The Capitol Theatre was a movie palace located at 1645 Broadway, just north of Times Square in New York City, across from the Winter Garden Theatre. Designed by theater architect Thomas W. Lamb, the Capitol originally had a seating capacity of 5,230 and opened October 24, 1919. After 1924 the flagship theatre of the Loews Theatres chain, the Capitol was known as the premiere site of many Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) films. The Capitol was also noted for presenting live musical revues and many jazz and swing bands on its stage.
History
The Capitol was one of the first of the large lavish movie theaters that dominated the film exhibition business for the next 40 years, built by Messmore Kendall as one of New York's first cinema palaces, through his realty company, Moredall Realty Company.
It opened on October 24, 1919 with the New York premiere of United Artists' first production, His Majesty, the American.[1] In the early 1920s the theater was the home of Samuel Roxy Rothafel's "Roxy Gang" of singers which would perform concerts with the Capitol Theatre Orchestra which were broadcast live on the radio.[2]