUS FIRE AT THE RKO CAPITOL

If you look closely, you will see that the theater was still under the B.F. Kieth management. However, the sign was yet to be changed to the familiar RKO logo. I had to do a bit of cut, copying, and pasting in order to get this into a screen legible format. I also added the movie that was playing on the night of the fire.