State Theatre

A 1923 magazine ad for Paramount Pictures featuring an illustration of the interior of the Loew's State in Cleveland can be seen here.

The State boasted one of the longest theater lobbies in the country. I think it stretched over 300 feet from the entrance to the auditorium. The reason for this was that Loews wanted an entrance on Euclid Ave. with the other theaters being built there, but the actual auditorium was on a side street (I think 17th St.) behind the Palace theater which was right next door. So one had to traverse the length of the Palace to reach the State auditorium way in the back of the block. I remember being there once as a kid in the 60's with my cousin and the long walk through the endless seeming lobby and being seated in the vast, dark, mostly empty auditorium (was a weekly matinee). During the refurbishing, the lobby housed a dinner theater, so you can imagine the size of it.

I would hardly call this theater moderate. I think it seated over 3,000. Not sure its capacity now.

Loew's State, Cleveland, had 3,446 seats and was the 43rd largest movie-vaudeville theatre in the USA, according to the "Big Theatre List" published by Theatre Historical Society of America. The State was one seat smaller than the Missouri Theatre in St. Louis, and two seats larger than Loew's 175th Street in New York City.

I believe it. It was huge!

I worked here as a volunteer usher in the late 70s when they were trying to save it from the wrecking ball. Warren's seat count is correct for the time it opened in 1921. In the 70s when they were trying to raise money to save it, they were running a dinner theatre in the lobby (there were no seats in the auditorium at the time) and they could seat (in the lobby) about 500 people for dinner at tables. In this theatre there had not been too much damage from exposure to the elements, most of the damage had been done by Loew's. The auditorium had everything but the dome spray painted black. The opera boxes on either side of the screen had been ripped out so they could install a Cinerama screen. The Cinerama projection booth was installed under the balcony and required the balcony structure above to be cut back several rows for the beam to properly hit the screen. When it closed Loew's sold everything that wasn't nailed down, and some stuff that was - chandeliers, paintings, furniture, seats, etc. This is a Thomas Lamb theatre in the Adamesque style. As mentioned above, the site was on the side street, and the auditorium was behind the Keith's Palace Theatre - the back wall of the State auditorium was against the back wall of the Palace stage. In order to have the entrance on the main avenue the lobby was built along the full length of the Palace. The figure I remember was from the curb to the auditorium entrance was 500 feet. When it was restored in the 80s, they built a new stagehouse as big as the auditorium that can handle the Metropolitan Opera when they tour. The public areas have been restored to original and the electrical/mechanical/HVAC systems replaced. It is a beautiful theatre.

TJ, I am aware that 3000-plus seats is not a moderate-sized theater, however, I was going off the information given on the Playhouse Square website above (which, incidently, does not include the current seating totals for their theaters). From their description, I am assuming the seating today has been reduced considerably from 3446 seats.

Thanks for all the info guys. I think the seating is close to 3000 now, but I'm not sure. I do remember reading about them installing Cinerama in the late 60's. It hardly mattered as it closed shortly after. I'm so glad they were able to save all 4 theaters. Its a booming theater district now.

Recent views of the marquees of both the State and Ohio Theatres can be seen here.

Thanks for all the pics!

Does anyone know if the Palace also had Cinerama? I seem to remember it did. I was never inside, unfortunately. From pictures I've seen it looked like the fanciest of the four theaters. Sadly, I dont live near Cleveland anymore, so I cant enjoy their 2nd life.

Yes, the Palace also had Cinerama, and they also ripped out the opera boxes on either side of the stage to accommodate the cinerama screen. Those boxes have now been restored. They had the projection booth built under the balcony, but did not rip out any of the balcony structure as was done at the Loew's State. I have photos of the Palace from when the PSA first got in there, and they show the red curtains covering the area where the extended screen was, and others where the booth under the balcony can be seen. Also photos of the balcony of the State with the cut-back clearly visable.

The Loew's State did not run Cinerama in 3 strip, just 70MM, It played Cinerama from 2/8/67 thru 2/8/69. The Palace Theatre ran 3 strip Cinerama.

When I was in the Loew's State booth in the 60s they were still just 35mm. I found 3 Simplex X-L projectors, Simplex X-L stereo sound system, RCA Photophone mono optical sound system (with ancient power amps) and Peerless HyCandescent lamps.

