Coliseum Theatre, ca. 1922. When the Coliseum Theatre opened in 1920 it was the third largest theatre in the United States. The auditorium sat 3,500 patrons in a theatre designed by architects De Rosa & Pereira. The space was so grand that even the bathrooms were decorated with statuary and paintings on the walls. Early on popular on the vaudeville circuit, the venue became an RKO movie theatre at some point in the mid century. The once one-screen film house was divided into a triplex in the 1980s, and sections of the large space were sold off to commercial tenants. Between 1991 and 2011 the venue opened and closed numerous times and was often renamed. It finally closed for good in 2011 and proposed plans in 2015 had the building replaced by a glassy shopping mall. As the fall of 2017, the neglected remains of the old theatre still stand.

Coliseum Theatre ca. 1922 The end of 2011 also brought the quiet demise of the last movie theater in Washington Heights, Coliseum Cinemas. Known to most residents as the RKO Coliseum, the large theater, occupying the entire corner of 181st and Broadway, had been a fixture of the neighborhood for over 90 years. On its opening day on September 24, 1920, B. S. Moss' Coliseum Theatre featured live Vaudeville acts while Harold Lloyd entertained onscreen in the latest Pathé comedy. Imagine the impression this enormous brand new theater must have given, the third-largest in the city (second only to the Hippodrome and the Capitol), its lobby and corridors festooned with flowers from well wishers: Vaudevillians, movie stars, as well as the grateful neighborhood community itself — all milling around, smiling mouths agape in awe at the splendor. The interior was ornately decorated in gray, ivory, French gold, and American Beauty Rose red. Even the bathrooms were richly furnished and included statuary and paintings on the walls. Like its neighbor, Audubon Theatre, the Coliseum’s purpose was to present a mixed program of Vaudeville and motion pictures, and was considered primarily as an “amusement center destined to play a large part in the neighborhood community life.” That first night, the 3,500-seat theater easily filled to capacity with eager invitees. Up in the boxes were the big names in Vaudeville, including moguls E. F. Albee and Martin Beck. With its built-in organ, the theater was the ultimate entertainment center. As an overture, music surged from the 25-piece orchestra pit with Ponchielli’s magical “Dance of the Hours,” followed by the latest newsreel. Thus warmed up, the audience was then treated to the latest Vaudeville skits from Eddie Foy and his family, who broke in the new stage and made it shine. The lights were then dimmed to screen the latest silent films, the Harold Lloyd comedy Get Out and Get Under, followed by the Norma Talmadge drama The Branded Woman. The intermission consisted of selections from Sigmund Romberg’s latest musical, The Magic Melody. An exit march concluded the show well after midnight. During its heyday, the Coliseum continued to present live Vaudeville with the likes of Ethel Waters, Eddie Cantor, MIlton Berle, Bob Hope, and even Rin-Tin-Tin making appearances. Most residents though will remember it primarily as a movie theater. I personally recall seeing many poorly-dubbed Kung fu and Italian horror pictures there in the 1970s and 80s. Old-timers may remember seeing Blonde Venus, RKO comedies featuring the Marx Brothers, Mae West and W. C. Fields, and sci-fi classics like The Thing. Interestingly enough, the site of the Coliseum as a community rest and recreation spot goes back further still to the American Revolution, when an inn called the Blue Bell Tavern stood there, its bar situated where the box office is now. The inn's guests alternated between both British and Continental forces during the War, including General George Washington himself. The Blue Bell, which dated back to the 1720s, still existed well into the 19th century, and whatever remained was razed and replaced by the Coliseum. Over the years, the Coliseum's role as a performance venue has experienced a general decline. The theater's structure was gradually broken up into a duplex, then a triplex, and a large chunk of its enormous footprint on Broadway eventually became commercial spaces, occupied by grocery and retail stores. During the 1980s attempts were made by residents to rejuvenate the space as a community arts center. A benefit performance called Salute to Ol' Vaudeville was staged in 1980 by a local arts organization for just this purpose. In recent years, after two closings (and subsequent renamings), and despite such promising local initiatives as a Dominican Film Festival and Children’s Film Festival, the venue still struggles to find its identity.