Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts

I saw this theatre last week, work is going on inside. The dome ceiling is intact as well as other features. I wonder if the original facade is under the "Redstone" N/A re-facing of the building. This may be completed by the time Theatre Historical Society visits Worcester theatres in June 2005.

Does this work include restoring it to a single auditorium?

I found a photo of a Loews Poli theater in Worcester, Mass. Is this theater the former Loews Poli? Here is a link to the photo:
http://www.worcestermass.com/places/loews.shtml

Any word on progress of this project?

The Poli Palace was apparently the largest of the downtown Worcester theatres when it opened November 15, 1926. I have a seating capacity of 3196 seats. It had a Hall organ. The info I have is that it was built on the site of the Poli Grand Theatre of 1904, but it was built at an axis of 90 degrees to the old theatre. The MGM Theatre Photograph and Report form for this house has a photo taken in 1941.The long marquee has 4 lines with white letters on a black background. Movies are Jean Arthur in "The Devil and Miss Jones", and Kay Francis in "Playgirl". Next is "That Night in Rio". The Report states that the theatre is a MGM customer, that it is in "DeLuxe" condition; with the following seating: Orchestra: 1691; Balcony: 748; 2nd Balcony: 399; Loges: 317; Boxes: 84, Total: 3239.The marquee says "Loew's Poli" but does not have the word "Palace". I wonder if what they call "2nd Balcony" in the REport is actually the upper part of one big balcony ??

Ron,

It must be the upper balcony, because this house did not have a second balcony. MGM would have owned this theater at the time, so no wonder they called it "DeLuxe"

I too am curous as to any progress made on this theater. Last time I was in Worcester (summer of 05) nothing on the exterior had changed at all.

Further information that I have is that it was sold to Showcase in 1964, twinned in 1968 and quadded sometime after that. I knew that it remained open after 1990, but didn't realize that Showcase operated it all the way to 1998. I understand that National Amusements donated it to the city for conversion into a PAC. I know that there were work crews inside it in early-2005, but what is happening there now ?

The photo posted by Lost Memory on March 8, 2005 above is of this theatre - the Loew's Poli, ex-Poli Palace, later Showcase. The facade photo in the 1941 MGM Report matches Lost Memory's facade photo.

I visited the building yesterday. Renovations are progressing, with hopes of opening in 2007. Asbestos removal is in progress. The seats have been stripped, and the auditorium and stage will be restored. Except for the stage (now gone), most of the building appears to be intact and in generally good condition.

The building is currently owned by the Worcester Center for Performing Arts, a nonprofit organization which will be responsible for the restoration. They are aiming to have about 2200 seats in the restored theatre (floor+balcony).

I was inside the building with the THSA group on Friday morning, June 30. There were no work crews on duty. The 4 auditoriums are still intact and the partitions have not been removed. As pointed out above, the stage is now gone, but its outer walls are still in place. The theatre needs a lot of work !

When is this theatre supposed to open?

I'm sure the opening date depends on the funding stream. This is not an abandoned project and the planning for it is well along. There is vacant land directly in back of the rear stage wall on which to expand the stage rearwards. And the front wall of the theatre has already been "modernized" and could be re-used.

Do you know who is in charge of the planning and how to get a hold of them? Any more information is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Sorry, I don't know. I have been told that very recently there was an article in a newspaper (I assume it's the Worcester paper) which mentioned upcoming work in the building, and which also referred to the place not as the "Worcester Center of the Perf. Arts", but as the "Grand Palace Theatre".

If you find anything els out, please let me know. Thanks!

The contract was signed last week for the installation of the largest theatre organ in New England, a 4-manual, 35-rank Wurlitzer. Installation should begin in late summer.

I was in Worcester last night for a concert at nearby Mechanics Hall. I walked around beforehand to work off my dinner and by sheer chance caught this construction in progess at this theatre, the former Poli Palace. The entire rear wall has been removed, and the auditorium lights remained on at night. From the rear parking lot I could peer directly into the auditorium. There are no more separation walls for small cinemas. It was a very eerie and startling sight, and very gratifying as well, since it seems things are moving forward. It should be noted that the entire entrance area in front of the theatre has been removed as well to allow construction of a new one to replace what the Showcase Cinemas had installed.
I had my camera with me, and it has its limitations, but here are two photos I took from behind the fencing:

AUDITORIUM SEEN FROM OUTSIDE

REAR SIDE

THIS LINK takes you to the theatre's restoration site with lots of information about work in progress, booking plans, history, funding, etc. It looks like it will be known as the HANOVER THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS and appears to be moving forward at full speed.

THIS LINK takes you to the theatre's restoration site with lots of information about work in progress, booking plans, history, funding, etc. It looks like it will be known as the HANOVER THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS and appears to be moving forward at full speed.

The contract has been signed for the installation of the largest theatre organ in New England, a 4 manual 35 rank Wurlitzer. The organ is now in a shop in New Bedford. The final concert there will take place in mid-June prior to its disassembly for the move.

The contract has been signed for the installation of the largest theatre organ in New England, a 4 manual 35 rank Wurlitzer. The organ is now in a shop in New Bedford. The final concert there will take place in mid-June prior to its disassembly for the move.

In what theatre was the organ formerly located?

Please check out the start of our web site at thehanoverorgan.org

When the Poli (for a brief time in the 1960s called the Poli Palace) was turned into Showcase, I think it had three screens before it was quadded. The balcony, the main auditorium, and the balcony foyer. That foyer had been a wonderful space of white pillars and mirrors, giving a great feeling of space in an otherwise cramped entrance area.

I've been told by my grandfather that his father's brother was the "Poli" in "Poli Palace." Anyone know what became of the Poli family?

