View from the balcony of the Victory Theatre.
Due to popular demand Matthew Christopher of Abandoned America and I have added another day to our photo workshop at the Victory Theatre in Holyoke, MA. The new workshop will be on Saturday September 27th from 9AM – 1PM.
Tickets are available at the following link:
http://www.abandonedamerica.us/after-the-final-curtain1abandoned-america1
With your help we’ve raised over $1,700 for the Victory Theater’s preservation and maintenance!
View of the auditorium from the side of the balcony.
The Franklin Park Theatre opened on December 8, 1914 in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by Funk and Wilcox, who also designed the nearby Strand Theatre. The theater was originally operated by Jacob Lourie, who was a movie pioneer in Massachusetts and the original president of New England Theatres Operating Company (NETOC). NETOC was affiliated with Paramount Pictures, and many of the “famous players” performed at the Franklin Park. It cost $250,000 to build the theater, or $6 million when adjusted for inflation.
Most of the white paint in the auditorium has turned grey due to the fire damage.
The opening day acts consisted of “Behind the Scenes” (a silent film starring Mary Pickford), two vaudeville acts, an organ recital and musical selections by the Franklin Park Theatre Orchestra. 18 police officers were needed to control the crowds on opening night. Around 3,000 people arrived to attend, but the theater could only seat 2,000.
The seats on the main level were replaced with pews when the theater was converted into a church.
The theater closed for the first time in the late 1920s. It was reopened in October 1929 as a Yiddish theater, and was promoted as “the only permanent Yiddish theater in New England.” The slogan was most likely true due to the sponsoring of productions by the Yiddish Playwright League Inc., a group that many Yiddish playwrights of the era belonged to. M&P Theaters took over the Franklin Park in 1936, and after some alterations the theater reopened as a motion picture house on September 6, 1936. One such alteration was the installation of then modern seats, which reduced the total number of seats to around 1,500.
This tiffany lighting fixture is original to the theater.
In 1950s the theater switched formats and began showing theatrical productions as well as musical acts. This lasted until 1963, when the space became the home of the New Baptist Fellowship Church. Live acts later returned to the theater when in the late 1960s Elma Lewis, who founded the National Center for Afro-American Artists, booked operas there.
While the Franklin Park Theater was open, it was robbed several times by such local, notorious groups as “The Box Office Boys,” “The Polite Bandits,” and my favorite, “The Toothbrush Twins.” One of the thieves, Edgar W. Cook, was eventually sentenced to 19 years in Alcatraz Prison for his crimes.
On February 21, 2009 a fire caused $250,000 of damage to the theater. Boston fire investigators ruled that arson was the cause, based on the fact that the fire appeared to have started in multiple locations, including the stage, and that a back door was left open. Luckily, the church was insured, and they plan to rebuild the theater. To this end they have held a number of fundraising events, and until the restoration is complete the church services are being held in an adjacent building.
The box seats were removed in the early 1960s.
View of the auditorium from the stage.
Paramount Theatre Youngstown, OH
16″x24″ – SOLD OUT
Some of my photography was featured in an online gallery show a few years ago, and I have a few prints left over. I’d like to find them a good home so each print here is 50% off from now until the end of October. I don’t have that many left so don’t wait!
The prints are available in the following sizes, and each image has the number of prints available in their respective captions:
12″x18″ – $75.00 $37.50
16″x24″ – $100.00 $50.00
Please e-mail me if interested. Payment accepted via Paypal or Credit Card. Prints are shipped via FedEx.
Loew’s Kings Theatre
12″x18″ – 2
Projection Room Proctor’s Palace Theatre Newark, NJ
12″x18″ – 1
16″x24″ – 2
Balcony, Proctor’s Palace Theatre, Newark, New Jersey
12″x18″ – 3
Proctor’s Troy Theatre Troy, NY
12″x18″ – 1
Ropes behind the stage at Proctor’s Palace Roof Theatre
12″x18″ – 2
16″x24 – 1
Box Seats, Paramount Theatre, Newark, New Jersey
12″x18″ – 1
16″x24″ – 2
Stage, Proctor’s Palace Roof Theatre, Newark, NJ
12″x18″ – 4
16″x24″ – 2
Ceiling, Center Theatre, Woodbourne, New York
12″x18″ – 2
Auditorium during demolition, Montauk Theatre, Passaic, New Jersey
12″x18″ – 3
16″x24″ – 3
View of the auditorium from the main level.
The Adams Theatre in Newark, New Jersey originally opened on January 12, 1912 as the Shubert Theatre. It was designed in the Beaux-Arts style by architect William E. Lehman, who also designed the Proctor’s Palace Theatre in Yonkers, NY. The 2,037 seat theater was originally used for theatrical productions, Broadway tryouts and revivals.
Jerry Lewis was an usher at the Adams Theatre before he became a movie star.
In August 1939 the theater was purchased by A.A Adams. He changed the name to the Adams Theatre, after the name he had taken upon immigrating to the United States from Greece. The first stage show after the rename was “Susan and God” starring Jessie Royce Landis on September 4, 1939. Adams began booking big bands to support the theater in addition to the stage shows and films. Some very famous acts played at the theater during this time including; Eddie Cantor, Duke Ellington, Sammy Davis, Jr, the Marx Brothers, Tommy Dorsey, Laurel and Hardy, The Andrew Sisters, Ella Fitzgerald and Cab Calloway. In late August 1949, the Adams switched to booking vaudeville acts before each film. A week later the nearby RKO Proctor’s Theatre announced they would do the same.
The lobby of the Adams has been used for storage since the theater closed in 1986.
Harold Minsky of Minsky’s Burlesque took over operating the theater in September 1952. Minsky applied for a permit to have burlesque shows and was denied. After an appeal he was allowed to have burlesque performances at the theater. On December 21, 1955 the city of Newark passed an ordinance that made burlesque illegal. The ordinance stated that shows in which an actor disrobed or gave the “illusion of nudeness” was not allowed. It also outlawed profane, indecent or lewd language. It was immediately challenged in court by the Adams Theatre Company and I. Hurst Enterprises. I. Hurst Enterprises operated the nearby Empire Theatre, another burlesque venue. The legal battle eventually reached the United States Supreme Court who declined to hear the case, and the ban on burlesque went into effect. However, Minsky did not wait for the verdict to come in and stopped showing burlesque at the theater on February 7, 1957.
During World War II some shows required the purchase of a war bond to enter
Eventually the theater began showing grindhouse and b-movies. It closed on March 31, 1986 due to a 400% increase in the insurance rates which also caused the nearby Paramount Theatre to close. It was sold in 1990 to the Freeman Group, a Manhattan based investment firm, who planned to restore and reopen the theater. However, that did not come to pass and the building was sold again. A number of retail stores have occupied the former lobby space, but have since closed. The theater remains unused.
View of the auditorium from the side of the balcony.
Large pieces of the plaster ceiling have fallen on to the balcony.
One of the last projectionists at the Adams left behind a change of clothes.
The film rewinder was most likely installed during the 1957 renovation.
View of the Auditorium from the center of the balcony.
If you’d like to help with my exploring/research efforts, please consider purchasing a print, all support is very appreciated.
© Matthew Lambros and After the Final Curtain, 2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Matthew Lambros and After the Final Curtain with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Studebaker Theatre Chicago, IL
Happy Holidays! From now until December 31, 8×12, 12×18 and 16×24 prints are 50% off when you use the coupon code holiday2014 at checkout.
http://www.mlambrosphotography.com/prints
Don’t have time to get a print framed during this busy holiday season? No problem! As an added bonus I’m including eight framed prints for 50% off, too. Just use the same coupon code (holiday2014) at checkout.
http://www.mlambrosphotography.com/framedprints
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View of the auditorium from the balcony.
B&W Image from the Loew’s Collection, American Theatre Architecture Archive, Theatre Historical Society of America.
The Loew’s Canal Theatre opened in September of 1927 in New York, New York. The Loew’s Corporation contracted with Thomas W. Lamb, one of the foremost theater architects of the 20th century, to design a theater on Canal Street in Manhattan. The 2,314 seat theater was the second largest motion picture theater in the city when it opened. Even though it was a larger theater, it mostly showed “B” movies and serials. Loew’s sold the theater to the Greater M&S Circuit a little over a year after it opened, and bought it back when they went bankrupt in 1929.
