Playhouse Cinema
177 Sherman Avenue N,
Hamilton,
ON
L8L3A6
177 Sherman Avenue N,
Hamilton,
ON
L8L3A6
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Closed as a cinema in 1957 and reopened as an adult cinema on June 30th, 1978 more to come..
Wonderful news! About two years back the Playhouse Theatre was restored and has reopened after a brief renovation. It now features a restored 35mm film projector, as well as the industry standard digital projection.
Brand new seating has reduced the seating capacity down to about 300, but the seats are modern and comfortable. I have seen a dozen or so films so far and have enjoyed the film ever so more seeing it in a vintage hundred and and sevsn year old cinema.
Multiple photos in the below website about the closing.
https://citykidz.ca/blog/citykidz-sells-playhouse-theatre/?fbclid=IwAR2JjaWWgPFwYlNvtajc6svsfnKoQ4wp8EDxqz1_W2dX5CO5yEQgXJ_fxZ4
For most of the 60’s and 70’s the theatre showed all Italian language movies.
I was hanging around the theatre, taking pictures and a real estate agent showed me around inside. The interior is ornate, and I remember light bulbs around the stage procenium (arched, I think). A sound and lighting operation area was set up in the rear seats in the auditorium. There were two apartments on the second floor and the projection room was across the hall. There were a few projector parts on the floor of the room, and there was a board with the marquee letters and numbers (in alphabetical/numerical order) hanging on nails. In the basement (under the stores) there were old movie posters for Italian and soft-core porn movies, still there after all those years since the theatre ran them. For a time, the Playhouse ran Italian films. There used to be a sign advertising the Italian film policy on the upper South side of the building. The theatre showed soft-core pornographic movies until it closed and was then taken over by the theatre group.
Comparing the photo and the Google street view, you can see the changes City Kidz has made to the facade of the building. After Theatre Terra Nova failed and vacated the theatre, it was put up for sale by the city for $60,000.00 (c. 1991-2). It had the original paint job on the marquee. The letters for the sign board were original and had a very unusual font style. The display windows and the box office (at the right side of the entrance) still existed.
The photo above shows the Playhouse soon after City Kidz took over the building. The tiled roof (just like the one in the Main/Cinema pictures) was replaced with ordinary shingles. The marquee was repainted and the neon and lightbulbs were replaced. I recall a concert was given by Ian Thomas (brother of Dave Thomas of SCTV, etc.) as a fundraiser. All the neon and lightbulbs have since been removed. Why? I don’t know. I hope they aren’t going to remove the marquee. It is the last original marquee in the city. I’m guessing it dates from the 1940’s. The house seen in the Google street view has been torn down and is used a parking lot, mostly for the buses.