John Fenyvessy - Family Theater Papers

John Herman Wehle Fenyvessy was born to Albert A. and Hermine Fenyvessy in Manhattan on December 16, 1886. The Fenyvessys were Hungarian immigrants; Albert had been a furniture salesman in his native land before taking odd jobs upon immigrating to America. He entered the world of theater management in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1890. Over the years, he built an theatrical empire, operating 15 theaters in Rochester and several more in five other cities in New York State. John, along with his brothers, all entered into the family business. He came to Rochester following his father’s acquisition of the Cook Opera House, which, renamed the Family Theatre, John managed from 1913 to 1923. In 1924, he purchased a theater of his own in Tonawanda and left Rochester to manage it for a few years, returning to manage the Family Theatre from 1929 to 1936. With the decline in live theatre during the Great Depression, the family began to divest itself of its theater holdings and focus on real estate. John worked as a salesman for realty firm Morgan Housel prior to his retirement. He married Bessie R. Weber in 1917, with who he had a son, Stanley. John Fenyvessy passed away in Delray Beach, Florida on December 26, 1972.

The history of the Family Theatre building long predated the involvement of John Fenyvessy. A theater building had operated on the site, now 25 South Avenue (under the Riverside Convention Center), since 1848. The third theater building at this location opened in 1892 as Cook's Opera House. The building operated under that name until the end of May 1910. After several short-lived attempts at reopening under various names and management, Albert A. Fenyvessy, of Buffalo, with his partners Emanuel Wolff and Rudolph Wagner, reopened the house as the Family Theatre on October 28, 1912. To add legitimacy to the operation, C. B. Keith, a noted theater producer in new York Citym was given a share in the operation and the theatre was formally known as "C. B. Keith's Family Theatre." Keith's name was removed from advertising after just a few years, but remained on the theater's large electric sign until it was removed in 1932.

Clarence O. Davis was the Family Theatre's first manager, until the summer of 1913. At that time, he was replaced by John Fenyvessy, who stayed in the role until 1923, and then returned as manager from 1929 to the fall of 1936. Regardless of the identity of the manager, the Family Theatre operated as a vaudeville house, showing five-act bills of silent movies intermingled with vaudeville sketches. The ocassional lecturer also used the house, and there were amateur shows during some periods. Musical comedy shows became the focus starting in 1920. The Family Theatre was very successful during John Fenyvessy's first run as manager. However, an aging building, increased competition, and, ultimately, the coming of movies with sound (for which the building outfitted long after its competitors) all wore away at its success in the 1920s. John Fenyvessy's return as manager in 1929 was modestly successful, but the building's lease to the Fenyvessy family ran out on August 31, 1936, and a new lease was signed Emil M. Loew of Boston. Loew extensively remodeled the building before reopening it as the Embassy Theatre on January 10, 1937. As the Embassy, success was mixed, with the theater now focused on burlesque shows. In 1940, the Embassy lost its operating license for allowing "indecent" performances. The Embassy managed to carry on through the 1940s and into the 1950s, showing movies and hosting the ocassional traveling show, but never reached its former heights again. The final shows at the Embassy appear to have been in 1950. though the Theatre's corporate existence continued on for several more years.