Most folks here are not as concerned about the cosmetic changes in the auditorium as are “purists” who insist that a theater be kept in its original condition.
Once the lights go off, the curten rises and the performance begins, what concerns the audience is “can it be heard without the volume increased to eardrum perportions” and indeed all the way to the very last row of the balcony.
During the time I worked at Powers I saw a number of shows from there and enjoyed every minute of the show.
Powers is accustically a gem of an auditorium riveled only by the Stambaugh Auditorium also in Youngstown, with a unique addition, an accustic shell under the stage that permits a symphony orchestra to be seated there and be heard as if they were on the stage.
The orchestra pit while large cannot hold the whole orchestra, so the floor of the pit is removed expoing the shell which is large enough to hold the larger orchestra and the accustical walls project the sound outward. This unique pit was a part of the original design when the theater was first built.
By June of 1970, downtown Youngstown ceased to be a destination for movie fans, and even most of the neighborhood theaters were closed, forcing people to go to the malls and plaza’s outside the city to see the latest flick. The New Park burlesque would hold on a couple more years, and the Warner, by now known as Powers Auditorium would still be open, but its projectors would be silenced in favor of live stage shows and concerts.
This theater page ad for June 14, 1970 reflects that change.
The State would hang on for a while longer but would be a second or third run house until it was transformed into a nightclub first known as the Tomorrow Club and then the Agora.
As for the Paramount, it was on borrowed time but occassionally would bring in a decent film such as Hello Dolly as seen in this ad.
The one form of theater that the conglomerates couldn’t draw away from the city was live theater and Powers Auditorium and Stambaugh Auditorium would book in big time personalities but on a sparce schedule of two or three shows each year each until the Covelli Center added to the mix bringing the number to three, but this center is also a sports arena so it doesn’t really fit the theater model even though it does bring in big names such as Barry Manalow, Mannheim Steamroller, Disney On Ice, and The Trans Siberian Orchestra.
Downtown Youngstown is undergoing a renasaunce with three highrise apartment complexes catering to the affluent professionals and during the summer months the City brings in a weekly schedule of films shown outdoors at the Covelli Center that are well attended hoping that this might inspire someone to bring a movie theater back downtown, but even if that happens, we’ll never see a true movie palace there again unless new blood brings a movie schedule back to Powers. All the needed equipment is there, but not the will.
You’re entirely welcome. With all the multi-screen theaters, all in area malls and plaza’s now we seem to be low man on the totum pole when it comes to blockbuster films, and we almost have to use magnifying glasses to read the ads in the local paper.
It’s sad that the days of the old time movie palaces are just memories and that our one remaining downtown theater doesn’t take advantage of its equipment to at least have occassional film festivals.
I was suprised to learn that the Stambaugh Auditorium also has projectors and screen. One of their upcoming
shows this month is a silent film and their Skinner pipe organ will provide the music to go with it.
I guess to be absolutely and infallably correct for the sake of purists that the listings were taken from the Youngstown Vindicator for Sunday, January 26, 1969 advertizing for advanced ticket sales.
For the absolute purists I guess I should have either provided links to the two pages, or posted pictures of the ads themselvrs.
Since the ads were for advanced sales, the actual show dates would have been in February of 1969.
Again, since only one of the theaters applies to this page ie. the State, I didn’t want to confuse matters by including unrelated ads.
For the sake of the purists, I will go back and get the links and post them here.
After the State closed, the main floor was leveled so that tables could be places there for when it reopened as the Tomorrow Club and later The Agora, and the balcony was used for the general public.
In the write up announcing the opening of the Strand in the October 25, 1916 Vindicator we read that when the theater opened that it: “will seat well over 1,000 persons” while later references from the Film Daily Yearbook for 1950 say 750 suggesting that the balcony and boxes were at some point closed for some reason.
In finding a photo of the outside of the Strand at its opening and early days it didn’t have a marquee and its sign was flat against the building (see photos for this theater), yet for its day it was relitively plush.
Just took a quick look at the schedules for both venues and it seems that they well only have a couple of events each in December, but will keep watching for any additions for Powers.
