Whalley Theatre

379 Whalley Avenue,
New Haven, CT 06511

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Additional Info

Functions: Retail

Previous Names: Whalley Avenue Theatre

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News About This Theater

1960 newspaper photo courtesy of Joe O'Conner.

The former Whalley Theatre later became known as the Whalley Cafe Cinema.

The building has now been converted into a natural foods store. However, both the outside and inside still resemble a cinema if you know what to look for. The former lobby area is now a coffee bar, the balcony is now a small cafe, the auditorium which has had the floor levelled is now the food section, and the projection booth is now a manager’s office.

Contributed by Roger Katz

Recent comments (view all 16 comments)

Jim Vecchio
Jim Vecchio on March 29, 2006 at 9:28 am

Two memories of “The Whalley”: When “BEN HUR” premiered, it seemed to run here forever. Also, one night about 1069 or 70, I attended a special Halloween showing of “Frankenstein” and “Dracula”. (Ididn’t have a VCR then!)

Jim Vecchio
Jim Vecchio on March 30, 2006 at 3:21 am

Make that “1969 or 1970”, as in 1069, NO ONE had VCRS!!!

Zweigbaum
Zweigbaum on May 13, 2006 at 9:49 am

Does anyone know the whereabouts or what happened to theatre manager Franklin Fergusson?

mortm
mortm on July 29, 2007 at 10:51 am

I was an usher at the Whalley while in high school (Hillhouse). I worked there until I went into the service (Jan. 1953). Mr. Ferguson was the manager and Mr. Tarren was the assistant manager. Mr. Ferguson’s father was the manager of the Whitney. Mr. Ferguson passed away some time ago.

shoeshoe14
shoeshoe14 on August 28, 2007 at 10:22 am

I didn’t know the upstairs was ever open. I went upstairs and there’s a small food court sitting area by the projection booth which is the office. At the other end of the theater is another register (upstairs) and there’s some nice decoration – 2 Ionic columns, one on either end, the color scheme is pink, blue and white with a small arc leading from one column to the other, like a rainbow.

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on November 8, 2010 at 3:27 pm

March 24,1970 and Gregory Peck’s Sci-fi Classic “MAROONED” is playing to sell out crowds.

writerman2255
writerman2255 on June 26, 2011 at 10:49 am

OMG! This brings back memories. I grew up on Stanley St. and went to the Whalley Theater many times. I have no idea why I looked this up today, but it’s interesting to see how things have changed. Wow. I had a friend who was an usher there, Peter Gemmell. I think he’s a fireman now.

bicyclereporter
bicyclereporter on March 21, 2014 at 2:49 pm

In 1980-1981 it was also known as the Whalley Avenue Theater.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on May 12, 2015 at 5:48 pm

Undated and 1960 newspaper photos added courtesy of Joe O'Conner.

MSC77
MSC77 on September 11, 2023 at 4:21 pm

This venue’s 70mm presentations history is included in the recently-published article “70mm Presentations in New Haven: A Chronology of 70mm Large Format Exhibition, 1960-Present”.

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