Many, nany thanks to all who have responded to my post. I think there are thousands of stories to be told about TW and about all who have worked in his theaters.
It will take some time for me to take all this in and decide how to proceed.
All of your kind words and heartfelt recommendations are truly appreciated.
I do not quite understand how to contact site members directly by email. Any tips on how to make that possible would also be appreciated. I can be contacted through email at .com Best, Tom
After finally finding and viewing the Hollywood (Hellinger) site as there were 2 Hollywood theatres listed for NYC I see that it was built by Warner though the architect was Thomas W. Lamb. The fact that this former theatre is now a church is quite interesting and I wonder if anyone can provide photos of the interior to see how the Times Square Church has changed it to accommodate their spiritual needs?
In what way was Thomas Lamb “quite a character”. I know that architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright was very unique and could be described as “quite a character” also.
I recently received information about a former Lamb theatre called the Capitol which was demolished nearly 3 years ago. “There wasn’t so much as a whimper, as far as I know,about it being torn down. The city let it fall into disrepair (no heat, leaking roof). Prior to that it had been whittled away. First the grand entrance and lobby had been demolished (looked like the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles) leaving only the secondary entrance on the side street as the remaining entrance to the theatre. Then they chopped the theatre up into two screens, covering up all of Lamb’s work.” This is a theatre crime and was repeated more times than we CT members would like to admit.
Don’t forget to visit the Stanley Theatre in Utica NY
(the sister to the Ohio in Columbis) and Proctor’s in Schenectady. Don’t forget the Mark Hellinger (now Times Square Church) in NYC!
This is great to read the many Lamb related theatre posts and will be of such help to Mr. Lamb’s namesake, Tom Lamb. And yes, Mr. Lamb’s work does reflect his greatness!
Mr Lamb I had the pleasure of working at the New York Academy of Music on 14th street in NYC for about 8 years of my life. It was not just a building but a piece of art. Being able to have the time to explore the basment as well as the catwalks above the audience. It was a grand old place that had lots of history. Did you know that when the Beatles came to Amrerica in 1964 and did the Ed Sullivan show The Rolling Stones played at the Academy. In the years i was there some people sed to say it was a cold building. I never found it that way at all. When I was working there i was told that the Academy and then later renamed the Palladium had landmark status. That came in to play when the new owners attempted to install a new air conditioning system. They knocked out a wall witout contacting the NYC landmark commission and by the time the dust settled they had already gone to far with the instalation to revove it and replace the wall so it stayed. Some of the biggest names in the music industry played there in the sixties till the early 80’s when it changed hands and became a disco. To me that was the death of a great place. Seems as though landmark status or not NYU took it over and demolished it to make new dorms. They did the same thing to the old Luchows that was there for like 100 years. I have seen some of the other theatres in NYC that your great grand father built and designed. I wish I could have met him. His work reflects his greatness.
There are 150 Lamb theatres listed on CT so lots to read and research. Unfortunately, many of them have been demolished yet many are listed as simply closed and therefore should be saved and restored, if at all possible!
Mr. Tom Lamb: Yes, do write a book about your great-grandfather, Thomas Lamb. If you haven’t ever see the Landmark Theatre in Syracuse which was a Lamb Theatre, please make a trip there and by all means tell them who you are! And I agree with Norcelco that its a shame that many Lamb theatre are now gone for parking lots! It makes no sense! Glad you found CT and that you will contribute often! If you go to the listing of architects on the CT site and type in the Lamb name, it will give you a list of Lamb theatres. And by all means try to gather all of the information your father would have about Thomas Lamb, your great-grandfather! It’s an honor to have you as a CT member. Welcome!
I hope some of his talent has rubbed off on you. It is a great honor just to say hi to one of the relatives of this great man. I have been a projectionist for 50 years, and have worked in allot of his theatres all over the Country. All have been just fabulous. The shame of it all is many are gone for parking lots.
Thanks Again
Norelco
Glad to have you aboard Mr. Lamb, I can’t say much more than already has been said above…..Mr. first Movie Palace experience was with the Ohio Theatre in Cloumbus that your great grandfather designed…that was his masterpiece…….well they are all masterpieces…anyway it is a real testement to your great grandfathers work that I had the same reaction as the people who first entered this great theatre 75 years ago… absolute disbelief….I was hooked from then on and now I am proud to be a volunteer usher at the Ohio and Palace (another T.L. theatre)….ya gotta write a book or something, we here at CT are always thirsty for knowledge.
It is wonderful to have Mr. Lamb communicate with Cinema Treasures.
I, like most of the members, respect and appreciate the great contribution of his grandfather to theatre design.
Most important, the architecture library at Columbia University is the custodian of most of your great-grandfather’s papers after his firm was dissolved. I had been doing some research on his last project and can’t immediately lay my hands on the notes which disclosed the name of the people who control the use of these documents, but a few calls to Columbia, and you should be able to dig right into the materials. (The project he was working on when he died in February, 1942, was a Queens Boulevard theater as a joint venture by RKO and Skouras, later to be known as the Midway, and possibly completed by West Coast architect Charles Lee.
The late Irvin R. Glazer lists in his hardback Philadelphia Theatres A-Z that your great grandfather designed or co-designed the now demolished Fox in downtown Philadelphia and the Trans-Lux newsreel (later altered as Eric’s Place) and a few theaters in the neighborhood. One was the State, a fabulous but gone Art Deco movie palace. The Fox was a very successful and important movie palace, and any book about Lamb’s theaters should mention it.
Downtown Philadelphia’s surviving movie palace, the Boyd (www.FriendsOfTheBoyd.org), was not designed by Lamb, but is owned and operated by the same company (now Live Nation) that in the last few years restored and reopened the Hippodrome in Baltimore and what is now known as the Opera House in Baltimore, both by Lamb. They were also operating the Pantages in Toronto. I visited in 2002 the Uptown in Toronoto, before its demolition, which was a tragedy for three people as well as the movie palace.
And as one of the “greatest theatre designers of all time,” his works have been fittingly represented in the publications of The Theatre Historical Society of America ( www.historictheatres.org ); are you aware of them? If not, you would certainly do well to contact their Ex. Director via the E-mail address given on the bottom of their first page. Use T.L.’s name as a search term here, and you should come up with dozens of referrences. Welcome to the forum.
Many, nany thanks to all who have responded to my post. I think there are thousands of stories to be told about TW and about all who have worked in his theaters.
It will take some time for me to take all this in and decide how to proceed.
All of your kind words and heartfelt recommendations are truly appreciated.
I do not quite understand how to contact site members directly by email. Any tips on how to make that possible would also be appreciated. I can be contacted through email at .com Best, Tom
And some wonderful photos of this theatre can be viewed on the Hollywood Theatre (Hellinger) site by CT member, “EdSolero” on 1/10/06.
Two big names are associated with this theatre/church….Warner and Lamb! Amen!
After finally finding and viewing the Hollywood (Hellinger) site as there were 2 Hollywood theatres listed for NYC I see that it was built by Warner though the architect was Thomas W. Lamb. The fact that this former theatre is now a church is quite interesting and I wonder if anyone can provide photos of the interior to see how the Times Square Church has changed it to accommodate their spiritual needs?
And I wonder if Lamb ever met FLW? If so, that would have been some meeting of the minds!
In what way was Thomas Lamb “quite a character”. I know that architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright was very unique and could be described as “quite a character” also.
Hollywood Theatre. No need to reply.
cnyarts: How does one find the Mark Hellinger (Times Square Church) as I couldn’t find it listed on CT?
I recently received information about a former Lamb theatre called the Capitol which was demolished nearly 3 years ago. “There wasn’t so much as a whimper, as far as I know,about it being torn down. The city let it fall into disrepair (no heat, leaking roof). Prior to that it had been whittled away. First the grand entrance and lobby had been demolished (looked like the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles) leaving only the secondary entrance on the side street as the remaining entrance to the theatre. Then they chopped the theatre up into two screens, covering up all of Lamb’s work.” This is a theatre crime and was repeated more times than we CT members would like to admit.
Don’t forget to visit the Stanley Theatre in Utica NY
(the sister to the Ohio in Columbis) and Proctor’s in Schenectady. Don’t forget the Mark Hellinger (now Times Square Church) in NYC!
This is great to read the many Lamb related theatre posts and will be of such help to Mr. Lamb’s namesake, Tom Lamb. And yes, Mr. Lamb’s work does reflect his greatness!
Mr Lamb I had the pleasure of working at the New York Academy of Music on 14th street in NYC for about 8 years of my life. It was not just a building but a piece of art. Being able to have the time to explore the basment as well as the catwalks above the audience. It was a grand old place that had lots of history. Did you know that when the Beatles came to Amrerica in 1964 and did the Ed Sullivan show The Rolling Stones played at the Academy. In the years i was there some people sed to say it was a cold building. I never found it that way at all. When I was working there i was told that the Academy and then later renamed the Palladium had landmark status. That came in to play when the new owners attempted to install a new air conditioning system. They knocked out a wall witout contacting the NYC landmark commission and by the time the dust settled they had already gone to far with the instalation to revove it and replace the wall so it stayed. Some of the biggest names in the music industry played there in the sixties till the early 80’s when it changed hands and became a disco. To me that was the death of a great place. Seems as though landmark status or not NYU took it over and demolished it to make new dorms. They did the same thing to the old Luchows that was there for like 100 years. I have seen some of the other theatres in NYC that your great grand father built and designed. I wish I could have met him. His work reflects his greatness.