Ceiling of the auditorium.
Auditorium ceiling blueprint
On the morning of September 10, 1932, an explosion rocked the front of the Loew’s Canal, throwing the ticket booth into the street and shattering windows on a number of neighboring buildings. No one was injured in the blast, but Edward Brown, the theater’s night watchman, was thrown down a flight of stairs by it. A similar explosion destroyed the entrance of the Loew’s 46th Street Theatre an hour earlier. Both bombings were thought to be connected to the Motion Picture Operators’ Union Local 306, who were on strike at the time and protesting in front of both theaters, but nothing was ever proven.
A close up of the auditorium’s chandelier.
According to an article in the New York Post, Comedian Jerry Stiller grew up going to the theater. Stiller says, “we used to go on Saturday morning at the Loew’s Canal. At nine in the morning, they’d show things like the “Fitzpatrick Traveltalk,” cartoons and serials like “Flash Gordon.” By the time you got to 10:30, they’d get to the double-header, two pictures in a row. What happened was, your mother or father would drop you off at nine, and they didn’t have to pick you up until three. That’s where we got our education.”
The lobby was decorated with ornate terracotta ornamentation.
Ceiling of the vestibule.
Blueprints of the vestibule and lobby areas.
Eddie Cantor, who also grew up in the Lower East Side, had the world premiere of his film, “Forty Little Mothers” at the Loew’s Canal in April of 1940. The theater closed in the late 1950s, and by the early 1960s the lobby was converted to retail space, while the auditorium was used as a warehouse. The last occupant of the lobby space was an appliance store and repair shop that closed in the late 2000s.
Parts of the mezzanine were blocked off and used for storage while the lobby was occupied by a retail store.
There are ornate water fountains on both sides of the mezzanine balcony entrances.
The terracotta façade of the theater was designated a New York City Landmark by the Landmarks Preservation Committee in 2010. Later that year, the Committee to Revitalize and Enrich the Arts and Tomorrow’s Economy (CREATE) teamed up with the building’s owners to conduct a feasibility study to convert the space into a performing arts center. They received a $150,000 grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., but ultimately the project never came to fruition. The building’s owners planned on converting the space into an 11-story condo complex, but the plan was rejected by the NYC Department of Buildings. Currently, the former auditorium is still used as a warehouse, while the lobby space is empty.
Lamb designed the interior of the theater in the Spanish Baroque style of architecture.
The fire escapes were closed off when the auditorium was converted into a warehouse.
The theater was only mentioned in the news for minor incidents, such as fires or movie premieres.
Lions were included in the design of many Loew’s theaters.
A close up of the theater’s proscenium arch.
Another view of the auditorium ceiling.
A look back at the projection booth.
The chandeliers still hang in the theater’s inner lobby.
A close up of one of the chandeliers.
Ornate plaster-work on the wall of the inner lobby.
The contracting firm M. Shapiro & Son began construction on the theater in the fall of 1926.
If you’d like to help with my exploring/research efforts, please consider purchasing a print, all support is very appreciated.
© Matthew Lambros and After the Final Curtain, 2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Matthew Lambros and After the Final Curtain with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
View from the balcony of the Victory Theatre.
I’m very excited to announce that I’ll once again be partnering with photographer/founder of Abandoned America, Matthew Christopher for some photo workshops in 2015!
First, we will be returning to the Victory Theatre in Holyoke, MA on March 28, 2015. The Victory Theatre opened on December 30, 1920 and closed 58 years late on December 15, 1978. It is currently owned by the Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts, who plan to renovate the theater and reopen it as a performing arts center. A portion of the proceeds raised from the workshop will go to MIFA to help with maintenance and restoration.
More information as well as how to purchase tickets can be found at: http://www.abandonedamerica.us/after-the-final-curtain1abandoned-america1
Variety Theatre Cleveland, Ohio
Then we’ll be heading eight hours west to the Variety Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio on April 11, 2015. The Variety opened on November 24, 1927 and after a number of different uses (including a wrestling gym called the Cleveland Wrestleplex) closed in the late 1980s. The building was purchased by the Friends of the Historic Variety Theatre on June 12, 2009, and they plan to restore the theater as a multi-use venue. A portion of the proceeds from the workshop will go to the Friends of the Historic Variety Theatre to help with the maintenance of the theater.
