Formerly: Capitol Theatre · Capitol Show Palace
Port Chester, New York · Founded 1926 · Building: 1926
Thomas W. Lamb's 1926 Port Chester movie palace became a legendary rock hall and reopened under Peter Shapiro in 2012.
The Capitol Theatre opened in Port Chester on August 18, 1926, designed by theater architect Thomas W. Lamb as a 2,000-seat movie and vaudeville palace. Under promoter Howard Stein, it became a defining early-1970s rock venue for Janis Joplin, Pink Floyd, Traffic, the Grateful Dead, and other major acts. After later closures and changing uses, Peter Shapiro restored the theater and reopened it with Bob Dylan on September 4, 2012.
The Capitol Theatre opens in Port Chester as a 2,000-seat movie and vaudeville house designed by Thomas W. Lamb. The sold-out opening program includes a ten-piece orchestra playing The Star-Spangled Banner and the silent film The Sea Wolf.
Source: The Capitol Theatre, History; Westchester Magazine, 100 Years of The Capitol Theatre, August 18, 2026
Westfair's historical account reports that the Skouras theater chain closes the original movie-theater operation.
Source: Westfair Online, The Capitol Theatre honored by Port Chester
Under promoter Howard Stein, the Capitol enters its major rock-concert era, hosting artists including Janis Joplin, Pink Floyd, Traffic, and the Grateful Dead.
Source: The Capitol Theatre, History; The New York Daily News, Forty years later, the Capitol Theater returns, August 30, 2012; Westchester Magazine, 100 Years of The Capitol Theatre
Dead.net lists four Grateful Dead Capitol Theater performances across March 19 and March 20, 1970: two separately listed performances on 03/19/1970 and two on 03/20/1970.
Source: Dead.net, Grateful Dead official concert-history listings for Capitol Theater, Port Chester, 1970; user-supplied Dead.net screenshots
Dead.net lists two Grateful Dead Capitol Theater performances on June 23, 1970.
Source: Dead.net, Grateful Dead official concert-history listings for Capitol Theater, Port Chester, 1970; user-supplied Dead.net screenshot
Dead.net lists Grateful Dead performances at The Capitol Theatre on four consecutive nights: November 4, November 5, November 6, and November 7, 1970.
Source: Dead.net, Grateful Dead official concert-history listings for Capitol Theater, Port Chester, 1970; user-supplied Dead.net screenshot
Janis Joplin performs at the Capitol and debuts Mercedes Benz after developing the song earlier that day at nearby Vahsen's bar with Bob Neuwirth and others.
Source: The Capitol Theatre, The Story of Janis Joplin's Show at The Cap on Today's Date in 1970; Westchester Magazine, Janis Joplin's Mercedes Benz Has Roots in Westchester; Setlist.fm, Janis Joplin at Capitol Theatre, August 8, 1970
Dead.net lists six Grateful Dead Capitol Theater performances in February 1971: February 17, February 18, February 19, February 20, February 22, and February 23.
Source: Dead.net, Grateful Dead official concert-history listings for Capitol Theater, Port Chester, February 1971; user-supplied Dead.net screenshot
The building is restored for another period of theatrical use, including touring plays and musicals; sources differ on the exact subsequent ownership and reopening chronology.
Source: The New York Daily News, Forty years later, the Capitol Theater returns, August 30, 2012; Pollstar, Peter Shapiro Never Stops, August 22, 2022
Peter Shapiro reopens the restored Capitol Theatre as a live-music venue with a Bob Dylan performance.
Source: Pollstar, Peter Shapiro Never Stops, August 22, 2022; The Capitol Theatre, History; Westchester Magazine, 100 Years of The Capitol Theatre, August 18, 2026
The Capitol Theatre continues to present ticketed live events and maintains a box office at 149 Westchester Avenue in Port Chester.
Source: The Capitol Theatre official website; The Capitol Theatre, Contact Us
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
Dead.net, the Grateful Dead's official website, lists 16 Capitol Theater performances across 13 dates. The 1970 record contains two listed shows on 03/19/1970, two on 03/20/1970, two on 06/23/1970, plus individual shows on 11/04/1970, 11/05/1970, 11/06/1970, and 11/07/1970. The 1971 record lists shows on 02/17/1971, 02/18/1971, 02/19/1971, 02/20/1971, 02/22/1971, and 02/23/1971. The correct total is 16 performances spread across 1970 and 1971, not 18 performances concentrated in February and March 1971.