If you go to the Youngstown Symphony web site you can find the schedule for the shows coming up at Powers. I would also suggest that if you can swing it pay a visit to Stambaugh Auditorium.
As a history buff on Youngstown, I am admittedly bias in favor of Youngstown, so I would like as much information as I possably can get my hands on regarding the local theaters including as many photos as possable.
Running two web sites and being house historian for a third site leaves me little time to truely explore all the amazing theaters on this site, but really appreciate all the hard work that the many contributers do to preserve the memory of the many theaters around the world.
Sometimes though, I feel a wee bit lonely in that most of the Youngstown theaters cere were contributed by me which makes me a little sad that there aren’t more folks adding to my contributions.
What is so sad is that there are no photos of the Paramount when it was in its prime and all we have to go on are photos like these. I don’t know if the Historical Society has any in its collection, but even if they do, the fees and restrictions they place on their pictures makes it almost impossable to post on sites like this.
There are tons of pictures of the State Theater floating around the Internet but none showing the interior when it was operating as a movie theater, and that is what I’m looking for.
For a theater that was showing the big roadshow movies, the State had a smallish lobby area that wasn’t all that dramatic when you compare it to the Palace and Warner and somewhere in the thousands of pictures in my personal library I do hace a couple of lobby pictures that were taken just before the theater was demolished as well as a picyure of the balcony that are sad to look at, but none in its glory days.
I will try to locate them and put them up, but as for the demolition, no deal, it serves no purpose since it doesn’t give us an idea of what it looked like in its glory days.
There are tons of pictures of the State Theater floating around the Internet but none showing the interior when it was operating as a movie theater, and that is what I’m looking for.
For a theater that was showing the big roadshow movies, the State had a smallish lobby area that wasn’t all that dramatic when you compare it to the Palace and Warner and somewhere in the thousands of pictures in my personal library I do hace a couple of lobby pictures that were taken just before the theater was demolished as well as a picyure of the balcony that are sad to look at, but none in its glory days.
I will try to locate them and put them up, but as for the demolition, no deal, it serves no purpose since it doesn’t give us an idea of what it looked like in its glory days.
Didn’t mean to snub the Paramount. Mother took me to see GWTW at the Paramount and I was awe struck.
If I’m not mistaken the Warner ran the original GWTW, and it later moved to the Paramount and after a short run there, it was moved to the Park which at the time was owned by the same company that owned the Paramount.
Don’t forget that the Paramount also had the premier of “A Patch of Blue” since its star was a Youngstown girl.
Didn’t mean to snub the Paramount. Mother took me to see GWTW at the Paramount and I was awe struck.
If I’m not mistaken the Warner ran the original GWTW, and it later moved to the Paramount and after a short run there, it was moved to the Park which at the time was owned by the same company that owned the Paramount.
Don’t forget that the Paramount also had the premier of “A Patch of Blue” since its star was a Youngstown girl.
Actually I wan’t trying to hype any particular film one way or another but simply point out that the State and the State alone ran roadshow films which made local folks wonder why they went there and not the Palace or Warner. The Palace would have been better, but since they were also having live stage shows that might have been the reason. I suppose that by adding a Todd-A-O screen etc. would have precluded the use of the stage for live shows, but the Warner didn’t have that problem, but as with the Paramount by putting in a large screen other than Cinemascope would have meant defacing the stage area. This happened at the Paramount, but no real loss since it only had a very small stage that was never used to my knowledge. But then I’m no expert and gladdly admit it.
Burkesneice, in the photo section for this theater I’ve placed a copy of the ad for you.
Hope that the link and photo help.
The ST. Moritz Ice Follies was at the Palace Theater for a four day stay .
Here is a link to the Vindicator article about it along with the ad.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BUNJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DYQMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4388%2C1642679
Should be “eardrum breaking perportions”.
Most folks here are not as concerned about the cosmetic changes in the auditorium as are “purists” who insist that a theater be kept in its original condition.
Once the lights go off, the curten rises and the performance begins, what concerns the audience is “can it be heard without the volume increased to eardrum perportions” and indeed all the way to the very last row of the balcony.
During the time I worked at Powers I saw a number of shows from there and enjoyed every minute of the show.