For more information and to purchase tickets: http://www.abandonedamerica.us/the-variety-theatre-an-after
As always Matthew Christopher and I will be on hand during workshops to answer any questions you may have regarding lighting, composition in these spaces. We have a combined 20 years experience photographing abandoned buildings and welcome any questions. Both locations have lights that can be turned on, but are minimally lit so we recommend that you bring your own lights if possible.
Studebaker Theatre Chicago, IL
Hi Everyone – Just wanted to let you all know that I’m taking a short hiatus from posting while I finish my book on the Loew’s Kings Theatre. Don’t worry though – the site isn’t going anywhere. I have a backlog of 16 theaters that I haven’t posted yet and plans to photograph many more. For updates during the hiatus check out the After the Final Curtain Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/Afterthefinalcurtain
Here’s a quick look at some of the upcoming theaters that will be featured on AFtC later this year:
UC Theatre Berkeley, CA
Varsity Theatre Evanston, IL
Warner Theatre Huntington Park, CA
Fox Theatre Fullerton, CA
View from the main level of the Victory Theatre.
Hi Everyone! The blog is still technically on hiatus, but I wanted to announce that I’ll be co-hosting another photo workshop at the Victory Theatre in Holyoke, MA on June 27 with Matthew Christopher of Abandoned America. We’ve raised over $1,600 so far this year for the theater’s restoration effort.
The first session will run from 9am to 1pm, and the second from 2pm to 6pm. The last two workshops we held at the theater sold out pretty quickly so get your tickets soon.
For more information and to purchase tickets: http://www.abandonedamerica.us/after-the-final-curtain1abandoned-america1.
Backstage at the Victory.
As for After the Final Curtain – look for a relaunched site some time this summer! In the meantime keep an eye on the AFtC Facebook page for updates.
Is this thing on? I’m happy to announce that the hiatus is over! I’ve reached a point with the book (more on that soon, I promise) where I can start making regular updates to the site once again. The first post goes live tomorrow and will be familiar to those of you who follow AtFC on Facebook – The Prospect Theatre in Brooklyn, NY.
B.F Keith’s Prospect Theatre opened on September 7, 1914 in the Prospect Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. The 2,381 seat theater was constructed on the site of a synagogue and three apartment buildings. It was designed by architect William McElfatrick for the Keith Vaudeville Company. The Prospect was dubbed “the woodless and postless theater” while it was being built due to the fact that no wood was used in its construction and there were no posts helping to support the balcony. Woodwork was left out of the building so that the theater would be much safer if a fire broke out. The balcony was supported by a 65 ton steel beam, which eliminated the need for support beams that could have obstructed views during performances. Opening advertisements boasted that the balcony was strong enough to support the world’s ten heaviest locomotives.
According to an article in the New York Clipper, a weekly entertainment newspaper, the Prospect originally presented shows from the Keith’s Palace Theatre in Manhattan, which was the flagship theater of the Keith’s circuit at the time. Brooklyn Borough President Lewis H. Pounds was unable to attend the opening celebration, but sent along a message that read, “By building one of the finest theaters in the United States in the heart of Brooklyn, the Keith interests have paid a tribute to the wonderful growth of the borough.” The Prospect opened with a stage show called The Bride Shop as well as performances from Sam & Kitty Norton, Nellie V. Nichols, Joe Jackson, Lyons & Yosco, The Great Asahi, Kluting’s Entertainers, Gliding O’Mearas, and Weber & Capitola. Vaudeville acts performed at the theater twice a day until May 15, 1916, when the theater switched to showing silent films in conjunction with the live acts. A Moller organ was installed in 1920, and replaced by a Wurlitzer Opus 1497 in October 1926.
In 1922 Ted Healy, a comedian from Brooklyn, was scheduled to perform at the theater but the acrobat in his act quit. As luck would have it, Moses Horwitz, an old childhood friend of Healy’s who was also a vaudeville performer, was backstage waiting to say hello to him. Healy asked Horwitz, better known today as Moe Howard, to temporarily join his act and Horwitz agreed. The show was a huge hit and soon after Moe’s brother Samuel (Shemp) joined them as Ted Healy and his Stooges. The temporary partnership ended up lasting over ten years before splitting up. In 1934 Howard, his other brother Jerome (Curly), and Larry Fine signed with Columbia Pictures as the Three Stooges.
