Hoffman-Hennon was a prominent Philadelphia architectural firm known for its theater designs. W. H. Hoffman was the firm's senior partner. He partnered with Paul J. Henon Jr. to form Hoffman-Henon Co. The firm designed more than 100 theaters, 46 of them in Philadelphia. Many are still standing and several remain open.
Cinema Treasures One of the first movie palaces in Philadelphia was The Stanley Theater (1914) at 1620 Market Street, designed by W. H. Hoffman and later renamed the Stanton. During the

silent era A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

it featured a full orchestra. The theater was renamed The Milgram in 1968 and was demolished in 1980.Historic Theaters of Philadelphia
/ref> A second theater named the Stanley was also designed by Hoffman-Henon and opened at the southwest corner of 19th and Market in 1921. It had 2,916 and its own renowned

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

. Al Capone was arrested at the theater in 1929. It was demolished in 1973 and the

Philadelphia Stock Exchange Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX), now known as Nasdaq PHLX, is the first stock exchange established in the United States and the oldest stock exchange in the nation. The exchange is owned by Nasdaq, which acquired it in 2007 for $652 million, ...

was constructed on the site in 1982. Working with the Ballinger Company, Hoffman-Henon designed the Commodore Theatre, located at 4228 Walnut Street in Philadelphia. This theatre, which had 1,105 seats and which was built in the Spanish Revival or Moorish architectural style, closed in the 1950s and became a live theatre and then a church in the 1960s, before gaining a new lease on life as a mosque in the 1980s. This building now houses the Masjid al-Jamia of Philadelphia. The Mastbaum Memorial Theatre (1929) was a 4,700-seat theater built at 20th and Market. The opulent theater was demolished 29 years later The firm is also credited with the 2,200-seat

art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

Bolivar Theater (1933) in

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

. The

Bala Theatre Bala Theatre is a historic 1926 theater building at 157 Bala Avenue in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. It was designed by Philadelphia architectural firm Hoffman-Henon. The 1,450-seat theater opened as an Egyptian Theatre on September 15, 1926. It fea ...

at 157 Bala Avenue in

Bala Cynwyd Bala Cynwyd ( ) is a community and census-designated place in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located on the Philadelphia Main Line in Southeastern Pennsylvania and borders the western edge of Philadelphia at U.S. Rou ...

, Pennsylvania was open until 2014. Benedum Center for the Performing Arts (formerly the Stanley) remains open at 207 Seventh Street in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Other Hoffman-Henon theaters still in operation include the Bristol Riverside Theatre at 120 Radcliffe Street in Bristol, Pennsylvania; the Bushfire Theatre (formerly the Locust Theatre) at 224 S. 52nd Street in Philadelphia; the Everett Theatre at 47 W. Main Street in Middletown, Delaware; the Philadelphia Film Center (1921) (formerly

Prince Music Theater The Prince Theater is a non-profit theatrical producing organization located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and specializing in music theatre, including opera, music drama, musical comedy and experimental forms. Founded in 1984 as the American ...

, the Karlton and Midtown) at 1412 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia and the Queen Theater at 500 North Market Street in Wilmington, Delaware. 19801

Works

*The Karlton Theatre (1921), 1412 Chestnut Street, later known as the Midtown and then the

* The Wynne Theater (1927–1928) *

Erlanger Theatre The Erlanger Theatre was a live-performance theater at the northwest corner of 21st and Market Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1927 by Abraham L. Erlanger, theatrical producer and a founding member of the Theatrical Synd ...

(1927) *Stanley Theater, Philadelphia (1928) *Stanley Theatre, Baltimore (1927–1965,1958 renamed The Stanton until its 1965 demolition) *

Boyd Theatre The Boyd Theatre was a 1920s era movie palace in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It operated as a movie theater for 74 years, operating under the name Sameric as part of the United Artists theater chain, before closing in 2002. The th ...

(1928) *Stanley Theatre, Pittsburgh, later called the

Benedum Center The Benedum Center for the Performing Arts (formerly the Stanley Theatre) is a theater and concert hall located at 237 7th Street in the Cultural District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Designed by the Philadelphia architectural firm Hoffman-Hen ...

(1928) * St. Joseph's House for Homeless Industrious Boys (1929) *Mastbaum Theatre (1929) *The Warner Theatre (1929) *Earle Theatre * Bolivar Theater (1933)

References

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Works

See also

References

Further reading