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For more than fifty years, from about 1890 to about 1930, all the major road theaters, and most of the Broadway theaters, were controlled by various theater circuit managers

There were two that pretty much controlled the industry. The first was the Theatrical Syndicate, which, at its peak, owned, rented, leased, booked or managed some 1,000 theaters. A few years later, the Shubert Brothers, Lee and Jacob J. did the same, establishing tight control over the nation’s entertainment.

But besides the big two, there were many more circuits. Some were also very large, such as Julius Cahn’s Affiliated Theatres, which included nearly 300 theaters, or John Cor’s Northwestern Theatrical Association, with 148 theaters. At the other end of the scale were the mini-circuits, such as the Jackson Amusement Co. (5 theaters). Sometimes circuits joined up. While a group of theaters is stronger together, so too a group of circuits is stronger together.

In the early 1900’s, there were some 8,000 theaters in 6,000 cities and towns. Certainly not all theaters were part of any circuit, and of course, which theaters were part of which circuit was constantly changing.
There is no known collection of information on all these circuits; no known archives or library, not even any personal collections of this information.

This website, this database, is designed to fill that academic hole. We have collected data on over two hundred theatrical circuits, and over two thousand theaters. And more are being added all the time.

This database does not include agencies that specialized in booking talent or shows only. In this database the focus is on theater buildings. The two leading circuits, the Syndicate and the Shuberts, booked shows for their theaters. However, while the Shubert produced many of the shows they represented, the Syndicate itself never produced at all. Nevertheless, some agencies are included where it helps explain things, or are of a particular interest.

This database concentrates on American theaters and circuits, some of which included Canadian theaters. Some British theaters and circuits are included, but no effort was made to be exhaustive. Continental and other foreign theaters and circuits are only included where there seems to ber some connection to American theaters and circuits.
We include theaters regardless of what they put on their stages. Movie theaters are generally not included, except that, as you will see, many live theaters moved from live to film in the 1900’s.

This is not a collection of every theater in America. If that were the case, then the place to start would have been the Julius Cahn series of books. Cahn generally did not identify what s\circuit, if any, a theater was associated with. On the other hand, the paid advertisements in his books have been an important source of information.
This is an ongoing project. New material — theaters, circuits, and textual material — is being add and updated all the time. So keep checking in.

If you have any information that would contribute to this topic, we welcome it. Please go to our Contact page and let us know.
If there is, or was, an old theater in your town, you can look here to determine if it was ever affiliated with a circuit. If you are seeking information about a circuit you know of, you can explore it here, and learn what theaters were affiliated with it.

Start your search here: