Providence Performing Arts Center

I have sent e-mails before asking about seeing the organ and theatre when we visit Providence on November 1st. No replies yet. Can you answer the question?

My wife and I are theatre organ buffs and would love to talk to the organist or visit the organ.

Thanks

This theater opened in 1928. The architects were Rapp & Rapp. the seating capacity was originally 3000 seats

I remember August, 1949, as a child of seven, being taken by my older sister to see a revival showing of the movie THE WIZARD OF OZ, which I was seeing for the first time. We went to a matinee. Admission was 60 cents till 5 PM, children 35 cents at all times. Before the film we saw a live stage performance by singer Frankie Laine...including the song "Mule Train." Also performing were Artie Dawn, Four Step Brothers, The Four Macks, and Connie Haines. The Journal ad said "Loew's State Brings You the Gayest State & Screen Combination Show!" The movie was one of the first I had ever seen. I remember the theatre as being packed and just extremely exciting.
I fell in love with the movie and with the theatre itself. It is one of my most vivid childhood memories.
In 1954 I saw GONE WITH THE WIND here for the first time at a revival showing. 11 A.M admission was 25 cents.
Oh yes, this theatre was and remains the most beautiful entertainment palace in the state of Rhode Island.

Yesterday, I went to see Starlight Express at PPAC, and I am still amazed at the architecture of this magnificent theatre. It is such a thrill to see a performance there, and to think that it was so close to the wrecking ball in the 1970's (to make a PARKING LOT!!!) We are so lucky to have such a beautiful place in our downcity to go to...I am grateful every time I enter that wondeful building.

The 5/21 Wurlitzer organ from the Marbro Theatre in Chicago, fortunately removed in the early 60s before the movie palace was razed, was installed in the Providence Performing Arts Center in 1982 where it is still used today.

The wife and I go to PPAC about once a year. I have never, ever seen such a glorious, glamorous show of opulence that I do not believe can be duplicated in the present day.

The ornate carvings and red clothed walls with the eye catching gold trimmed woodwork. The organ that sits in its hideway and the ever imposing balcony.

This theater can only be matched by the theater musicals shown in older films. One can only expect Ethel Merman to walk out from the side stage entrance......

If anyone is contemplating visiting Rhode Island to see this theater, I highly recommend that you make the trip. It beats any other theater that I have ever seen including Boston.

FWIW, this theater also holds the Golden Oldies concerts to raise money for the PBS stations............

Roland L., Please see if you can find out who to get in touch with for these concerts.
Thanks
Dave Grau (Mungo)
Norelco

Norelco, I suggest going to ppac.org or pbs.org and contacting them for dates. If memory serves me correctly, it is not every year that they do this show at this theater.

WURLITZER LOVERS PAY SPECIAL NOTE!!!!

They have free lunchtime organ concerts coming up. Go to ppac.org and then PPAC Show Calendar for the free organ concert times and dates.

Here is another pic
http://www.agilitynut.com/p/desplth.jpg

RobertR., The link you have to a photo is to the Des Plaines Theatre not the Providence Performing Arts Center.

Recent color photos of this theatre can be found on the site: "America's Stunning Theatres" by photographer and stagehand Noah Kern at: http://www.pbase.com/affablebeef/theatres Comments and information may be left there without registration; such can be public view or only to Mr. Kern. Scroll down the page to find the name, and then click on the sample image above it to be taken to the page of photos of it.

Before the theatre opened as Loew's State in 1928, a smaller movie house, the Gaiety Theatre (later known as Conn's City), had been there and was demolished to make way for the new movie palace and business block. After it was called Loew's State and before it became Providence Performing Arts Center, it was the Palace, then the Ocean State. So the complete name sequence was Loew's State, Palace, Ocean State, Providence Performing Arts Center or PPAC, commonly pronounced "P-Pack."

PROVIDENCE THEATRES: "TEMPLES OF ILLUSION"
A book called "Temples of Illusion," by Roger Brett, was published in 1976. It is Mr. Brett's detailed history of all the old downtown area theatres of Providence from 1871 to 1950. It includes numerous rare photos, a list of theatres with name changes, and a map to show exactly where they all were. The book is an invaluable resource and is owned by many libraries in the R.I. CLAN system. I found a copy for sale online and will use it as a reference for future postings.

In November of 1969 the film Fanny Hill, Rated X, was running simultaneously at the at Loew's State (now Providence Performing Arts Center) and the Shipyard Drive-In on Allens Avenue.