In October 1928, The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) combined with the Keith-Albee-Orpheum (KAO) vaudeville theater circuit, and the Film Booking Offices of America (FBO) to form Radio-Keith-Orpheum also known as the RKO Corporation. A little over a year after the merger the theater was renamed the R.K.O Prospect Theatre. Around the same time vaudeville acts had begun to be phased out in favor of motion pictures, and when they did perform it was as a short opening act for the feature films. However, vaudeville returned to the Prospect five years later on July 16, 1932. This was partially due to patrons writing the theater and promising to support vaudeville shows. Tap dancers Cherry Blossom and June, the Radio Rogues, comedians Bud and Jack Pearson performed during the opening night. The famous illusionist Hardeen, the brother of Houdini, performed at the theater on March 28, 1933, and escaped from a specially constructed packing case.
The Prospect played a very small role in the USSR/USA conflict known as the Cold War. On August 3, 1948, Whittaker Chambers, a former Communist Party member, testified before the House Committee on Un-American Activities that he introduced Alger Hiss, who worked for the State Department, to a Soviet spy in the balcony of the Prospect Theatre in early 1937. On Sunday January 28, 1962, the Three Stooges, which at the time consisted of Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly-Joe DeRita, returned to the theater while on a promotional tour for their film “The Three Stooges Meet Hercules.” Accompanying them on the bill was Dave Ballard, an almost eight foot tall man known as “The Herculean Giant”, and DJ Clay Cole.
The Prospect closed in 1967, and the main level was converted into a supermarket in 1970. The lobby, and orchestra sections were gutted, while the balcony and stage area were closed off. In 1986, two Brooklyn developers, Gary Rosen and Jacob Bouganim, bought the 16,000-square-foot stage area as well as the 100 by 700 foot lot beneath it for $500,000, and turned it into 15 condominiums. According to Bouganim, they were interested in the building because it’s much high than most of the buildings in the neighborhood, and has unobstructed views of Manhattan. The balcony is all that remains of the original Prospect Theatre.
I’m getting married this October so I’m having a print sale to help us go on our honeymoon! Use the code “HONEYMOONSALE” at http://www.afterthefinalcurtainprints.com/ when checking out to get 25% off your order. I’ve added some images from upcoming blog posts as well as new photographs from old favorites (including some shots of the renovated Kings Theatre) to the prints page.
If you have any questions please e-mail me and I’ll be happy to answer them for you.
Kodak Professional Supra Endura Luster paper is used for all print sizes.
The Fox Theatre in Inglewood, CA opened on March 31, 1949. It was built on the site of the Granada Theatre which had been destroyed by a fire five years earlier. Fox West Coast Theatres (FWCT) purchased the site for $376,375.45 soon after the fire and began making plans for the site. Charles Skouras, the president of FWCT, requested that the theater be designed in a neo-baroque style instead of the more modern style which was typical of the late 1940s. To achieve they hired architect S. Charles Lee to design the building and Carl G. Moeller to design the interior. Newly low cost aluminium sheeting was used to create ornamentation that would have been much more expensive and harder to mass produce if created with plaster. Moeller went on to redesign a number of Fox’s pre-war theaters this way, which came to be known as “Skouras Style.”
The 1008 seat Fox was the last theater to be constructed by 20th Century Fox before the Supreme Court Case the United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. The case, also known as the Hollywood Antitrust Case of 1948, decreed that movie studios were no longer allowed to own theaters and hold exclusive rights on where the films they produced were shown. Even though they no longer owned the theater, 20th Century Fox often held sneak previews of upcoming films at the Fox so they could observe people’s reactions to the movies. The Fox also had a soundproof room dubbed the “cry room” so that people could bring babies to the movies without disturbing the other patrons.
“Mr. Belvedere Goes to College” starring Clifton Webb and Shirley Temple was the first film shown at the theater. Webb and Temple both made appearances at the premiere along with an estimated 10,000 people crowding the streets around the theater. The Fox changed hands and formats a few times, switching to exploitation, and finally spanish language films before closing in 1988.