Powers is accustically a gem of an auditorium riveled only by the Stambaugh Auditorium also in Youngstown, with a unique addition, an accustic shell under the stage that permits a symphony orchestra to be seated there and be heard as if they were on the stage.
The orchestra pit while large cannot hold the whole orchestra, so the floor of the pit is removed expoing the shell which is large enough to hold the larger orchestra and the accustical walls project the sound outward. This unique pit was a part of the original design when the theater was first built.
By June of 1970, downtown Youngstown ceased to be a destination for movie fans, and even most of the neighborhood theaters were closed, forcing people to go to the malls and plaza’s outside the city to see the latest flick. The New Park burlesque would hold on a couple more years, and the Warner, by now known as Powers Auditorium would still be open, but its projectors would be silenced in favor of live stage shows and concerts.
This theater page ad for June 14, 1970 reflects that change.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JxdJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=oYMMAAAAIBAJ&pg=752%2C5198885
The State would hang on for a while longer but would be a second or third run house until it was transformed into a nightclub first known as the Tomorrow Club and then the Agora.
As for the Paramount, it was on borrowed time but occassionally would bring in a decent film such as Hello Dolly as seen in this ad.
The one form of theater that the conglomerates couldn’t draw away from the city was live theater and Powers Auditorium and Stambaugh Auditorium would book in big time personalities but on a sparce schedule of two or three shows each year each until the Covelli Center added to the mix bringing the number to three, but this center is also a sports arena so it doesn’t really fit the theater model even though it does bring in big names such as Barry Manalow, Mannheim Steamroller, Disney On Ice, and The Trans Siberian Orchestra.
Downtown Youngstown is undergoing a renasaunce with three highrise apartment complexes catering to the affluent professionals and during the summer months the City brings in a weekly schedule of films shown outdoors at the Covelli Center that are well attended hoping that this might inspire someone to bring a movie theater back downtown, but even if that happens, we’ll never see a true movie palace there again unless new blood brings a movie schedule back to Powers. All the needed equipment is there, but not the will.
You’re entirely welcome. With all the multi-screen theaters, all in area malls and plaza’s now we seem to be low man on the totum pole when it comes to blockbuster films, and we almost have to use magnifying glasses to read the ads in the local paper.
It’s sad that the days of the old time movie palaces are just memories and that our one remaining downtown theater doesn’t take advantage of its equipment to at least have occassional film festivals.
I was suprised to learn that the Stambaugh Auditorium also has projectors and screen. One of their upcoming shows this month is a silent film and their Skinner pipe organ will provide the music to go with it.
Here’s are the links. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zZ1IAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hIQMAAAAIBAJ&pg=801%2C3352690
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zZ1IAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hIQMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3107%2C3360362
I guess to be absolutely and infallably correct for the sake of purists that the listings were taken from the Youngstown Vindicator for Sunday, January 26, 1969 advertizing for advanced ticket sales.
For the absolute purists I guess I should have either provided links to the two pages, or posted pictures of the ads themselvrs.
Since the ads were for advanced sales, the actual show dates would have been in February of 1969.
Again, since only one of the theaters applies to this page ie. the State, I didn’t want to confuse matters by including unrelated ads.
For the sake of the purists, I will go back and get the links and post them here.
In the week of January 26, 1969 there were no fewer than four roadshow films opening in Youngstown theaters:
State – FUNNY GIRL Newport – STAR Uptown – LION IN WINTER Wedgewoon Cinema – OLIVER
After the State closed, the main floor was leveled so that tables could be places there for when it reopened as the Tomorrow Club and later The Agora, and the balcony was used for the general public.
As far as I know, the folks that performed at both the Park and Palace Theaters stayed at the Tod Hotel.
In the write up announcing the opening of the Strand in the October 25, 1916 Vindicator we read that when the theater opened that it: “will seat well over 1,000 persons” while later references from the Film Daily Yearbook for 1950 say 750 suggesting that the balcony and boxes were at some point closed for some reason.
In finding a photo of the outside of the Strand at its opening and early days it didn’t have a marquee and its sign was flat against the building (see photos for this theater), yet for its day it was relitively plush.