In late June of 1976, when the theatre was called Ocean State Theatre, there was a first-run policy initiated with Murder by Death. It wasn't until it became the Providence Performing Arts Center, however, that this magnificent theatre captured new success.

For a time in the 1970s this theatre was known as the Palace and was doing double-bill repertory programs. I re-saw Harold and Maude here when it had that name in Jabuary of 1973.

Here is a 1941 photo of Loew's State when it was showing Shadow of the Thin Man and Miss Polly.

...and as the Ocean State in the 1970s.

Here is a crowd of mostly men beneath the marquee of Loew's State in 1928.

An ad in the 1936 commemorative book Tercentenary, Providence and Rhode Island by four downtown Providence theatres, listed theatre names and managers:

PROVIDENCE DOWNTOWN THEATRES

MAJESTIC
Bernard M. Fay, Manager
R.K.O. ALBEE
Edward A. Zorn, Manager
LOEW'S STATE
Howard C. Burkhardt, Manager
STRAND
Edward R. Reed Manager

When the theater was renamed the Ocean State in 1976 with the purpose of showing first run movies, I attended the opening of its first feature presentation "Murder By Death" and the film that followed that engagement, "King Kong." I never really believed, however, that this policy would entice moviegoers downtown on a regular basis.

Neither did I. I went to those also. I think Marathon Man was one of the ones they got too. A theatre that size costs it something like $5,000 just to open the door!

Opening day at Loew's State Theatre

On opening day, October 6, 1928, the feature film attraction was the "Metro Movietone sound picture" Excess Baggage with William Haines. Also on the program were Movietone and Vitaphone offerings, M.G.M. and Fox news, and Joseph Stoves at the "mighty $100,000 Morton organ."

The first person to purchase a ticket was a 14-year-old Providence boy by the name of James Riley, who had waited hours for the honor. The first day's attractions began at 10 A.M. Capacity crowds filled the 3800-seat theatre throughout the day, for a total of 14,000 patrons by day's end. Admission prices ranged from 20 cents to 50 cents. At the dedication ceremony in the evening Governor Norman S. Case, Senator Peter Goelet Gerry, and Mayor James E. Dunne offered words of praise and congratulation.

Rhode Island's most beautiful theatre was born.

Wurlitzer concerts
The stunning Wurlitzer organ in place now gets good use in sporadic free noon concerts that are nicely attended. They also include free refreshments, and patrons are encouraged to bring lunches. The one I attended yesterday also had a 35mm showing of a truly hilarious Buster Keaton short from 1920 called One Week. These free concerts also give one a chance to roam about the palatial theatre from top to bottom in an unhurried, un-mobbed setting and revel in its loveliness. Dates for these concerts and all PPAC events are listed on the theatre's website.

The original 1,500 pipe organ was sold in 1963 to one Patsy Fucci of Waltham, Massachusetts. It had been in the theatre for a good 30-plus years. It was a four-manual Robert-Morton organ that had cost about $125,000 when new in 1928. A Providence Evening Bulletin article of March 16 that year reported manager William Trambukis as saying that Mr. Fucci had carted the organ away over a period of weeks, using big trailers. Some of the pipes were taller than a house. The instrument had only been used occasionally after the advent of sound movies. It had also been seriously damaged in the 1954 hurricane which flooded Loew's. Mr. Fucci was a connoisseur of organs and a post office clerk and would set up the organ in his basement. It would be powered by a motor in his garage.

This postcard of Weybosset Street shows Loew's State Theatre in the 1940s. The building on the left with the blue roof appears to be the rear of the former Empire Theatre (Keith's, Victory) which had its entrance on Westminster Street.

Actually, the marquee in the above photo, upon close examination of the postcard, announces the film Personal Property with Jean Harlow and Robert Taylor. That would place the image at around 1937.

The only time I was here, alas, was not to see a film, but to see a concert. It must have been 1974 because my friend had literally gotten his driver's license that day and we drove to the concert. The band was Aerosmith, right before its breakthrough. I think that was probably the last time Aerosmith played at this venue; soon they were playing at the Civic Center.

This is a recent 2006 photo of the Providence Performing Arts Center.

Did you know that Bruce Springsteen began his "Born to Run" tour at this theater (it was called the Palace at the time) in the summer of 1975? The band had just finished recording the album in New York City-- way behind schedule-- and they jumped into the van for the drive to Providence for that night's concert. An amazing moment in rock & roll history-- right in Providence!
My wife and I attended a concert by Chicago, the band, at the PPAC in September, and both the concert and the surroundings were lovely. The restoration on this theater has been first rate! Thanks.