There are 150 Lamb theatres listed on CT so lots to read and research. Unfortunately, many of them have been demolished yet many are listed as simply closed and therefore should be saved and restored, if at all possible!
Mr. Tom Lamb: Yes, do write a book about your great-grandfather, Thomas Lamb. If you haven’t ever see the Landmark Theatre in Syracuse which was a Lamb Theatre, please make a trip there and by all means tell them who you are! And I agree with Norcelco that its a shame that many Lamb theatre are now gone for parking lots! It makes no sense! Glad you found CT and that you will contribute often! If you go to the listing of architects on the CT site and type in the Lamb name, it will give you a list of Lamb theatres. And by all means try to gather all of the information your father would have about Thomas Lamb, your great-grandfather! It’s an honor to have you as a CT member. Welcome!
I hope some of his talent has rubbed off on you. It is a great honor just to say hi to one of the relatives of this great man. I have been a projectionist for 50 years, and have worked in allot of his theatres all over the Country. All have been just fabulous. The shame of it all is many are gone for parking lots.
Thanks Again
Norelco
Glad to have you aboard Mr. Lamb, I can’t say much more than already has been said above…..Mr. first Movie Palace experience was with the Ohio Theatre in Cloumbus that your great grandfather designed…that was his masterpiece…….well they are all masterpieces…anyway it is a real testement to your great grandfathers work that I had the same reaction as the people who first entered this great theatre 75 years ago… absolute disbelief….I was hooked from then on and now I am proud to be a volunteer usher at the Ohio and Palace (another T.L. theatre)….ya gotta write a book or something, we here at CT are always thirsty for knowledge.
Tom, you may also want to check out this website, View link It’s wonderful to know that Lamb’s descendant has found Cinema Treasures!
Correction to my post above: “…great contribution of his great-grandfather…” Sorry, Mr. Lamb.
It is wonderful to have Mr. Lamb communicate with Cinema Treasures.
I, like most of the members, respect and appreciate the great contribution of his grandfather to theatre design.
Most important, the architecture library at Columbia University is the custodian of most of your great-grandfather’s papers after his firm was dissolved. I had been doing some research on his last project and can’t immediately lay my hands on the notes which disclosed the name of the people who control the use of these documents, but a few calls to Columbia, and you should be able to dig right into the materials. (The project he was working on when he died in February, 1942, was a Queens Boulevard theater as a joint venture by RKO and Skouras, later to be known as the Midway, and possibly completed by West Coast architect Charles Lee.
I wrote too fast. The Boyd will be operated after renovations, by Live Nation. It is currently closed.
Jim Rankin is right, THS is a fantastic resource!
Are you really named Tom Lamb?
Please write a wonderful book about your grandfather and the theaters he designed!
In Philadelphia, there are a variety of places to go for information. One website and library is http://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/index.cfm
The late Irvin R. Glazer lists in his hardback Philadelphia Theatres A-Z that your great grandfather designed or co-designed the now demolished Fox in downtown Philadelphia and the Trans-Lux newsreel (later altered as Eric’s Place) and a few theaters in the neighborhood. One was the State, a fabulous but gone Art Deco movie palace. The Fox was a very successful and important movie palace, and any book about Lamb’s theaters should mention it.
Downtown Philadelphia’s surviving movie palace, the Boyd (www.FriendsOfTheBoyd.org), was not designed by Lamb, but is owned and operated by the same company (now Live Nation) that in the last few years restored and reopened the Hippodrome in Baltimore and what is now known as the Opera House in Baltimore, both by Lamb. They were also operating the Pantages in Toronto. I visited in 2002 the Uptown in Toronoto, before its demolition, which was a tragedy for three people as well as the movie palace.
And as one of the “greatest theatre designers of all time,” his works have been fittingly represented in the publications of The Theatre Historical Society of America ( www.historictheatres.org ); are you aware of them? If not, you would certainly do well to contact their Ex. Director via the E-mail address given on the bottom of their first page. Use T.L.’s name as a search term here, and you should come up with dozens of referrences. Welcome to the forum.
Wow, he was one of the greatest theater designers of all time!