Poli's first name was Sylvester, and he was based in Connecticut starting in the 1910 decade. He built up a chain of vaudeville and film theaters, some of which were large "movie palaces" like this one in Worcester. I don't know when he died or what happened to his immediate family.

Thanks for the feedback Ron. Just talked with my grandmother (from Scranton, PA); she said that at family get-togethers they used to talk fondly about their "theatre" relatives. All my other Poli cousins, aunts and uncles from that era are deceased. Like everyone else in this forum, I'm searching for links to this grand chapter in history! In my case, possible family links... Thanks again!

Their new website is up at http://www.thehanovertheatre.org/ and the Hanover Theater Organ website is now at http://www.thehanoverorgan.org/TheHanoverOrgan/

Great news - Opening date is March 14, 2008!! They already have three shows scheduled after that (Hairspray, Stomp and Jesus Christ Superstar)

From the pictures it looks like they were in overdrive the past year with renovations -- proscenium, side boxes and orchestra walls all reconstructed. they're doing a great job! Great to hear that they'll have a Mighty WurliTzer 4/35 organ!

Where does the name 'Hanover' come from?

I believe the name Hanover comes from the Hanover Insurance Group of Worcester which provided some substantial funding for the theatre's restoration.

The 6 PM local news, Wed. Feb. 27, on Boston's WBZ-TV (Ch. 4) had a feature about the Hanover Theatre. Video shot in Sept. 2006 was contrasted with recent video. There were shots of the foyer, balcony, proscenium, stage, etc. The theater looks great! It was said that they expect to open on schedule in mid-March.

On Saturday, March 22, the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, as it is now called, beautifully restored at a cost of $31,000,000, will host a free open house from noon to 5 P.M. This is a great opportunity for people in the area to tour the theatre and see what can be done with great "cinema treasures" of the past.

I've asked the CinemaTreasures folks to change the name here.

Beat me to it! I was just about to do it. The gala re-opening is scheduled for March 14. Their website bears repeating HERE.

While the organ isn't installed just yet, you can hear Worcester Sound & Light's band organ. It's scheduled to be performing on March 14 from before the ribbon cutting ceremony to throughout the gala in the evening. It's coined as the largest in the world (it's not just a facade, there's A LOT of pipes), and boasts recently added 16' bourdon pipes and a 4' concert bass drum. Of course, the original 36" bass drum and snare drum are still there. More information is available at the website, Worcester Sound & Lights: BAND ORGAN. WS&L is also going to be running two of their original WWII era carbon-arc searchlights for the gala. Between the organ and the searchlights, the opening of the theater is going to have a flare of yesterday with the hype of today! If you're down there on 3/14, feel free to stop by and say hi.

The theatre re-opened on Friday, March 14th in a gala evening show. Article in Boston Globe.

Review of opening night with Bernadette Peters.

Photos from opening night: http://www.worcestersound.com/gallery/RECENT%20EVENTS/HANOVER%20THEATER%20OPENING/

I went to the open house on Saturday and they really did a fantastic job of renovating the theatre - more was restored than I ever dreamed possible after seeing it in its Quad state. They rebuilt the proscenium arch with the original design and front of the balcony. It has a huge new stagehouse, and renovated dressing rooms, green room, etc. Was able to explore the entire backstage and basement area, cloming the spiral stairway to the top of stage right (from audience perspective) and look out over it. The basement areas were all accessible, the electrical room, maze of workrooms, the new dressing rooms, and plenum chamber - inerestingly, all the spaces under the main lobby area are additional staff space, the usher's staff room filled a large space under the main lobby). These basement spaces, some of them were still old red brick or concrete walls, some areas completely modern. The lobby and auditorium were all beautifully restored, the chandeliers and main cove in the auditorium ceiling looked fantastic. Comfortable and attractive seats, plush carpeting. Lots of restrooms, but interestingly could not find any lounges except for the one over the old entrance to the side which is now a VIP area (guess open house was my only opportunity to see that) The old main lobby is actually fairly small (even with the mezzanine lounge opening into it) but in front is a modern facade and large outer lobby and box office with 4+ windows. The modern facade looks much better than the Showcase Cinrmas one from the 1960s. Only a few things that they didn't do that I would have liked to see. The ornamental plasterwork designs were not created on the side boxes or balcony front; they're all smooth (although the balcony front is mostly hidden behind lighting fixtures anyway) and the fine ornamental detail in the proscenium arch is missing. Also, they did not replicate the scagiola faux marble on the columns in the mezzanine lobby or on the organ screens, and the mezzanine lobby has a simpler paint scheme. Also, the soffet under the balcony is a much plainer design (but then again, that had to be rebuilt from scratch). The color scheme is not original, but it is very attractive, greens, gold and cream & tan, with some red draperies.

Overall, they did a splendid job of restoration, one I never would have thought possible a few years ago

On May 1st I attended a performance here by the great stand-up comedian George Carlin, who has since died. The house was packed to the rafters and the enthusiasm for both the performer and the theatre itself was overwhelming.

More updates on the organ! On March 3, the console was installed, and at present (3/10/09), 16 of the 35 ranks have been installed; the left chamber is about 95% complete. Donald Phipps is overseeing the effort, and was the one who built up and donated the organ. When operationmal it will be the largest theatre organ in New England, just slightly bigger than the 4/34 at Shanklin conference center.

Plans are for the installation to be completed by December 2009.

More details in the feature article at the Hanover's web site at:

http://www.thehanovertheatre.org/news/pressRelease.php?releaseID=112

Worcester's CINERAMA exhibition history posted here.

Also, "Showcase Cinemas" needs to be added to the top of this page as a previous/alternate name for this theater.