For four decades the CIRCLE THEATER was a fixture at DOAN'S CORNERS. It was one of five proximate entertainment venues in the area, along with Loew’s Park Theatre, Keith’s 105th Street Theatre, the University Theatre, and the Alhambra. Built in 1920 to present vaudeville shows, the Circle originally was known as the Hoffman, named after Clara A. and Graham Hoffman who developed the property at 10208 Euclid Ave. In 1927 the 1975-seat venue became the Circle when Loew's Ohio Theaters, Inc., assumed operation and installed the equipment needed to present talking motion pictures.
After a short dark period the Circle was reopened in 1935 by Max Marmorstein, a real estate developer and reputed racketeer, who presented both stage and screen shows. The next year, the movie The Red Salute attracted pickets from Western Reserve University (see CASE WESTERN RESERVE) and other nearby schools, which claimed that the film misrepresented the radical youth movement. Following WORLD WAR II the theater came under the management of Emanuel (Mannie) Stutz, who varied its film fare in the mid-1950s with live country and black-oriented music shows. Hosted by disc jockey Tommy Edwards, the series debuted singer Dottie West and provided Elvis Presley with his first 2 Cleveland appearances.
The Circle closed ca. 1959, and was demolished not long after. A decade after the theater’s demise the name briefly resurfaced on the marquee of an adult movie house a few blocks down the street.
Updated by Christopher Roy 9 September 2024
