The Youngstown Playhouse has been in operation since the early 1900’s and turned out a number of famous people —– Joe Flynn, Elizabeth Hartman to name just two.
Youngstown has a very long history of theater, and right now there are three different theatrical companies both amiture and professional as well as a symphony orchestra, a ballet company, and an opera company, all in a city of 80,000.
Don’t misunderstand me, I am supportive of theater preservation, but I’m also opposed to any project that wastes money that could be better spent on projects that have a chance of succeeding.
Several groups have tried to save the Paramount only to have to walk away after losing their shirts.
We have two extremely beautiful theaters that could use the money that will be thrown at the Paramount. We also have a third theater that needs all the help it can get (The Youngstown Playhouse – the oldest community theater in the United States).
The Foster Theater was part of the Wellman chain (Foster, Belmont, Mahoning, Shenley), and in it’s prime it specialized in foreign films, opera films and the classics.
It later was sold and is curtently showing XXX films, and is a mere shaddow of itself in a neighborhood that is a war zone where a person takes his life in his hands to go there.
There is still no word about the fate of the UGGGH Paramount Theater.
After one newspaper article and a single news story, noting more has been said “officially” by the man who bought the building or more correctly, what’s left of the building.
Likewise, there is no sign of any preliminary work being done on it.
IF Paul was sincere, you’d think that he would have a crew in there gutting the building since there is nothing inside worth saving. Not even the seats.
The Regent Theater was located on East Federal Street halfway between Walnut and Watt streets. It was demolished in the 1960’s.
The theater that was on Himrod Ave. was The Lincoln Theater. I was able to get access to this theaters projection booth when it was being remodlerd to become a church and salvaged a large box of old trailers.
I have a exterior photo of the Regent theater that I would be happy to share with you if you go to my website http://farrell-report.tripod.com and e-mail me a request fo it.
It’s not the best, but it’s the only one I have of this theater.
It can’t and that has been my point. Millions of dollars were spent on fix up at Powers Auditorium (Warner Theater) and it was intact, and all that was needed was fresh coats of paint, a new main curtain, carpeting and some plaster restoration.
The Paramount would have to be rebuilt from foundation to roof inside as the photos clearly show, and a whole new heating/air conditioning/plumbing system, and none of these can be purchased on the cheap. I’ve already pointed out other major problems so I’ll not repeat them here.
That organ is no longer there. I worked Powers for 2 seasons and had full access to the auditorium and back stage and there was no theater organ there, so apparently it was sold before the theater became Powers Auditorium. It would be interesting to see where the organ went.
Actually that could be said for both buildings, but when you do a walk thru both, the State building is not as far gone as the Paramount. Both are a safety hazard, but as with other downtown buildings, the city will only act when there is a major tragedy as happened in Toronto a while back when a theater collapsed there.
At this point in time 5/28/06, the plans spoken of in past posts is on hold. The State Theatre can be saved if someone with deep pockets were to come forward and was up to the challange. Unfortunately no one has offered to take a look at it.
In a recent skyline photo of downtown Youngstown, the roof of the State could clearly be seen, and it looks like a jungle almost completely covered with weeds.
The local deep pocketed folks here invested a huge sum to build the DeYor Performing Arts Center at Powers Auditorium, so there would be no use in asking them.
As I said before, the main floor of the auditorium was leveled so that tables could be placed there when it was turned into a nite club, so if it were to be brought back as a theater, there would need to be a new floor built, and throughout the auditorium all new seats would have to be installed, but as I see it, the State is in far better shape than the Paramount.
When the Palace closed an auction was held to sell off its precious antique furniture, works of art and theater items and equipment. The theater was in possession of a number of valuable oil paintings that were on exhibit.
The auction at the Park on the other hand was for theater memorabelia … photos, contracts, posters and the like dating as far back as about 1908.
There were 2 auctions one when the Palace closed and one when the Park closed. No, I didn’t know Baker except for what Fred Childress, the long time movie critic told me about him. They were friends.
The Mahoning Valley Historical Society has a lot of material on both theaters along with material from the old Grand Opera House.
The Park was the grand dame of Youngstown theaters, Grand Opera, Ballet, Broadway Hits, Symphony Orchestras, Vaudville superstars, Burlesque (pre-striptease)and movies.
Over the years, it brought in more first class entertainment than any other theater in Youngstown’s history. It was only in the last 10 years of it’s life that it was reduced to stripper shows.
Al Baker was the last manager of the Park, and thankfully he preserved a huge amout of material including contracts, posters and autographed photos of the greats that played the Park, and when it closed, an auction was held that brought in theater collectors from all over the country.
Neither is the hotel that had the theater built. It’s strange, 0ne day the theater was there, and then it along with the hotel and the building that housed the Isaly store were gone with no fanfare. As far as the organ was concerned, there is no word as to whatever happened to it.
