History of the Newtown Theatre
Located in the heart of Newtown Borough (Bucks County), the historic Newtown Theatre is the center of entertainment in its community. Young and old alike enjoy the convenience of seeing concerts, comedy shows, movies, live theater, and more—right around the corner, in a charming 230-seat theatre.
The Newtown Theatre has an extensive history dating back to 1831. Originally built as a hall for town gatherings and a non-sectarian church for traveling ministers, it soon became a center of entertainment in Newtown.
By the early 1850s, “Newtown Hall” (as it was then called) was used regularly for performances that ranged from social dances and concerts to theatrical productions and magic lantern shows. Throughout the 1850s, Newtown Hall hosted anti-slavery meetings, which included sermons by Lucretia Mott and Frederick Douglass, major figures in the reform movements of the 19th century.
According to an article in the February 9, 1864 Bucks County Intelligencer, “Frederick Douglass spoke at Newtown Hall on Thursday afternoon, February 4….He spoke at considerable length on the re-construction of the Union. He had a crowded house. An admission fee of 15 cents was charged, and the receipts amounted to upwards of $46.”
In 1883, Newtown Hall was reconstructed, larger than the first, and designed with stage performances in mind. The theatre guests enter today is that same 1883 building. It’s said that the building was the first in Newtown to be electrified (1884) and there was no indoor plumbing until 1948.
In 1906 the theatre showed its first movie – footage from the San Francisco earthquake. This makes the theatre America’s oldest continuously operating movie theater. In 1936, the interior of the building was redone and new equipment was purchased to enhance the movie-going experience. With the coming of television and modern movies, Newtown Hall movies were becoming outdated. The theatre was rescued in 1953 by the Newtown Community Welfare Council, which still serves as the theatre’s trustee today.
In 1972, Amos Farruggio, a movie buff and licensed projectionist, rented the hall from the Community Welfare Council, spruced it up and kept the theatre alive until his death. The theatre was then ably run by his wife until her death in 2005.
Over the past 25 years, the theatre has seen several upgrades. In 2002, the theatre had air conditioning installed for the premier of M. Night Shyamalan’s “Signs,” parts of which were filmed in Newtown. In 2014, the theatre installed a new digital projector that enabled it to continue showing movies, which are no longer available in 35mm.
With the rise in streaming and home entertainment, it became clear that movies could not sustain the theatre. Beginning in 2015, the theatre began to broaden its programming to include live concerts and comedy shows. In 2019, the theatre installed a new sound system specifically for concerts. Like most theaters around the world, the Newtown Theatre was largely closed for about a year starting in March 2020 due to the COVID-10 pandemic.
In the fall of 2021, while it was still emerging from the pandemic, the theatre underwent a $600,000, largely internal renovation. The goal was to bring the building up to today’s standards of comfort, convenience and accessibility.
This four-month project included a new hardwood floor laid over the existing floor, new vintage-style seats on the first floor, plaster repair, a new coat of paint, the addition of a fully accessible toilet room on the first floor, a wheelchair lift out front, a rebuilt front porch to accommodate the lift, new acoustic tiles in the auditorium, and the addition of a sprinkler system for fire protection. Future plans call for renovating the theatre’s balcony and expanding and improving the basement restrooms.
Today, the Newtown Theatre is reborn and booming. The theatre still shows movies (up to 50 each year), but it has greatly expanded its programming to include popular concerts, comedy shows, live theatre and other special events. The theatre is also a popular rental facility. All of this activity has given new life to the theatre and attracted thousands of new patrons from Bucks County and beyond.