In 2009, the Inglewood Fox Theatre Alliance was formed to raise awareness and gain support for restoring the theater. Through their efforts the theater was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in January 2013. It was the second location in Inglewood to be added to the NRHP after the Centinela Adobe. The building is currently for sale.
*Sorry for the delay. There was a slight error when this was supposed to post earlier.
Located in the Fine Arts Building in the Historic Michigan Boulevard District of Chicago, the Studebaker Theatre as it is today opened in September 1917. Built between 1885 and 1887, the building was commissioned by the Studebaker Company and designed by architect Solon S. Beman. The part of the building that would eventually become the theater was used as a showroom from 1887 until 1898 when the Studebaker Company moved to a new building on South Wabash Street.
Renamed the Fine Arts Building, it eventually became known as the first art colony in Chicago. Three new stories were added to the building for artist studios and offices. In 1898 the showroom was converted into two music halls; Studebaker Hall which could seat 1500 people and the smaller University Hall which could seat 700. The upper floors attracted some notable tenants during this time including; Frank Lloyd Wright, L. Frank Baum and organizations such as the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Chicago Women’s Club.
For the first twenty years Studebaker Hall was used for plays, opera and musical acts. Klaw & Erlanger, the theatrical production company that was responsible for the Iroquois Theatre fire of 1903, ran the hall for a time beginning in August of 1913. Four years later the Shubert Organization took over the hall, and together with Klaw & Erlanger, converted it into an actual theater. The only part that was untouched during the conversion was the ceiling. Samuel Insull, a British-born American businessman, took over the theater in 1927, but was forced to give it up two years later when the stock market crash caused the collapse of his business empire.
The theater went through many different uses over the years including a Church from 1944 to 1950, and a studio for NBC from Feb 1950 – 1955. DuMont Television Network’s Cavalcade of Stars, one of the first live television shows, was filmed at theater during that time. The Studebaker returned to its theatrical roots in 1956, but was only used occasionally until it closed in 1982.
In December 1982, the M&R Amusement Company converted the Studebaker and the former University Hall, now known as the World Playhouse into a multiplex. The Studebaker auditorium became the 1200 seat Theatre 1 and the Studebaker stage was closed off to create the 240 seat Theatre 3. The Playhouse auditorium became the 550 seat Theatre 2, and its stage became the 158 seat Theatre 4. At first the new multiplex mainly showed art and independent films, but M&R sold their theater chain to Loews in 1988 it switched to playing mostly Hollywood films.
Loews closed the theater on Sunday November 26, 2000 citing that the small size of the size of the theaters as well as the competition from other cinemas in the area made it no longer economical for them to continue operating it. The final films shown at the four screen theater were “Red Planet”, “Cleopatra’s Second Husband,” “Billy Elliott,” and “Dancer in the Dark.”
Both the Studebaker and the Playhouse were restored in 2015 and are scheduled to reopen in October 2015. More information can be found at: http://www.studebakertheater.com/
The Colonial Theatre in Augusta, Maine opened in 1913 and was designed by architect Harry S. Coombs, who was known for designing many local libraries. In 1926 the theater was damaged by a fire, and much of the auditorium had to be rebuilt. The owners took advantage of this and expanded the size of the theater. Originally the 1,240 seat theater showed silent films, and had an orchestra pit directly in front of the stage so music could accompany the films, but this was covered over as silent films gave way to “talkies” or motion pictures with sound.
During World War II, bond drives were held at theaters across the country where you could only gain admission by purchasing a war bond, which were certificates issued by the government to help finance military expenses, and the Colonial Theatre was no exception. At one bond drive held at the Colonial, actress and singer Dorothy Lamour made a appearance to help drive bond sales.
The theater closed in the late 1960s due to declining ticket sales. Mothballed and only used for storage, the building’s roof began to deteriorate. Without regular maintenance, water began to leak into the building and eventually causing three large holes in the wooden auditorium floor.