My photograph of the PROVIDENCE.
www.flickr.com/photos/lastpictureshow/301507696

Added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1977

Loew's State Theatre *** (added 1977 - Building - #77000027)
220 Weybosset St., Providence
Historic Significance: Architecture/Engineering, Event
Architect, builder, or engineer: Rapp & Rapp
Architectural Style: No Style Listed
Area of Significance: Social History, Entertainment/Recreation, Architecture
Period of Significance: 1925-1949
Owner: Private
Historic Function: Commerce/Trade, Recreation And Culture
Historic Sub-function: Outdoor Recreation
Current Function: Commerce/Trade, Recreation And Culture
Current Sub-function: Outdoor Recreation, Specialty Store

The Wizard of Oz revival of August 1949 and a stage show.

The theater marquee and entrance can be seen on the cover of Steve Smith & The Nakeds' 1984 album Coming to a Theatre Near You. The "OCEAN" vertical and "State" script were still in place, with PPAC identified by a banner hanging below the marquee.

THIS POSTCARD shows the theatre and Weybosset Street in 1955.

Here is another photo of the Providence Performing Arts Center.

In his book Downcity: Downtown Providence in the 1950s, Carmen Maiocco gives a thumbnail history of Loew's State Theatre:

"To understand the history of Loew's State Theater, now the Providence Performing Arts Center, at 220 Weybosset Street, you have to go back to the first decade of the twentieth century, to one of the early moguls of the American film industry, Marcus Loew. Loew got started in 1905 running peep shows in penny arcades. He began buying up vaudeville halls, and by the end of World War I, he controlled approximately 60 silent movie theaters. Not satisfied merely to exhibit films, he wanted to produce them too. In the early 1920s, Marcus Loew purchased two struggling businesses, the Metro Picture Company and the Goldwyn Picture Company. He merged the pair and hired a gentleman named Louis B. Mayer to oversee making the films, and, voilà - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, MGM, was born. MGM cranked out the pictures, which were then shown in Loew's theaters from coast to coast. In time, Loew's Theaters became one of the largest movie house chains in the United States with over 300 locations. In the mid-1920s, Loew's company decided to construct a huge theater in Providence on Weybosset Street. On opening day, October 6, 1928, over 14,000 people jammed the building to marvel at the eye-popping opulence, and to see the film Excess Baggage starring William Haines. The fans were led to their seats by 50 uniformed ushers, past perches in the lobby holding talking parrots. For the next 40 years, Loew's State Theater, with its seating capacity of 3,200, was Providence's premier motion picture palace.

"Arthur P. Slater was the State Theater's chief projectionist for 40 years. The State's final manager was M.J. Cullen. One of the major attractions of Loew's State was always the Mighty Wurlitzer Theater Organ. On opening night, in 1928, the organ rose dramatically out of the orchestra pit, and was played by Joseph Stover, imported all the way from Paris. (The Wurlitzer can still be heard at free concerts presented to the public by the theater every summer.) In the '50s the organist was a very popular gentleman named Maurice Cook, who was tragically killed in an automobile accident in 1954.
(...)
"Skip ahead 20 years to the 1970s and things don't look too bright for Loew's State. The theater was suffering from that potentially fatal disease - empty seats. The parking lot developers who had a field day with downtown Providence in the 1970s started to eye the building, circling like vultures in the sky above a stumbling old lion. In steped downtown entrepreneur B.A. Dario. Dario purchased Loew's State in 1971 and he and his family ran it for a few years as an arena for boxing matches and rock musical shows. But even that didn't work, and in the mid-1970s, Dario announced his intention to tear down the building. [His RKO Albee a block over on Westminster Street was torn down in 1970 after having acquired that. ~GD] According to one account, when Dario's wife Sylvia heard her husband's demolition plans, she burst into tears. Those tears marked the beginning of the salvation of one of Providence's most glamorous structures. Thank you, Mrs. Dario. In 1977 Dario sold Loew's State to a consortium of preservationist-minded businessmen, led by the head of the Outlet Company, Bruce Sundlun. The group, aided by the city and Mayor Vincent "Buddy" Cianci, Jr., refurbished the building, and to universal acclamation, held a grand re-opening on the evening of October 6, 1978, fifty years to the day from the theater's original start. Thousands packed the aisles to watch Ethel Merman lead a night of lively entertainment. Since then the Providence Performing Arts Center has enriched our community far more than words can ever tell, with an endless procession across its stage of musical performances and cultural events."

