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Also known as Loew's Penn Theater
Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts
Pittsburgh, PA
600 Penn Avenue , Pittsburgh, PA 15222-3259 United States
( map)
Loew's Penn Theater was constructed on the site of the 19th Century Hotel Anderson, which was demolished in 1925 after nearly half a century. Marcus Loew selected the Chicago architectural firm of Rapp & Rapp to design his Pittsburgh house, which was called the greatest movie palace to be built between Chicago and New York at that time.
Built in the Rapp brothers' usual French Baroque style, the Penn could seat nearly 2700, and matched the grandeur of their most opulent theaters in Chicago or New York. The 50-foot lobby with a grand marble staircase was ringed by tall gilded Corinthian columns, and European crystal chandeliers hung from its ceiling. Artwork by Renaissance masters hung on its walls.
The spectacular auditorium was equally as impressive, its towering proscenium arch decorated with gilding, and the cove-lit ceiling hung with chandeliers. It pipe organ, which was destroyed in a flood in the late 30s, was hailed as one of the largest of its time.
On opening night, in 1927, a live stage show and vaudeville acts preceded the main feature. It was hugely successful, and soon the Penn was nicknamed Pittsburgh's "Temple of Cinema".
However, by the 50s, the Penn had begun to slide into decline, and, with competition from television, had a harder and harder time filling its seats. Unable to turn a profit any longer, it began to fall into disrepair.
The Penn finally closed in 1964. After sitting vacant for a handful of years, the Penn was slated for demolition to build a new parking lot in its place. However, in 1967, the then-homeless Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra stepped in at the right time, and saved the Penn.
It found the faded but still grand old movie palace to be exactly what it was looking for, and a massive $10 million reconstruction and restoration project began, transforming the Loew's Penn from a movie theater to an orchestra hall.
While most of its original features were restored to their original appearance, the most noticeable change, at least to the exterior, was the removal of the old marquee and the moving of the main entrance to what had formerly been a diner, and transforming the old main entrance into a huge 40-foot tall window, which extended the original arched window to ground level.
A new five floor addition to the rear of the building extended the stage space, as well as adding more dressing rooms, rehersal space and music library.
In the Fall of 1971, the new Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts had its grand opening, amidst a great deal of ceremony and celebration, with many of the city's government officials on hand, as well as celebrities like Marion Anderson, James Earl Jones, Gregory Peck and Agnes de Mille. The new hall's namesake, Henry J. Heinz II, gave an address.
In 1995, Heinz Hall, was given another renovation, costing over $6 million, which provided a new orchestra shell, enhanced acoustics, state of the art lighting and sound equipment, as well as new gold leaf, new carpeting and auditorium seats.
The spectacular Heinz Hall remains the home of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony. Along with the nearby Benedum Center (the one-time Stanley Theater), the Heinz is the centerpiece of the city's reinvigorated and lively Cultural District. Every year, more than half a million guests attend Symphony concerts, children's concerts and touring Broadway shows at Heinz Hall and its neighbor, the Benedum, making it one of Pittsburgh's greatest treasures.
Contributed by Bryan Krefft
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06/25/58 The Vikings
07/16/58 The Imitation General
07/23/58 Rock-A-Bye Baby
07/30/58 Peter Pan
08/06/58 Kings Go Forth
08/20/58 The Badlanders
08/27/58 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
10/01/58 The Reluctant Debutante
10/08/58 The Big Country
10/29/58 The Defiant Ones
11/19/58 Houseboat
12/10/58 Tunnel of Love
12/17/58 The Buccaneer
12/31/58 tom thumb
01/07/59 Some Came Running
01/21/59 I Want to Live
02/11/59 Anna Lucasta
02/18/59 Separate Tables
03/11/59 The Journey
03/18/59 Lonelyhearts
03/25/59 Some Like it Hot
04/29/59 The Mating Game
