THE MAJESTIC STORY

In 1929, E.E. Gailey, who was operating the successful Crystal Theatre in Wayne, decided to expand his business with another theatre. Mr. Gailey named it after himself: The Gay Theatre. By 1942, the Crystal had been renamed to the CoEd, and it and The Gay were owned by the March Brothers. In 1992, he built a wall in the middle of The Gay, giving it two screens, and he renamed it The March Twin. It remained a two-screen theatre until it closed its doors for the first time in 79 years. Once The March Twin closed, something missing from downtown. We were missing a place to hang out, a place to go on a date, a place for kids to see their first movie… What we were missing was a place to take part in a great American experience. When the theatre closed, a group of determined people got together and decided that Wayne deserved to have a movie theater. That group, with help from the Wayne Area Economic Development Institute, set about raising the money to buy the building and revitalize and reopen the theater. Surely there was a way to reopen this theatre? And surely there was a way to bring in the Wayne Community Theatre Group, who needed a stage when the theatre happened to have a spare one? Soon they had momentum and the project was off.

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