This is your chance to be a star! Below is an ever-growing collage of photographs and memories, all submitted by fans and patrons of the Majestic Theater. If you’d like to contribute to this project, please email your submission to memoriesatmajestic@gmail.com!
“As a first year student coming to Gettysburg College during Covid, we missed out on one of the events that everyone says connects the college to the community: the first year walk. Despite this, driving through town the day I moved in, I saw that the Majestic had welcomed us with open arms with writing that said ‘Welcome Gettysburg College Class of 2024!’ It was great to still see the connection that the college has with the community!” —Nicole C. ’24
"My grandmother always told me that she and my grandfather went on their first date to the Majestic and that would have been in 1950 or so. They sat in the balcony and she was a big fan of movies back then. My grandfather took me to the movies to see Pearl Harbor, and he walks up to the ticket booth and says “Two for the movie.” I then realized the last time he was to a movie, they only played one at a time. I saw movies as a teenager there, it was the re-release of the original Star Wars trilogy. The last movie I saw at the theater before renovations was the first Pirates of the Caribbean. While I have enjoyed movies there since then, I enjoy the feel and aesthetic that it provides. I saw White Christmas years ago and it is my favorite holiday movie, it was amazing to see it on the big screen. I have also seen The Quiet Man and The Wizard Of Oz and those on the big screen are amazing to see, there is something about enjoying a movie on the big screen even if you have seen it dozens of times." —Melissa M.
“June 9th, 2018 – I took these pictures before I went to see RBG. I sat in a full theater with a row of Adams County retired judges behind me. There wasn’t one person, male or female, that didn’t shed a tear at least once. When the film ended, everyone clapped. The Majestic is the type of theater where you clap, and that’s why I love it.” —Aleah L.
"My very first Majestic movie memory was when I was about four years old; a matinee feature my mother took me to see. Pinocchio, a 1940 film (re-released), and I was used to a little black and white TV. I remember being terrified by the whale’s mouth opening up, that bright red – I guess Monstro was his name – apparently I had to be taken out of the theater. I was screaming and shrieking! That was my first experience with the movies, that is the first memory that I have, the big red mouth of Monstro the whale. For the Majestic, it’s Gettysburg, it’s a small town; one of the perennial favorites was Gone With the Wind. You cannot imagine, that was always a big hit whenever that was re-released to go into circulation, everybody would go to see Gone With the Wind. The one line when Clark Gable (as Rhett Butler) says, “A little place called Gettysburg?” – when that dialogue came on, the entire audience cheered just to hear their name coming out of a movie. A similar thing happens in All About Eve when one of the characters mentions, “They’re gonna fire on Gettysburg all over again,”; any time the name "Gettysburg" came up at the Majestic, the audience would immediately cheer." —James R.
“I have so many great memories at the Majestic Theater, specifically with my Dad. I’m not quite sure when the tradition started but me and my Dad would visit Gettysburg every year.
In 2013 was the first time we went to Majestic Theater to attend ROS Fest. It was a progressive rock music festival. We couldn’t believe the lineup that they had in the middle of Gettysburg. The first year in 2013 I got to see my favorite band of all time, Pain of Salvation, a Swedish progressive metal band. I remember I had dreams of seeing this band but I never thought it would come true and I never thought it would come true in Gettysburg.
We came back the next four following years to ROS Fest and it became a tradition that me and my Dad shared. We always look forward to seeing the new band list and couldn’t believe of all these foreign bands coming to Little ol’ Gettysburg. I was able to see and meet almost all of my favorite bands here, Pain of Salvation, Beardfish, Riverside, Haken, Thank you Scientist, and more!
Recently I’ve seen a improv comedy show at the Majestic Theater and some amazing films that I wouldn’t have been able to see in a major theater like Parasite, JoJo Rabbit, and The Light House.
I love the Majestic Theater and I’m so glad it’s reopened and I can’t wait to see The Goonies in theaters in a couple weeks.” —Jamie L.
"I began working for the Majestic Theater in the summer of 1977 after applying for a job as a part-time projectionist. After about a month, the regular projectionist left the job and suddenly I was a full time projectionist. I spent the next year usually working anywhere from 5 to 7 days a week showing some memorable movies like Star Wars and Rocky, and some that weren’t so memorable. I learned that the projection technology at the Majestic Theater hadn’t changed much in over thirty years. When I began in 1977, films were shipped in metal containers to the Grayhound bus station that was on Railroad street. I would come to the theater on the afternoon the film arrived and check it over one real at a time, looking for any tears in the film. I’d repair any problem areas by making glue splices in time for the 7pm show. During the time I worked at the Majestic some of this technology gradually improved. Twenty minute film reels were replaced by sixty minute reels. Instead of having to switch projectors about three times an hour, a typical movie would often only require one changeover, or two for longer movies. Eventually, the arc carbon lamphouse was replaced with a more modern lamphouse that used a xenon light bulb that produced brighter light and required less attention. Other things never changed. Tickets were still sold at the original box office on Carlisle Street the marquee still had to be changed by hand every week. In winter time, it got pretty chilly standing on a tall step ladder on Carlisle street and placing each plastic letter on the marquee. My whole ‘career’ probably amounted to less than two total years, but I enjoyed my time there and valued having the opportunity to work with the old technology before everything changed. Now, of course, there aren’t many theaters where the movies shown are actual film. Theaters needed to modernize to accommodate movies being delivered digitally. I imagine the new technology is a big improvement, but I’m glad I had a chance to work with the old technology." —Scott W.
"I started at Gettysburg in 1996. The Majestic was open as a theater when I was there, but not for all four years. (I do remember seeing the re-release of Star Wars [A New Hope] at the Majestic. Also Titanic, which, naturally, I had already seen. But nobody could see it just once when it first came out.) Instead of one large theater, the way it was classically, there were three screens, I believe. The theater closed partway through my Gettysburg career, which was frustrating, because there wasn't another theater in town--that had been our only choice. If we wanted to see movies, we had to go to Hanover or Frederick or somewhere else. It was incredibly frustrating. The summer after I graduated, in 2000, I worked for Suzanne Flynn and did some research into the history of the Majestic. I went through old newspapers in the basement of Musselman Library and printed off anything about the Majestic, from its opening on. I'm not sure what was done with that research, but as a history major, it was interesting!" —Barbara D. '00