Colonial Theatre, Inc. was founded in 1995 with the purpose of buying and restoring the building. A number of developers expressed an interest in rehabilitating the theater, but no plan worked out and the building continued to deteriorate. In 2009, Colonial Theatre, Inc. began the process of getting the theater listed on the National Register of Historic Places as that status would offer some protection and tax breaks if the theater was restored. Five years later, they succeeded and the theater was listed in the summer of 2014. The theater is open for tours on Saturday mornings during the spring, summer and fall months.
In June 2015, an art installation and screening of “A Home for Women,” a documentary by Caroline Losneck, Betsy Caron and Kate Kaminski, was held in the lobby of the Colonial, which was the first movie shown at the theater in almost 50 years. More information about the theater is available at https://www.facebook.com/ColonialTheater and http://www.augustacolonialtheater.org/
It’s December so that means it’s time for our annual Holiday Print Sale!
From now until December 31, 8×12, 12×18 and 16×24 prints are 50% off when you use the coupon code holiday2015 at checkout.
http://www.afterthefinalcurtainprints.com/
If you have any questions feel free to email me at matt@mlambrosphotography.com
After the Final Curtain is a personal project, and all profits from your print purchases help me to continue photographing endangered theaters across the United States.
The Varsity Theater in Evanston, IL opened on Christmas Eve in 1926. It was designed by Chicago architect John E. O. Pridmore, who is also known for the nearby Vic Theatre. Clyde Elliot, an Evanston native who had worked in Hollywood before returning to his hometown to open the theater, commissioned it. Upon opening the 2,500 seat Varsity was one of the largest neighborhood theatres in the Chicago area, and the largest in Evanston beating the nearby Coronet, Hoyburn, New Campus, and Valencia Theatres.
An Atmospheric theatre, the Varsity was designed to give the illusion that you were sitting in a courtyard under the night sky and in the case of the Varsity it was the courtyard of a French Royal Chateau. The side walls featured marble imported from Italy, and the stage area resembled a lowered drawbridge. As with other atmospheric theatres, it also featured small twinkling lights in the ceiling to give the appearance of stars, with clouds projected across the ceiling from projectors located on both sides of the auditorium.
The Varsity opened with with a short serial “The Collegians” and the feature “Man of the Forest” which starred Jack Holt and Georgia Hale. In the early 1930’s the theater became part of the Balaban & Katz theatre chain, which was controlled by the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, a forerunner of Paramount Pictures. A Geneva organ was installed in the theater when it opened, and the console was painted to resemble a cottage with roof tiles made of terra cotta. As with many of its contemporaries the organ did not see much use later in the theater’s life and was eventually removed. It was acquired by Karl Werner, who installed it in his home. Werner later moved to Arizona and took the organ with him, but when he passed away his family disposed of the organ.
In the 1980’s the nearby Evanston Theater, originally known as the Stadium Theatre, was purchased by the Loews Corporation, and enlarged from a single screen to a five-screen theater. As multiplex theatres became to be the norm, single screen theaters like the Varsity struggled to stay open. The Coronet Theatre, another Evanston single screen, closed because of this in 1984, and the Varsity followed in 1988.
Almost immediately after the theater closed, the main level and lobby were gutted and turned into retail space, which is currently occupied by a Gap clothing store. In 2010, the City of Evanston received a $50,000 grant from the National Endowments for the Arts to conduct a feasibility study on reopening the Varsity as a performing arts center. In July 2011, the study concluded that given that the first floor of the theater was currently occupied by a retail store, and not available for redevelopment, that the performing arts needs of Evanston are greater than the Varsity Theatre could accommodate alone. They recommended developing a number of performing arts spaces in downtown Evanston, instead of just one central location.
The Moreland Theatre opened on January 12, 1928 in Cleveland, Ohio. It was designed by the local architectural firm of Braverman & Havermaet for A. T. (Adolph) Wallach, a real estate entrepreneur. The 1,296 seat theater is located in the Buckeye neighborhood, which had the largest concentration of Hungarian immigrants in the country at the time the theater was constructed. A press release for the opening of the theater describes it as having, “the most modern system of indirect side lighting,…newest type of projection machines,…and every facility and resource to contribute to the complete enjoyment of its patrons.” The Moreland cost $300,000 to build, equal to a $4,156,421 budget today when adjusted for inflation.
