The legendary Keswick Theatre in Glenside first opened its doors on Christmas night 1928 for a private event hosted by the Kiwanis Club.
The theater opened to the public two days later as a combination vaudeville (a mixture of specialty acts such as burlesque comedy and song and dance) and a movie house. Warner Bros.’ “Glorious Betsy” starring Dolores Costello was chosen as the opener and was shot and shown as a silent film.
Fun Fact: In those days, the Keswick had an Aeolian-Votey pipe organ with a wide array of percussion traps for the accompaniment of silent films.
The current organ is a 1,700 pipe Moller Theatre Organ, originally installed in 1928 in the Sedgwick Theatre in Philadelphia.
According to local historian Chuck Langerman, the 1,366-seat Keswick played host to everyone from Paul Robeson to the best big-budget films of the day. Renowned architect Horace Trumbauer designed the exterior in the Tudor Revival Style, which has remained essentially unaltered.
In 1955 the theater was renovated to show CinemaScope films and operated until 1980, at which point it closed and was threatened with demolition until a community group organized a nonprofit which reopened it as a live performance venue from 1981 to 1985.
During this period the Keswick presented performances by Fred Waring and the Young Pennsylvanians and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The venue also hosted performances by Theodore Bikel, Lionel Hampton, Carlos Montoya and Roberta Peters.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 before closing again in 1985. It reopened in 1988 under private ownership which established a restoration fund for repairs, restoration, and equipment upgrades. It was fully restored by 1994 and has been owned by AEG Live since 2008.
The venue is still considered one of the top showplaces in the Philadelphia area for entertainment acts. From AEG Worldwide’s description:
The Keswick Theatre serves as the area’s destination for hosting first class events offering full production capabilities with its built-in stage and state-of-the-art lighting and sound. The space also features lively bars throughout the entire venue and expert event staff to ensure a successful and seamless event for each occasion.
Philadelphia Magazine chose the Keswick as its “Concert Venue of the Year”, and in 2004, an Arcadia paperback book on the theater was published by Judith Katherine Herbst. From its description:
The Keswick Theatre, located just outside Philadelphia, opened in 1928 in an era when four thousand similar structures were in various stages of design and construction across the country. Vaudeville was in its final days and film was just being born. Designed by acclaimed architect Horace Trumbauer, the theater evolved into the area’s premier movie house. When the theater was threatened with demolition in the early 1980s, the Glenside Landmarks Society was formed with the hopes of restoring the building to its former grandeur. Today, operating as a commercial venture, it is one of the most acclaimed concert halls in the Philadelphia area. The Keswick Theatre celebrates this historic landmark through vintage images and recognizes the dedicated community members who have kept its doors open.
The Keswick Theatre today
For more on the Keswick Theatre, you can visit their Facebook page and website.
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Photos courtesy of CinemaTreasures.org, Wikipedia