The Capitol's own history and Westchester Magazine place Joplin at Vahsen's on Broad Street between her two August 8 Capitol shows, where she worked on the song with Bob Neuwirth and others. Her Capitol set from that night includes Mercedes Benz, and the venue identifies it as the song's first public performance.
Pollstar, the official Capitol history, and recent Westchester reporting agree that Peter Shapiro led the renovation and reopened the venue with Bob Dylan on September 4, 2012. Pollstar also reports that Shapiro ultimately purchased the theater.
The official Capitol history and regional reporting identify Thomas W. Lamb as the architect and document the theater's August 18, 1926 opening as a 2,000-seat movie-and-vaudeville house.
The Capitol Theatre opened in 1926 with the film Sea Horses.
The official Capitol history and Westchester Magazine identify the opening film as the silent feature The Sea Wolf, following a ten-piece orchestra's performance of The Star-Spangled Banner.
Source: The Capitol Theatre, History; Westchester Magazine, 100 Years of The Capitol Theatre, August 18, 2026
The Grateful Dead played 18 Capitol Theatre shows in February and March 1971.
Dead.net, the Grateful Dead's official website, lists 16 Capitol Theater performances across 1970 and 1971, not 18 shows concentrated in February and March 1971. The 1970 listings include two performances each on 03/19/1970, 03/20/1970, and 06/23/1970, plus single performances on 11/04/1970, 11/05/1970, 11/06/1970, and 11/07/1970. The 1971 listings are 02/17/1971, 02/18/1971, 02/19/1971, 02/20/1971, 02/22/1971, and 02/23/1971.
Source: Dead.net, Grateful Dead official concert-history listings for Capitol Theater, Port Chester, 1970–1971; user-supplied Dead.net screenshots
The Capitol Theatre has operated continuously as a concert venue since its 1926 opening.
The 1926 building has survived, but its entertainment use has not been continuous. The original theater closed, Howard Stein's rock era ended amid local restrictions and other pressures, the building went through later theatrical and inactive periods, and Peter Shapiro reopened the restored concert venue in 2012.
Source: The Capitol Theatre, History; The New York Daily News, Forty years later, the Capitol Theater returns, August 30, 2012; Pollstar, Peter Shapiro Never Stops, August 22, 2022
The Capitol survived because each generation found a new use for a theater building too elaborate to treat as disposable. It began as a grand movie-and-vaudeville house, became an experimental rock palace in the Howard Stein era, and returned after Peter Shapiro's restoration as a purpose-built touring music venue. Its survival is not a story of uninterrupted operation; it is a story of a landmark building repeatedly reclaimed for live entertainment.
The Capitol Theatre opened in Port Chester, New York, on August 18, 1926, as a Thomas W. Lamb-designed movie and vaudeville palace. It became a major Howard Stein-era rock venue around 1970, hosting performers including Janis Joplin, Pink Floyd, Traffic, and the Grateful Dead. After closures and later theatrical use, Peter Shapiro restored and reopened it as a concert venue with Bob Dylan on September 4, 2012.
No. The Capitol Theatre opened in 1926, so it is not New York State's oldest theater. Its importance comes from the survival and reuse of a 1920s movie palace and its later status as a major rock-and-roll venue, not from an oldest-theater claim.
Dead.net lists 16 Grateful Dead performances at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester between 1970 and 1971. Ten were listed in 1970: two on 03/19, two on 03/20, two on 06/23, and one each on 11/04, 11/05, 11/06, and 11/07. Six more were listed in 1971 on 02/17, 02/18, 02/19, 02/20, 02/22, and 02/23. The correct total is 16 performances across 13 dates, not 18 shows packed into February and March 1971.
Yes. Janis Joplin performed Mercedes Benz at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester on August 8, 1970, in what the venue and Westchester Magazine describe as its first public performance. Their accounts say Joplin developed the song earlier that day at nearby Vahsen's bar with songwriter Bob Neuwirth and companions between her two Capitol shows.
149 Westchester Ave, Port Chester, NY 10573
914-937-4126
The Capitol is directly by Port Chester station and presents ticketed events; check the official calendar, venue-entry policy, and box-office hours before traveling.