Jersey City’s Majestic Theatre

Since it first opened in the early 1900s, Jersey City's Majestic Theatre has played a significant role in the history of the neighborhood.

275 Grove Street, Jersey City, New Jersey

The Majestic Theatre: A Jersey City Landmark

In addition to providing residents and visitors with access to culture and live entertainment during its heyday in the early 1900s, Jersey City's Majestic Theatre also played a significant role in the neighborhood's revitalization when it reopened in the 1980s.

"The New Majestic will open on September 16… the audience will be treated to a playhouse of such comfort and elegance as few similar buildings in any city in the county can boast of… Jersey City will have every reason to feel proud of the latest addition to her palaces of amusement.”

The Majestic Theatre, a historic theater and landmark, was monumental for the Jersey City community when it first opened. The building's entrance was made of white brick and limestone with arched windows and garlanded friezes. The auditorium for the theater fronts on Montgomery Street; it was handsomely executed in red brick with a few round arched openings.

The Majestic Theatre’s Design

The theater, which was built in 1907, was designed by William H. McElfatrick. McElfatrick was also credited with designing some of the most elegant theaters in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and the Mid-West. The three-story Majestic Theatre was a marvel of Beaux Art neo-classical design, with an electric marquee of art metal and glass roofing that dominated the exterior. The interior included a grand eight-foot-wide staircase, neoclassical painted murals on canvas, a domed ceiling with allegorical Greek goddesses, pillars of faux marble, and crystal chandeliers.

With 2300 seats, the Majestic Theatre was skillfully planned so that each audience member felt close to the stage and connected to the performance in a meaningful way, never quite feeling the real weight of the theater’s vastness while seated. Once one of the largest stages in the Metropolitan District at 80 feet wide and 40 feet deep, its magnificent acoustic design and height allowed for a very personal experience regardless of how far you were from the stage.

The Majestic Theatre’s Role in Black History

On July 14, 1916, the Majestic Theatre hosted a film entitled The Colored American Winning His Suit (1916) for an interracial audience of over 800 people. The film related the story of a young African-American attorney’s experience. It was produced by the Frederick Douglass Film Company, which was started by Dr. George E. Cannon of Jersey City with the Rev. Dr. W.S. Smith of the Monumental Baptist Church on Lafayette Street, along with Cannon's other associates from the Lafayette section of Jersey City. The film company, named for the prominent African-American freedman, hoped to counteract the negativity towards black people and combat the stereotypical image of black entertainers in comedic roles with their work. The film was hailed by the New York Times and continued on with showings in NYC and more. The Frederick Douglass Film Company made only three more films, including The Birth of a Nation (1915) and The Heroic Negro Soldier of the World War (1919).

The Many Lives of the Majestic Theatre

Built on a site that was once a boat yard and later a coal storage facility, the Majestic Theatre lived many lives. Similarly to the city it was built in, the Majestic Theatre went through cycles of inventing and reinventing itself.

Originally owned by Frank E. Henderson, the Majestic spent the first 10 years of its existence hosting shows presented by the best traveling show companies of the early 19th century. After Frank E. Henderson sold the Majestic Theatre in 1925, it served as a vaudeville house, displaying live acts that lasted five to ten minutes, and eventually became the home of burlesque shows. Performers included The Marx Brothers, Mae West, Al Jolson, W.C. Fields, George Burns, Groucho Marx, Fanny Brice, and George M. Cohan.

In 1927, Mae West, a controversial actress at the time, performed her play “Sex” at the Majestic, which she wrote, produced, and directed herself. Mae West’s reputation of making comedy out of conventional mores was her way of bucking what she felt was an antiquated system of feminist repression, which the Depression-era audience admired her for. The city’s mayor at the time, Frank Hague, did not approve of the “immoral show.” With the theater located across the street from Jersey City’s City Hall, he was embarrassed by West’s display so close to the city’s government offices. Mayor Hague shut the production down and had the police arrest West on stage during a show, citing “lewdness and corrupting the youth” as her offenses. She ended up in jail serving for a mere 10 days.

Read More on Jersey City’s Theaters ": The Loew’s Theatre

The Majestic Theatre’s Closing

With the advancement of movie technology, the Majestic Theatre closed as a theater in 1936, following a decrease in demand for plays from the community. Audiences were enamored by movies coming from across the world, exposing them to the world stage of the arts for the first time.

The Majestic Theatre later reopened in the 1950s as a movie theater for a short period of time before eventually turning into a factory and warehouse for a popcorn manufacturer between 1965 and 1973. In 1975, the theater was given to the Assembly of Christian Churches to house the Second Bethesda Christian Church but was foreclosed four years later.

The Majestic Theatre’s Massive Renovation

Originally interested in the nearby house that was part of the property’s package, Albert M. Stinchcomb purchased the lot of land that housed the home and the theater in the 1980s. When he first set foot in the Majestic, the building was in ruins, with piles of rubble over six feet high and holes in the ceiling that allowed light to shine through.

Only gradually did he discover the building’s hidden elegant ornamentation, as well as some old posters and playbills tucked away in corners. Thus, he came to recognize the building's potential.

“''This was one of the finest theaters of its day,” said Stinchcomb, who became the architectural designer and owner of the renovated Majestic Theater, adding that it is probably the only one designed by McElfatrick that has not been torn down or completely altered by succeeding generations. 

The theater’s restoration plan consisted of the implementation of a 77-foot-wide proscenium stage, a dressing room that can house 200, 2 balconies, 12 opera boxes, a grand staircase, neo-classical painted murals, pillars of delicate faux marble, and chandeliers. Stinchcomb said it took 18 months and $140,000 to demolish unneeded interior portions and cart away the debris for the renovations to occur.

While renovations were taking place, the Circus Arts Center signed a lease to use parts of the Majestic as a training school for its performers. The 80-foot space above the stage provided the ideal height for trapeze and high wire acts. With the approval of Jersey City’s Planning Board, the circus school planned to use the Majestic for about five years.

A Building in Disarray

However, as the renovation project was in the planning stages, the roof of the theater collapsed, forcing the demolition of part of the building in 1995. The only part left standing was the lobby, which remained boarded off for years. Haunted by relics of years gone, a large "ghost ad" painted on the Montgomery Street side of the Majestic serves as a reminder of the negligence of a Jersey City treasure.

Today, the landmark six-story building still boasts some of the theater’s original features: arched windows, plaster ornamentation, a gabled marquee, mosaic tile, and a decorative double-door entrance surrounded by the original iron gates.