Since The Strand was not one of the main downtown theaters, like the Regent, it was simply demolished. I don’t think that anything was saved.
A high rise apartment was built on the location.
From what a projectionist friend who worked The Strand in it’s last days, the equipment was quite obsolete, and the way the projection booth was set up, it would have had to be completely dismantled to get it down out of the booth.
He told me that a couple of dressing rooms had been set up back stage, but even they were like phone booths they were so small.
My friend at The Vindicator who was the Theater critic once said that he never bothered mentioning the shows there because aside from one famous stripper Virginia Bell, the shows were lousey.
Now the Park Theater was a different matter. The Burley shows there were in the tradition of old time Burlisque and brought in not only top flight dancers, but comedy acts, a live band and such, but the manager really loved the theater and it’s history and saw to it that only the best played there, and after the shows, everyone would go to the main dining room of the Tod Hotel where fans could get autographs.
The Strand Theater was built by the Tod Hotel people for the entertainment of their guests. As can be seen above, it was a small house, and from what I saw of it the one time I was there, it wasn’t a memorable experience.
The projection could only be reached by a ladder, and was small.
It was a third run house whose main fare was cowboy movies and B pictures.
In the 1960’s it switched to art pictures and some live burlisque and finally closed after the projectionists/stage hands struck the theater the primary issue being safety.
It’s small lobby was non-discript as was the auditorium.
I have a photo of the front of the theater that I’ll put up on my web site:
The Strand was a small theater built by the folks at the Tod House Hotel next door. It sat about 600 and was a third run house. I was in there once and was not impressed by it.
In it’s later life it became an art theater/burlisque house and finally closed after the projectionist/stage hand union struck it.
To get to it’s projection booth the operator had to climb a ladder.
It had a small lobby that was as non-discipt as the rest of the theater, and really no one missed it when it finally closed.
I put together a scrap book of all the theaters that were in Youngstown over the years and they were many.
Among them:
The Bijou — The Orpheum — The Opera House — The Capitol — The Lyric — The Rex — The Edison — The Cameo — The Hypodrome which was the forerunner to The Palace — Dome Theater — The Princess.
Unfortunately I don’t have good pictures of these theaters, and don’t have any seating counts.
At one time there were no fewer than 12 theaters in downtown Youngstown – 6 West of the Public Square and 6 East of the Public Square with half of them offering live Vaudville/Burlisque.
This theater was the third oldest theater in Youngstown, and had a very impessive list of theater greats trod its boards. It’s said that at one time the theater was owned by George M. Cohan, and he made a point of bringing a steller list of greats here to perform.
As with many old theaters it fell on bad days and wound up it’s life as a Burlisque house, but fortunately most of the old posters, photos and momentos had been preserved and when it closed went up for auction to collectors.
When I get a chance, I’ll dig through my files and post pictures of this theater.
By the way, the theater besides vaudville, burlisque and movies as well as plays (professional) also featured grand opera (live) ballet and symphony orchestras.
Unfortunately it is now a parking lot. It was the most beautiful theater in Youngstown, and a goodly number of stars, including Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and Ol'Blue Eyes, Les Paul and Mary Ford, Patty Page performed there.
It dates back to about 1928, and right up to the end, it had both movies and stage shows, and Broadway plays featuring major stars.
When it closed there was an auction that brought people in from all over the country including a number of art gallerys that bought it’s magnificant art collection and antiques.
Attempts were made to try to save it, but the owner had big plans for the land which never were built. Sad, because the building was in extremely good condition, having been well cared for by the management
Yes … since 1950.
Unfortunately though, I’ve had little luck finding good material on the Warner family.
I tried to compile historic material on Youngstown, but with work on my web site taking up most of my time, I’ve had little time to visit the Arms Museum Library or the Public Library.
I do have a secondary web site that has some theater photos you might be interested in viewing:
Unfortunately no. If you can find something on this, please let me know, because it deserves much consideration as a historic landmark.
Thanks for mentioning it.
The Youngstown Playhouse has been in operation since the early 1900’s and turned out a number of famous people —– Joe Flynn, Elizabeth Hartman to name just two.
Youngstown has a very long history of theater, and right now there are three different theatrical companies both amiture and professional as well as a symphony orchestra, a ballet company, and an opera company, all in a city of 80,000.
Don’t misunderstand me, I am supportive of theater preservation, but I’m also opposed to any project that wastes money that could be better spent on projects that have a chance of succeeding.
Several groups have tried to save the Paramount only to have to walk away after losing their shirts.
We have two extremely beautiful theaters that could use the money that will be thrown at the Paramount. We also have a third theater that needs all the help it can get (The Youngstown Playhouse – the oldest community theater in the United States).
The city should have ordered that building demolished five years ago.
Contrary to “popular opinion” there is nothing beautiful or histoical about that building. Even in it’s prime, it was not a “beautiful” theater.
I measure beauty by comparing the Paramount to the old Palace Theater and the Warner/Powers Auditorium, and there is no comparison.
Note on the Foster Theater:
The Foster Theater was part of the Wellman chain (Foster, Belmont, Mahoning, Shenley), and in it’s prime it specialized in foreign films, opera films and the classics.
It later was sold and is curtently showing XXX films, and is a mere shaddow of itself in a neighborhood that is a war zone where a person takes his life in his hands to go there.
In it’s prime it was a beautiful small theater.
Note on the Paramount:
There is still no word about the fate of the UGGGH Paramount Theater.
After one newspaper article and a single news story, noting more has been said “officially” by the man who bought the building or more correctly, what’s left of the building.
Likewise, there is no sign of any preliminary work being done on it.
IF Paul was sincere, you’d think that he would have a crew in there gutting the building since there is nothing inside worth saving. Not even the seats.
Hosedragger:
The Regent Theater was located on East Federal Street halfway between Walnut and Watt streets. It was demolished in the 1960’s.
The theater that was on Himrod Ave. was The Lincoln Theater. I was able to get access to this theaters projection booth when it was being remodlerd to become a church and salvaged a large box of old trailers.
I have a exterior photo of the Regent theater that I would be happy to share with you if you go to my website http://farrell-report.tripod.com and e-mail me a request fo it.
It’s not the best, but it’s the only one I have of this theater.
It can’t and that has been my point. Millions of dollars were spent on fix up at Powers Auditorium (Warner Theater) and it was intact, and all that was needed was fresh coats of paint, a new main curtain, carpeting and some plaster restoration.
The Paramount would have to be rebuilt from foundation to roof inside as the photos clearly show, and a whole new heating/air conditioning/plumbing system, and none of these can be purchased on the cheap. I’ve already pointed out other major problems so I’ll not repeat them here.
That’s sad because it would have been great with the Symphony Orchestra. Thank goodness Stambaugh Auditorium still has their organ.
As to the State Theater organ, I didn’t even know that they had one.
Thanks for the info on the Powers organ.
Have a great day.
That organ is no longer there. I worked Powers for 2 seasons and had full access to the auditorium and back stage and there was no theater organ there, so apparently it was sold before the theater became Powers Auditorium. It would be interesting to see where the organ went.
Actually that could be said for both buildings, but when you do a walk thru both, the State building is not as far gone as the Paramount. Both are a safety hazard, but as with other downtown buildings, the city will only act when there is a major tragedy as happened in Toronto a while back when a theater collapsed there.
At this point in time 5/28/06, the plans spoken of in past posts is on hold. The State Theatre can be saved if someone with deep pockets were to come forward and was up to the challange. Unfortunately no one has offered to take a look at it.
In a recent skyline photo of downtown Youngstown, the roof of the State could clearly be seen, and it looks like a jungle almost completely covered with weeds.
The local deep pocketed folks here invested a huge sum to build the DeYor Performing Arts Center at Powers Auditorium, so there would be no use in asking them.
As I said before, the main floor of the auditorium was leveled so that tables could be placed there when it was turned into a nite club, so if it were to be brought back as a theater, there would need to be a new floor built, and throughout the auditorium all new seats would have to be installed, but as I see it, the State is in far better shape than the Paramount.
Clarification:
When the Palace closed an auction was held to sell off its precious antique furniture, works of art and theater items and equipment. The theater was in possession of a number of valuable oil paintings that were on exhibit.
The auction at the Park on the other hand was for theater memorabelia … photos, contracts, posters and the like dating as far back as about 1908.
There were 2 auctions one when the Palace closed and one when the Park closed. No, I didn’t know Baker except for what Fred Childress, the long time movie critic told me about him. They were friends.
The Mahoning Valley Historical Society has a lot of material on both theaters along with material from the old Grand Opera House.
The Park was the grand dame of Youngstown theaters, Grand Opera, Ballet, Broadway Hits, Symphony Orchestras, Vaudville superstars, Burlesque (pre-striptease)and movies.
Over the years, it brought in more first class entertainment than any other theater in Youngstown’s history. It was only in the last 10 years of it’s life that it was reduced to stripper shows.
Al Baker was the last manager of the Park, and thankfully he preserved a huge amout of material including contracts, posters and autographed photos of the greats that played the Park, and when it closed, an auction was held that brought in theater collectors from all over the country.
Neither is the hotel that had the theater built. It’s strange, 0ne day the theater was there, and then it along with the hotel and the building that housed the Isaly store were gone with no fanfare. As far as the organ was concerned, there is no word as to whatever happened to it.
Since The Strand was not one of the main downtown theaters, like the Regent, it was simply demolished. I don’t think that anything was saved.
