Many of the patrons were pleased with the theater's new look.
"They've worked magic here," said William Foust of Flourtown. "It looks beautiful."
Although Friday night was a concert performance, owners of the Keswick hope to use the theater for many purposes - including conventions, group presentations and movies.
The Keswick isn't the only theater in eastern Montgomery County undergoing a face lift.
The dilapidated Hiway theater on Old York Road in Jenkintown is in the midst of a $160,000 project that will include the renovation of the lobby and seats. The number of screens may go from one to two. The 74-year-old theater is scheduled to reopen early this summer.
Managers of the Plymouth Meeting Mall are considering a plan to build an eight-screen movie theater that would replace the two-screen cinema. They hope to present a plan to the Plymouth Township Council in May for the new theater complex.
At Cheltenham Square, the former Cheltenham Twin Theater and the PSFS bank have fallen victim to the wrecking ball to make way for a seven-screen theater. Construction is under way, and the theater is scheduled to be completed by Christmas.
The theater at the Cheltenham mall will give United Artists Theater Circuit Inc. a foothold in the Philadelphia movie market. United Artists, other national chains and a few independents are competing for customers who still enjoy a night of popcorn, soda and the silver screen.
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Although the Jenkintown and Cheltenham theaters will have their day in the spotlight later this year, Friday was the chance for a near-capacity crowd of 1,189 patrons to celebrate the revival of the Keswick - a Tudor-style theater with a marble grand staircase, beveled glass, brass posts, chandeliers and gold-leaf ornamental plastering that first opened in December 1928.