This is a more recent photo of the Providence Performing Arts Center.

Another recent photo can be seen here.

Photos of PPAC in 1998 and 2004

Photos taken yesterday of the Providence Performing Arts Center can be seen here and here.

I am curious about the entrance to the PPAC building on Richmond Street (to the right when facing the theater). It matches the architecture of the building and has the Loew's name in stone above what looks like a public entrance, but obviously not the main entrance. The elaborate stonework matches the main building, but is only one story tall. The structure is at an odd angle to the main theater building. And there is a plaque the essentially says 5 feet in front of that structure is not a public sidewalk but is private property. Is this original to the Loew’s State Theatre? Was it added or somehow changed during previous renovations? If original, what was it used for? Would like to hear anything you know about this. Thanks, Wayne

The Providence Performing Arts Center is also another beautiful old theatre palace that's perfect for showing old classics, etc., and alsoi has a balcony. Up until several years ago, they, too had classic film series. I saw my alltime favorite movie, West Side Story, which played as part of the film series that year, in 2000, which was also coincided with a big promotion of Wurlitzer Organ that they were having. Before the movie started, however, the audience was treated to rather schmaltzy organ renditions of several prominent WSS songs, which resembled the kind of music that's frequently heard on a skating rink or a ballpark during a baseball game. The organist went on just a bit too long, and I thought he would never get off, especially since the movie had started. Finally, the organist and organ, both of which and who had been sitting on a small piece of the floor that was automatically pulled down below the stage was whisked down below the platform by some sort of motor and pulleys, or whatever, and, we all enjoyed the film. Although there were only 600 people in a 3500-seat theatre, we all enjoyed the film. Just going to the PPAC and even looking at the outside was a wonderfully artistic experience in itself. Since I had a parttime job at a nearby piano dealer shop as a floor tuner, I drove down to Providence, RI, from the Bay State quite frequently. It was only an hour and a half south of where I live--no big deal.

A couple of years later, I got to see a wonderful stage production of WSS, which was an equally wonderful experience. On several occasions, I tuned the piano backstage of the theatre, which was kind of neat, also.

This is a nice September 2008 photo.

Thanks for posting and sharing this photo of PPAC with us, Lost Memory. It's cool. The Providence Performing Arts Center is a beautiful theatre, both inside and out.

I wonder if it would be too much trouble for lostmemory to begin crediting the author of the photos that he links on Cinema Treasures? It would be nice if the appropriate person could be thanked or recognized for taking the photo rather than the person that submits the comment. I see that his comments run into the hundreds.

The name of the person that the photo belongs to is included on the Flickr page with the photo. I do not take credit for the photo.

That you took credit was not inferred, rather that at the very least the author of a photo deserves the courtesy of being mentioned along with their wotk.

As I already posted, the name of the person associated with the photo is included on the Flickr page. Anyone that looks at the photo will also see the name of that person. Does the photo in question belong to you?

No, not that it matters, but as much as you comment you often are thanked for "sharing" a photo. The author is the one who shares it.

Just my opinion that anyone who has time to link someone elses photo has time to credit the author.

If you want to get down to semantics, the photographer "shares" the photo with the Flickr community, not us. Lost Memory "shares" the link to that photo with us. There is nothing inappropriate with thanking him for sharing a link here.

Well we agree on the semantics. If a person has time to post a link or photo then they also have time to credit the author. Or at the very least go back and give credit when they have receieved a compliment or thanks for a photo that they did not take, such as is the case here.

But I suppose if that person was so busy making multiple comments on as many C/T postings as possible then I can see how they would not have time to give the proper credit.

Your welcome mp775. Here are some nice interior photos.

Wayne Underwood asks about the entrance to the old Loew's Theater on Richmond Street. I am familiar with that side of the building, as I waited there each weekday morning (~1969), for the city bus to take me to the East side where I attended high school. I recall the Loew's sign on Richmond and guessing that door was used for people to exit the theatre. With 3800 people in attendance, it would have been useful to have at least one additional exit. Perhaps in the early days, it was an entrance for the live performers (organist, musicians in the orchestra pit). Does anyone have any definitive information about this side street entrance?

How I wish that the PPAC would go back to having their Big Screen Classic Film Series! I miss that.

When it was the Palace Theater, there used to be two movies for $.99. I saw a lot of Gene Wilder movies, and smoked a lot of dope upstairs in the bathroom during intermission! It was dense with dope smokers. When they cracked down on that, business dropped.

This is a 2009 night photo.