Angelo Pecchia immigrated to New York City from Italy in 1910. He made his way west to Washington State where he purchased a confectionery store in Orting. Pecchia’s tenant offered him his theater to settle a debt and suddenly Mr. Pecchia was in the movie business! Imagine the learning curve with no experience ever running a theater. What Pecchia lacked in experience, he must have made up for in grit because by 1922, he had opened a theater in Kapowsin and acquired the original Eatonville Theatre (tour stop No. 3). A few years later, Pecchia added a theater in Morton, then another in Randle and Tacoma. He ushered the transition from silent films to “talkies” in 1930.

In 1942, he and his wife Regina built the Roxy Theatre building you see before you, which they continued to operate until the late 1970s.

The Roxy has graciously hosted many community fundraisers over the years. In 2012 it was their
turn to benefit, with help from a community-wide fundraising effort to modernize the theater with new digital technology, ensuring Eatonville moviegoers can enjoy current blockbusters.