Loew's State Theatre

Beautiful recollections at this link:
http://www.virtualnewarknj.com/memories/ntheatre/rothschild01.htm

The Loew's State Theatre, Newark closed in 1977.

Here's an image of the auditorium after "talkies" were installed. To improve acoustics, the boxes were pushed against the side walls, minus seats. Sound speakers were partially concealed from view by hanging them against dark draperies above the stage curtain:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/132-3253_IMG.jpg

It seems to me that a demolition worker was killed during the razing of this theater. I think that occurred in 1978. It was across the street from the beautiful Hahne's Department Store.

Does anyone have information about Newark's 700-seat Playhouse Theatre, which opened in April, 1930, and apparently fell victim to the worsening Depression. The 1932 FDYB lists it as "closed," though it's possible that it later re-opened under a different name. Michael Mindlin, who ran the Playhouse, was a prominent NYC exhibitor and best-known for the Fifth Avenue Playhouse, one of America's first "art houses." The Newark Playhouse, however, seems to have been more mainstream, with its premiere movie direct from the world-famous Roxy. I don't know if the Playhouse was a new theatre or an existing one that Mindlin took over. Its location at 982 Broad Street was considerably south of the bustling intersection of Broad and Market Street: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/newarkplayhouse.jpg

Old postcard, postmarked 1924:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6d628b3127cce8c485150072600000016108IZsW7Zwzc-

circa 1946 photo:

http://newarkbusiness.org/photos/theatres/displayimage.php?album=random&cat=6&pos=-4

Can you imagine such shopping hordes in downtown Newark today? And everybody seemed to "dress up" when they went there. Can you spot any jeans or slacks on the women? The men wore fedoras and suits under their overcoats. The vertical sign in the background represented Hahne & Company, one of the major department stores. The leading department store, however, was Bamberger's, which was owned by Macy's in New York City.

Warren, people then dressed up when they went to the movies, in cities, too, right? Philadelphia's Boyd Theatre didn't have stage shows, and the photos we have from then of people waiting in line or arriving also show people were dressed up.

Not so relevant for this website, but Bambergers set up in the 1960s or 1970s in suburban Philadelphia malls. Not Macy's, as apparently parent company Federated thought the local New Jersey store would attract more customers than a NYC store.

Oh, and I've walked around in downtown Newark. Let's hope it revives and the closed historic theaters that were not demolished have a chance to reopen.

The 1946 photo was probably taken at the end of that year, which might partially explain the size of the crowds. Many people were either returning/exchanging Christmas gifts or taking advantage of New Year's sales. On the New York side of the Hudson, "Caesar & Cleopatra" started its circuit of Loew's nabes on January 9, 1947. The Loew's in Newark and Jersey City usually played a week ahead of New York, but not always. By the time of January 9, 1947, the two Jersey Loew's theatres were showing "The Jolson Story" (as a single feature with shorts).

A new direct link to a view of the auditorium: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/132-3253_IMG.jpg

This site has a circa 1925 photo of the Loew's State.