#PALACE THEATERS CLEARVIEW SERIES#
Theatres went through its own growth cycle, with a series of names changes and mergers over the years, evolving into RKO-Stanley Warner Theaters, Inc. Scores of area natives still fondly remember spending Saturdays at the Manos, watching cartoons and movies for hours.
The increasing popularity of motion pictures soon replaced vaudeville, and the industry experienced tremendous growth throughout the next decades. During that era, the major film production companies owned hundreds of theatres to ensure that their films were seen throughout the country. of New York assumed ownership of the Theatre from Manos Enterprises. “Talking pictures” became the rage and in 1930 Warner Bros. release of the world’s first synchronized-sound feature film, “The Jazz Singer” starring Al Jolson. In 1927 the film industry exploded with the Warner Bros. Lines at the Box Office on show days would often extend up the block to Main Street. The Manos was a spectacular place to visit, and quite the place to be for superb entertainment.
#PALACE THEATERS CLEARVIEW MOVIE#
Below the Manos Theatre was a bowling alley, billiard parlor, and a production facility which turned out newsreels of current events to play on the theatre’s movie screen before the show. Its French Renaissance design boasted a golden Grecian marble balustrade and trim, elegant Vermont marble staircase, brass railings, colorful murals, black and white checkerboard tile floors, wrought copper and iron hanging baskets for flowers, and a flowing fountain with live goldfish. Only venues in larger cities could match the elegance of the Manos Theatre. A dome of red, blue, and green lights high in the theatre’s ceiling would blink and flash to the music, similar to effects seen in today’s roller rinks.
Originally seating 2136, the Manos Theatre provided the community with daily doses of vaudeville, silent motion pictures and road shows, accompanied by a magnificent Wurlitzer organ. The biggest and most elegant of all was the Manos Theatre, constructed on the site of the smaller Rialto Theatre. Greensburg in the 1920s – as today – was Westmoreland County’s center of business and cultural activity and supported many theatres throughout the early 1900s.
Westmoreland Cultural Trust is proud to say that it still is! From concerts and comedy, to theatre, dance, family entertainment, and more, The Palace entertains more than 85,000 patrons at 100+ events each year. Built at the then-extravagant sum of $750,000, the Manos was considered the area’s finest theatre. The Palace Theatre opened on September 2, 1926, as the Manos Theatre, the crown jewel in a string of the Manos family’s vaudeville-movie houses in the region.
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