A high rise apartment was built on the location.
From what a projectionist friend who worked The Strand in it’s last days, the equipment was quite obsolete, and the way the projection booth was set up, it would have had to be completely dismantled to get it down out of the booth.
He told me that a couple of dressing rooms had been set up back stage, but even they were like phone booths they were so small.
My friend at The Vindicator who was the Theater critic once said that he never bothered mentioning the shows there because aside from one famous stripper Virginia Bell, the shows were lousey.
Now the Park Theater was a different matter. The Burley shows there were in the tradition of old time Burlisque and brought in not only top flight dancers, but comedy acts, a live band and such, but the manager really loved the theater and it’s history and saw to it that only the best played there, and after the shows, everyone would go to the main dining room of the Tod Hotel where fans could get autographs.
The Strand Theater was built by the Tod Hotel people for the entertainment of their guests. As can be seen above, it was a small house, and from what I saw of it the one time I was there, it wasn’t a memorable experience.
The projection could only be reached by a ladder, and was small.
It was a third run house whose main fare was cowboy movies and B pictures.
In the 1960’s it switched to art pictures and some live burlisque and finally closed after the projectionists/stage hands struck the theater the primary issue being safety.
It’s small lobby was non-discript as was the auditorium.
I have a photo of the front of the theater that I’ll put up on my web site:
http://farrell-report.tripod.com
Please e-mail me at that site to let me know you saw it as I can’t leave it up there for too long since that’s not the purpose of the site.
You will find it on Page 2 of the site
Have a great day.
Lost Memories
The Strand was a small theater built by the folks at the Tod House Hotel next door. It sat about 600 and was a third run house. I was in there once and was not impressed by it.
In it’s later life it became an art theater/burlisque house and finally closed after the projectionist/stage hand union struck it.
To get to it’s projection booth the operator had to climb a ladder.
It had a small lobby that was as non-discipt as the rest of the theater, and really no one missed it when it finally closed.
I put together a scrap book of all the theaters that were in Youngstown over the years and they were many.
Among them:
The Bijou — The Orpheum — The Opera House — The Capitol — The Lyric — The Rex — The Edison — The Cameo — The Hypodrome which was the forerunner to The Palace — Dome Theater — The Princess.
Unfortunately I don’t have good pictures of these theaters, and don’t have any seating counts.
At one time there were no fewer than 12 theaters in downtown Youngstown – 6 West of the Public Square and 6 East of the Public Square with half of them offering live Vaudville/Burlisque.
Historic notes regarding the Park Theatre
This theater was the third oldest theater in Youngstown, and had a very impessive list of theater greats trod its boards. It’s said that at one time the theater was owned by George M. Cohan, and he made a point of bringing a steller list of greats here to perform.
As with many old theaters it fell on bad days and wound up it’s life as a Burlisque house, but fortunately most of the old posters, photos and momentos had been preserved and when it closed went up for auction to collectors.
When I get a chance, I’ll dig through my files and post pictures of this theater.
By the way, the theater besides vaudville, burlisque and movies as well as plays (professional) also featured grand opera (live) ballet and symphony orchestras.
Patsy: Two photos of Powers exterior are now up at
http://farrell-report.tripod.com
Let me know when you have seen them as I have limited space on this site, and am trying to limit the number of pictures I put up there.
Use the Contact The Farrell Report to send E-mail please.
Thanks
Joyce
The only one I can think of is the old South Side Drive In.
I’ll put a couple up on my Farrell Report Web site. They’ll be on page 2. Give me a little time to do this.
I thought there were photos on my Web Shots site, but these are newer, and I can’t take credit for taking them.
Unfortunately it is now a parking lot. It was the most beautiful theater in Youngstown, and a goodly number of stars, including Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and Ol'Blue Eyes, Les Paul and Mary Ford, Patty Page performed there.
It dates back to about 1928, and right up to the end, it had both movies and stage shows, and Broadway plays featuring major stars.
When it closed there was an auction that brought people in from all over the country including a number of art gallerys that bought it’s magnificant art collection and antiques.
Attempts were made to try to save it, but the owner had big plans for the land which never were built. Sad, because the building was in extremely good condition, having been well cared for by the management
Yes … since 1950.
Unfortunately though, I’ve had little luck finding good material on the Warner family.
I tried to compile historic material on Youngstown, but with work on my web site taking up most of my time, I’ve had little time to visit the Arms Museum Library or the Public Library.
I do have a secondary web site that has some theater photos you might be interested in viewing:
http://community.webshots.com/ladynews500
My main website is:
http://farrell-report.tripod.com
but aside from a single photo of the Paramount Theater building, it is devoted to news.
Unfortunately no. If you can find something on this, please let me know, because it deserves much consideration as a historic landmark.
Thanks for mentioning it.