Early Performers

In the early 1900’s, the Sorg hosted nationally known vaudeville acts including Will Rogers, Al Jolson, Sophie Tucker and Bob Hope. It was also used for civic programs and graduations. For some time, the performances were arranged by S. Jennie Sorg, wife of Paul J. Sorg. As traveling troupes of performers would pass through Middletown on the theater circuit, they would take up temporary residence in the basement dressing rooms, which are accessed by backstage stairs on both sides. Though long unused, the SORG group has recently been cleaning out this basement area in preparation for building new dressing rooms directly beneath the stage.

Another Sorg performer who is still well known was John Phillip Sousa. His band first appeared at the Sorg in January of 1898, after marching down Main Street to the Sorg Opera House for the performance. They returned in October of 1919, and concluded the sold-out performance with Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever”. 

During the early decades of the century, traveling movie shows were part of the regular rotation of entertainments offered at the Sorg. But by 1929 a sound system had been installed, and with the advent of talkies, it was now a full-fledged movie theater.

You can see an oval frame above the stage, at the center of the proscenium. Today it contains the Sorg logo, but originally it surrounded a portrait of Paul J. Sorg. That portrait was lost in a fire on January 17, 1935 that caused $10,000 in damage, a huge sum in the thirties, and closed the theater until September of that year.