Levoy Theatre
Encyclopedia
The Levoy Theatre was located in Millville
, New Jersey
. The original building was built in 1908, replacing the Wilson Opera House, which burned down in 1898. It quickly became famous on the vaudeville
circuit.
When Warner Brothers purchased the theater around 1930, it was transformed into a 30's movie palace. It often competed with the Peoples' Theater, which closed in circa 1950. It reached the height of its popularity during WWII, where it had block-spanning crowds frequently. During this time, the theater became arguably the most famous South Jersey theater of all time, screening such films as The Towering Inferno
, Holiday Inn
, Blazing Saddles
, Psycho, White Christmas
, Brother of the Wind
, The Poseidon Adventure, 1776, and The Trial of Billy Jack
during its lifetime.
However, as the years passed, Vineland
multiplexes and other factors began to "eat away" at the aging theater's profits, and after several problems arising from its plaster framework and structural elements, it finally closed on December 22, 1974. It remained vacant for 36 more years, losing most of its interior surfacing and theater seats, when finally the Levoy Theater Preservation Society purchased the theater in 1998 and completed its financial package for renovation in April 2010 at long last. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
on August 14, 1998. The theatre was scheduled to re-open around July 2011.
The renovation project suffered a setback on January 3, 2011. A section of the building's north wall collapsed, followed by the front wall, leaving most of the 100-year-old structure in rubble. One building nearby was deemed a total loss due to damage from the collapse. One firefighter, already on the scene investigating a gas leak prior to the incident, was struck and injured by falling debris.
Levoy supporters have vowed to continue the renovation efforts, they have confirmed that the theatre will open in 2012.
Millville, New Jersey
Millville is a city in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2000 United States Census, the city population was 26,847. Millville, Bridgeton and Vineland are the three principal New Jersey cities of the Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area which...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. The original building was built in 1908, replacing the Wilson Opera House, which burned down in 1898. It quickly became famous on the vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
circuit.
When Warner Brothers purchased the theater around 1930, it was transformed into a 30's movie palace. It often competed with the Peoples' Theater, which closed in circa 1950. It reached the height of its popularity during WWII, where it had block-spanning crowds frequently. During this time, the theater became arguably the most famous South Jersey theater of all time, screening such films as The Towering Inferno
The Towering Inferno
The Towering Inferno is a 1974 American action disaster film produced by Irwin Allen featuring an all-star cast led by Steve McQueen and Paul Newman.A co-production between Twentieth Century-Fox and Warner Bros...
, Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn is a brand of hotels, formally a economy motel chain, forming part of the British InterContinental Hotels Group . It is one of the world's largest hotel chains with 238,440 bedrooms and 1,301 hotels globally. There are currently 5 hotels in the pipeline...
, Blazing Saddles
Blazing Saddles
Blazing Saddles is a 1974 satirical Western comedy film directed by Mel Brooks. Starring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder, the film was written by Brooks, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Norman Steinberg, and Al Uger, and was based on Bergman's story and draft. The movie was nominated for three...
, Psycho, White Christmas
White Christmas
A white Christmas refers to the presence of snow on Christmas Day. This phenomenon is most common in the northern countries of the Northern Hemisphere...
, Brother of the Wind
Brother of the Wind
Brother of the Wind is a 1973 independent film directed by Dick Robinson and written by John Mahon, starring Dick Robinson as Sam Monroe, a wildlife/mountain man who takes in 4 wolf pups and raises them, eventually releasing the grown wolves at the end of the film. Leon Ames provides background...
, The Poseidon Adventure, 1776, and The Trial of Billy Jack
The Trial of Billy Jack
The Trial of Billy Jack is a 1974 film starring Delores Taylor and Tom Laughlin. It is the sequel to the 1971 film Billy Jack and the third film overall in the series. Although commercially successful, it was panned by critics.-Plot:...
during its lifetime.
However, as the years passed, Vineland
Vineland
Vineland is a 1990 novel by Thomas Pynchon, a postmodern fiction set in California, United States in 1984, the year of Ronald Reagan's re-election...
multiplexes and other factors began to "eat away" at the aging theater's profits, and after several problems arising from its plaster framework and structural elements, it finally closed on December 22, 1974. It remained vacant for 36 more years, losing most of its interior surfacing and theater seats, when finally the Levoy Theater Preservation Society purchased the theater in 1998 and completed its financial package for renovation in April 2010 at long last. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on August 14, 1998. The theatre was scheduled to re-open around July 2011.
The renovation project suffered a setback on January 3, 2011. A section of the building's north wall collapsed, followed by the front wall, leaving most of the 100-year-old structure in rubble. One building nearby was deemed a total loss due to damage from the collapse. One firefighter, already on the scene investigating a gas leak prior to the incident, was struck and injured by falling debris.
Levoy supporters have vowed to continue the renovation efforts, they have confirmed that the theatre will open in 2012.