The Garden, built by the Chotzianoff brothers, opened in 1909 and was leased and operated by the great theatrical impresario of the early 20th-century, Poli. The theater was only a part of the business block the Brothers Chotzianoff built. It stands today, its theater swallowed by the onset of downtown elderly housing. This was Waterbury’s first real moving picture theater, 500 seats, upstairs and down, orchestra pit, one of the city’s great entertainment palaces during its long history as The Garden, New Garden and The Plaza.
John M. Fitzgerald operated Jacques' first movie camera and the film was allowed to spin out of the machine and into a paper bag. After the show, the film was tediously rewound by hand. Fitzgerald was a stage manager at Jacques and the old Poli’s. He was one of the first to operate one of the hand-cranked projectors of that era, lighted by live current which arced between two sticks of carbon. The film was celluloid and highly flammable, so that the heat generated by the carbon arc lamp posed a constant threat of fire.
The Alhambra Theater, owned by B.E. Hausdorf, was built at 733 North Main St. in 1912. This vaudeville and movie house closed in 1957 and later became New Opportunities for Waterbury, Inc.
The Garden, built by the Chotzianoff brothers, opened in 1909 and was leased and operated by the great theatrical impresario of the early 20th-century, Poli. The theater was only a part of the business block the Brothers Chotzianoff built. It stands today, its theater swallowed by the onset of downtown elderly housing. This was Waterbury’s first real moving picture theater, 500 seats, upstairs and down, orchestra pit, one of the city’s great entertainment palaces during its long history as The Garden, New Garden and The Plaza.
John M. Fitzgerald operated Jacques' first movie camera and the film was allowed to spin out of the machine and into a paper bag. After the show, the film was tediously rewound by hand. Fitzgerald was a stage manager at Jacques and the old Poli’s. He was one of the first to operate one of the hand-cranked projectors of that era, lighted by live current which arced between two sticks of carbon. The film was celluloid and highly flammable, so that the heat generated by the carbon arc lamp posed a constant threat of fire.
The Carroll Theater in the North Square, built by Patrick H. Carroll in 1913, closed in 1959.
The Alhambra Theater, owned by B.E. Hausdorf, was built at 733 North Main St. in 1912. This vaudeville and movie house closed in 1957 and later became New Opportunities for Waterbury, Inc.