Originally built for vaudeville and silent films, the Moreland was part of the Universal-Variety circuit and opened with, The Cat and the Canary, starring Laura LaPlante. The film was accompanied by a live performance by George Williams and his band, the music box Merrymakers. Larry Jean Fisher, “The Texas Organist,” played the $40,000 Kimball organ throughout the opening night. The owners made sure to program for the theater’s Hungarian community soon after opening by scheduling the Hungarian Elite Mixed Choir, who performed in March 1928.
In October 1929, theater operator Paul Gusdanovic took over the Moreland Theatre. He already had a partnership interest in the Regent Theatre, which was located a few blocks away from the Moreland. Gusdanovic began jointly operating them, but was forced to close the Moreland in December due to the Stock Market crash of 1929. He reopened it a few times showing primarily Hungarian films as well as hosting community events.
The G&P Amusement Company of Cleveland acquired the lease to the Moreland in 1937. They remodeled the theater, adding a new RCA sound system, and began showing daily double features of Hollywood films. However, G&P ran into problems early on as they faced competition from the Gusdanovic’s Regent Theatre and the newly opened Colony Theatre in Shaker Square. In March 1949, G&P filed suit against the owners of the Regent, along with four other studios — 20th Century Fox, Loew’s, Warner Bros and Universal Studios — claiming that the Gusdanovic conspired with the studios to ruin the Moreland. G&P were eventually forced to close the theater in 1950. The Cleveland District Court ruled against G&P in 1952 — the judge said that the neighborhood could not support two theaters. G&P appealed the decision to the Sixth Court of Appeals who upheld the lower court’s decision.
The Moreland opened, closed and reopened throughout the 1950s and early 1960s. It was remodeled into a musical dinner theater in 1963 by Gerard Gentile, William Boehm and Eugene Woods. The trio had experience in theaters in the Cleveland area and were determined to revitalize the Moreland. It opened as Players Theatre Café in January 1964. Once again, the reopening was short lived and the theater closed in April 1964. It reopened again as the Beach Party Room in July 1967, with three inches of sand and artificial palm trees in the auditorium to help give the illusion that patrons were attending a party on the beach. This venture only lasted four months, after which it was turned into a dance club called “Second Shadow Lounge” in October 1967. This too did not last very long, and the theater became a Hungarian playhouse in June 1969. By 1975 the theater was closed again, and three years later it was sold to the Church of God in Christ (CGC). CGC became the theater’s longest tenant, using the building as a worship space for almost thirty years.
The CGC sold the theater in 2007 to the Buckeye Area Development Corporation (BADC), a not-for-profit community development corporation serving the area. BADC planned to restore the theater as a cultural center, but have yet to raise the estimated $6.1 million needed to renovate the building.
I’m excited to announce that I’ll once again be partnering with photographer/founder of Abandoned America, Matthew Christopher for photo workshops in 2016!
First, we will be returning to the Victory Theatre in Holyoke, MA on April 9, 2016. The Victory Theatre opened on December 30, 1920 and closed 58 years late on December 15, 1978. It is currently owned by the Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts, who plan to renovate the theater and reopen it as a performing arts center. Past workshops have generated over $4000 for MIFA.
More information as well as how to purchase tickets can be found at: http://www.abandonedamerica.us/after-the-final-curtain1abandoned-america1
We will also be returning to the Variety Theatre in 2016. The details for that workshop will be announced at a later date.
The Variety opened on November 24, 1927 and after a number of different uses (including a wrestling gym called the Cleveland Wrestleplex) closed in the late 1980s. The building was purchased by the Friends of the Historic Variety Theatre on June 12, 2009, and they plan to restore the theater as a multi-use venue.
For more information go to: http://www.abandonedamerica.us/the-variety-theatre-an-after
Remember in the last post how I said I had an announcement I was going to keep secret for the moment? Well, here it is – Jonglez Publishing is going to be publishing a book featuring my photography of abandoned theaters!
After the Final Curtain: The Fall of the American Movie Theater consists of 24 theaters from New York to California, including some that have never been posted on this site.
It’s being released on October 1, 2016 and can be pre-ordered at the following link: After the Final Curtain: the Fall of the American Movie Theater.
