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.

1941: THE NEW RKO TRENT THEATER

How I love these full page features! Unfortunately they do not reproduce full size on Facebook due to the graphic size limitations of that social media site. However, here at the Hamilton Library Local History web site, you get the full page in all its glory. Here's a fabulous 1941 view of the 75 year old event that gave birth to the legendary RKO Trent theater.John Taylor's original Taylor Opera House stood on this site, and the building shown in the upper left of the photo shows the Trent theater building that was the original opera house. How unfortunate it was leveled and replaced by the modern structure shown to the right of the above page. The original Taylor Opera House is shown below:

1887 TAYLOR OPERA HOUSE

During its heyday, the Taylor Opera House was THE entertainment venue for those interested in Vaudeville, theater, and other thespian endeavors. It was located on the site of  Trenton's Capitol Theater. Many nationally known performers appeared at the Taylor Opera House which was originally known as Taylor Hall.

1887 and 1910: TRENTON'S LEGENDARY TAYLOR OPERA HOUSE

Immediately above is an original program page from 1910, announcing the appearance of Madame Sembrich, noted opera singer. This was the era when the opera house was featuring vaudeville acts from all over America. The article above is a very comprehensive article telling the history of the grand old Trenton landmark that dates back to 1867 when it was known as Taylor Hall. There will be more Taylor Opera House pages in future postings.

RALPH LUCARELLA said...

HI TOM....HAPPY EASTER AND AM I CORRECT IN RECALLING THE TAYLOR OPERA HOUSE AS BEING THE PALACE THEATRE LATER ON.

Saturday, April 07, 2012

No Ralph. It was the Trent. uhhh, wait a minute....maybe it was the Capitol? Another Glover Senior moment!

Tom

Michael said...

Hi Tom and Ralph:

As a kid growing up, I remember my Uncle, a member of the Stage Hands union referring to the "Capitol Theatre" on South Broad St. as the "Taylor Opera House"
And the article refers to the foundation being started on "South Green St." Since the "Trent" was North of State St. I would think this maybe it was the "Capitol"
Wasn't Broad St. originally "Greene" St?
Now you got me wondering.
Which is good for this ancient gray matter. LOL

Regards

Mike Kuzma

Monday, April 09, 2012

Anonymous said...

Hey Tom:
See my note from yesterday, in which I identify the Capitol as the Taylor Opera House.

Mike Kuzma

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

THANKS FOR SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT, MIKE. ONCE AGAIN, TOM GLOVER, WHO PRIDES HIMSELF AS HAVING THE MEMORY 10 TIMES GREATER THAN THAT OF AN ELEPHANT, WAS THE VICTIM OF ANOTHER FREQUENTLY RECURRING "SENIOR MOMENT."

TOM

1921: Trenton's Taylor Hall, better known as the Taylor Opera House

The RKO Capitol ultimately was to replaced the majestic Taylor Opera House on South Broad Street; a familiar site to Victorian era Trentonians. The next graphic this gives a rare look at the history and heritage of Trenton's historic Taylor Hall as it was in 1887.

1915: TRENTON'S LEGENDARY TAYLOR OPERA HOUSE

That grand old edifice was long gone before I came along, but in its heyday it was the venue for performers from all over the country. It hosted everything from old vaudeville programs to dramatice stage plays.