Took a look at our third venue – the Covelli Center schedule and they are having three major live events in December:
Dec. 7 – Guns N’ Roses concert
Dec. 9 – Mannheim Steamroller concert
Dec. 15 – Disney On Ice
Since this is not “movie palace” it can’t be given its own page here but the shows they bring in are big name acts and usually sold out.
Just took a quick look at the schedules for both venues and it seems that they well only have a couple of events each in December, but will keep watching for any additions for Powers.
If you go to the Youngstown Symphony web site you can find the schedule for the shows coming up at Powers. I would also suggest that if you can swing it pay a visit to Stambaugh Auditorium.
As a history buff on Youngstown, I am admittedly bias in favor of Youngstown, so I would like as much information as I possably can get my hands on regarding the local theaters including as many photos as possable.
Running two web sites and being house historian for a third site leaves me little time to truely explore all the amazing theaters on this site, but really appreciate all the hard work that the many contributers do to preserve the memory of the many theaters around the world.
Sometimes though, I feel a wee bit lonely in that most of the Youngstown theaters cere were contributed by me which makes me a little sad that there aren’t more folks adding to my contributions.
What is so sad is that there are no photos of the Paramount when it was in its prime and all we have to go on are photos like these. I don’t know if the Historical Society has any in its collection, but even if they do, the fees and restrictions they place on their pictures makes it almost impossable to post on sites like this.
Three new pictures have been added showing the lobby and balcony before the theater was demolished. They are truely sad.
There are tons of pictures of the State Theater floating around the Internet but none showing the interior when it was operating as a movie theater, and that is what I’m looking for.
For a theater that was showing the big roadshow movies, the State had a smallish lobby area that wasn’t all that dramatic when you compare it to the Palace and Warner and somewhere in the thousands of pictures in my personal library I do hace a couple of lobby pictures that were taken just before the theater was demolished as well as a picyure of the balcony that are sad to look at, but none in its glory days.
I will try to locate them and put them up, but as for the demolition, no deal, it serves no purpose since it doesn’t give us an idea of what it looked like in its glory days.
There are tons of pictures of the State Theater floating around the Internet but none showing the interior when it was operating as a movie theater, and that is what I’m looking for.
For a theater that was showing the big roadshow movies, the State had a smallish lobby area that wasn’t all that dramatic when you compare it to the Palace and Warner and somewhere in the thousands of pictures in my personal library I do hace a couple of lobby pictures that were taken just before the theater was demolished as well as a picyure of the balcony that are sad to look at, but none in its glory days.
I will try to locate them and put them up, but as for the demolition, no deal, it serves no purpose since it doesn’t give us an idea of what it looked like in its glory days.
Two new photos os the Grand Opening ad have been posted. According to the ad the State had 2,500 seats when it first opened.
Didn’t mean to snub the Paramount. Mother took me to see GWTW at the Paramount and I was awe struck.
If I’m not mistaken the Warner ran the original GWTW, and it later moved to the Paramount and after a short run there, it was moved to the Park which at the time was owned by the same company that owned the Paramount.
Don’t forget that the Paramount also had the premier of “A Patch of Blue” since its star was a Youngstown girl.
Didn’t mean to snub the Paramount. Mother took me to see GWTW at the Paramount and I was awe struck.
If I’m not mistaken the Warner ran the original GWTW, and it later moved to the Paramount and after a short run there, it was moved to the Park which at the time was owned by the same company that owned the Paramount.
Don’t forget that the Paramount also had the premier of “A Patch of Blue” since its star was a Youngstown girl.
Actually I wan’t trying to hype any particular film one way or another but simply point out that the State and the State alone ran roadshow films which made local folks wonder why they went there and not the Palace or Warner. The Palace would have been better, but since they were also having live stage shows that might have been the reason. I suppose that by adding a Todd-A-O screen etc. would have precluded the use of the stage for live shows, but the Warner didn’t have that problem, but as with the Paramount by putting in a large screen other than Cinemascope would have meant defacing the stage area. This happened at the Paramount, but no real loss since it only had a very small stage that was never used to my knowledge. But then I’m no expert and gladdly admit it.
Picture of the first day ad now in photo section.