05/06/59 Green Mansions
05/13/59 The Naked Maja
05/20/59 Pork Chop Hill
05/27/59 The World, the Flesh, and the Devil
06/03/59 Shake Hands With the Devil
06/10/59 Ask Any Girl
06/17/59 The Mysterians
06/24/59 The Horse Soldiers
07/15/59 A Hole in the Head
08/05/59 North by Northwest
09/09/59 It Started With a Kiss
09/30/59 The Devil's Disciple
10/07/59 For the First time
10/14/59 The Wonderful Country
10/21/59 Scapegoat
10/28/59 But Not for Me
11/04/59 Odds Against Tomorrow
11/11/59 Career
11/25/59 The Wreck of the Mary Deare
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12/23/59 Solomon and Sheba
01/27/60 The Gazebo
02/03/60 On the Beach
02/24/60 Once More, With Feeling
03/09/60 The Last Voyage
03/16/60 Home From the Hill
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04/20/60 Please Don't Eat the Daisies
05/11/60 The Unforgiven
05/25/60 The Fugitive Kind
06/01/60 The Gallant Hours
06/08/60 The Giant of Marathon
06/15/60 Macumba Love
06/22/60 The Apartment
07/20/60 The Rat Race
07/27/60 Bells are Ringing
08/03/60 Elmer Gantry
08/17/60 Psycho
09/28/60 All the Fine Young Cannibals
10/12/60 The Angel Wore Red
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10/26/60 The Magnificent Seven
11/09/60 Where the Hot Wind Blows
11/16/60 Butterfield 8
12/14/60 Inherit the Wind
12/28/60 The Facts of Life
01/04/61 Where the Boys Are
01/18/61 Village of the Damned
01/25/61 Go Naked in the World
02/01/61 The Misfits
03/01/61 Gorgo
03/15/61 The Hoodlum Priest
03/29/61 Cimarron
04/19/61 The Apartment/Elmer Gantry
05/03/61 All in a Night's Work
05/10/61 Mein Kamph
05/24/61 The Young Savages
05/31/61 Two Loves
06/07/61 The Last Time I Saw Archie
06/21/61 By Love Possessed
07/05/61 Morgan the Pirate
07/12/61 The Naked Edge
07/26/61 The Honeymoon Machine
08/02/61 Goodbye Again
08/09/61 Thief of Baghdad
08/16/61 After Mein Kamph
08/23/61 Ada
09/06/61 The Young Doctors
09/20/61 A Thunder of Drums
09/27/61 Paris Blues
10/11/61 Bridge to the Sun
10/18/61 The Explosive Generation
10/25/61 Town Without Pity
11/01/61 The Mask
11/08/61 Bachelor in Paradise
11/29/61 X-15
12/06/61 Room at the Top/A Streetcar Named Desire
12/13/61 Gigi/Butterfield 8
12/20/61 The Wonders of Aladdin
12/27/61 Pocketful of Miracles
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01/17/62 The Innocents
01/24/62 One, Two, Three
02/14/62 Sergeants 3
03/07/62 Light in the Piazza
03/14/62 The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse
03/21/62 Satan Never Sleeps
03/28/62 Sweet Bird of Youth
04/11/62 All Fall Down
04/18/62 The Horizontal Lieutenant
04/25/62 The Children's Hour
05/02/62 Jessica
05/09/62 Judgement at Nuremberg (pop prices)
05/23/62 Colossus of Rhodes
05/30/62 Follow That Dream
06/06/62 The Cabinet of Caligari
06/13/62 The Vikings/Trapeze
06/20/62 Geronimo
06/27/62 The Road to Hong Kong
07/04/62 Boys' Night Out
07/11/62 Ride the High Country/The Tartars
07/18/62 Reprieve
07/25/62 Birdman of Alcatraz
08/08/62 Lolita
08/29/62 The Miracle Worker
09/12/62 Tarzan Goes to India
09/19/62 Two Weeks in Another Town
09/26/62 Flame in the Streets
10/03/62 I Thank a Fool
10/10/62 The Pigeon That Took Rome
10/24/62 A Very Private Affair
10/31/62 Gigot
11/21/62 Period of Adjustment
11/28/62 Escape from East Berlin
12/05/62 Fancy Pants/The Seven Little Foys
12/12/62 King of Kings (pop prices)
12/19/62 The Swordsmen of Siena
12/26/62 Billy Rose's Jumbo
01/02/63 The Password is Courage
01/09/63 The Lion
01/23/63 Who's Got the Action?
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02/13/63 A Girl Named Tamiko
03/06/63 Follow the Boys
03/20/63 The Courtship of Eddie's Father
03/27/63 Papa's Delicate Condition
04/03/63 STAGE SHOW
04/17/63 Critic's Choice
04/24/63 Nine Hours to Rama
05/01/63 Madame
05/08/63 The Apartment/The Facts of Life
05/15/63 Father of the Bride/Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
05/22/63 No Exit
05/29/63 55 Days at Peking
06/26/63 Cleopatra
12/25/63 The Sword in the Stone
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02/12/64 A Global Affair
02/19/64 The Misadventures of Merlin Jones
03/04/64 West Side Story
03/18/64 Shock Treatment
03/25/64 The Brass Bottle
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06/24/64 The Carpetbaggers
08/19/64 A Hard Day's Night
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09/02/64 CLOSED PERMANENTLY AS FILM HOUSE