I remember this house had a HUGE screen at this time.

I have a dumb question. Where was the speakers for the sound system located? Were they on the stage behind the screen? How big were they? When they'd have a stage show, where did they put them?

I was there to see "Thunderball," the James Bond movie, on December 30, 1965. It was a great theater if I remember with a lobby so long you could get lost in it. I didn't return until 1989 to see some dance program as part of an Art Appreciation class in college. Still impressive.

Yeah, the lobby was allmost a city block long.

Here are some pictures of the former Loew's State. The color photos are from the 1970s, prior to the restoration. The huge lobby was being beng used as a dinner theatre. The photo of the auditorium shows the Cinerama projection booth under the balcony, and you can see where the balcony had to be cut back in front of the booth to accommodate the projector beam. The crane photo is from the early 70s when they removed the sign that was in danger of falling down. behind the engine of the crane you can see the entrance of the Palace, which is boarded up and has had the marquee removed. The b&w photo of the lobby is from the opening in 1921.
http://photobucket.com/albums/b123/dave-bronx/Cleveland%20Theatres/Loews%20State/

A Moller organ Opus 2982 (no size given) was installed in the Loew's State Theater in 1920 at a cost of $7600.00.

dave-bronx: "......the Palace also had Cinerama, and they also ripped out the opera boxes on either side of the stage to accommodate the cinerama screen. Those boxes have now been restored." I almost fainted when I read the first part of your post in regards to the damage caused by Cinerama, but then read the next sentence! Amen!

Does anyone know if all of the restored Cleveland theatres in Playhouse Square have their originally organs and hopefully their original restored organs?

Over on the Loew's Palace page, W.H. Wingo said the following:
"...the ornamental leaded-glass "Exit" signs which I also saw at Loew's State and years later at the State Theater in Cleveland, Ohio. They were made like stained glass windows but just said "Exit" in red on a white background. Maybe a feature common to the chain, or a favorite device of the architect."

I have two questions:
- were these indeed a feature common to Loew's theatres, or something the architect preferred? Or just something so common to all movie houses because of the technology of the times that no one ever mentions it?
- have these signs been restored?

dave-bronx, those pics are heartbreaking.

Here is a 1940 photo of the State and the Allen:
http://tinyurl.com/fphol

Here is a 2007 close-up view of the State Theater.

This is a recent photo of the State Theater.

This is an updated link for the one that Bryan posted on Jul 29, 2004. Its an ad from the Saturday Evening Post dated Aug. 25, 1923.

A book entitled "Cleveland's Playhouse Square" by Patricia M. Mote chronicles in words and photographs the Loew's State & Ohio, RKO Allen & Palace and Hanna theaters from their opening in the 1920s through 2006. It can be found in the Local Interest section of Cleveland area bookstores, and for those not in the area it can be ordered from the publisher at the following website:
http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=arcadia&Product_Code=0738540137&Product_Count=&Category_Code=

One of several great murals painted by James Daugherty on the lobby walls of the Loew's State can be seen here. I believe this is 'The Spirit of Cinema', and was photographed by Life Magazine for the cover of the February 20 1970 issue. That issue featured an article entitled "Goodbye to the Glory Days: Hollywood Puts Its Past Up For Sale".

dave-bronx, I would love to see any pictures you have. The link from 2005 - http://photobucket.com/albums/b123/dave-bronx/Cleveland%20Theatres/Loews%20State/ does not work. I have a couple on this page in my web site - http://cineramahistory.com/loews.htm

1969 photo of the Loew's State Theatre.
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c35%2c3%2c-1&catpageindex=15&catpagesize=25&ProductID=31833
Another 1969 photo of the Loew's State Theatre.
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c35%2c3%2c-1&catpageindex=15&catpagesize=25&ProductID=31834

Here are some new photos I took July 2009 of the State Theatre:

Exterior (Front and Side):

http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandstate01.jpg
http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandstate02.jpg

Outer Lobby:

http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandstate04.jpg

Main Lobby:
http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandstate05.jpg
http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandstate15.jpg

Inner Lobby
http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandstate19.jpg
http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandstate20.jpg

Auditorium:
http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandstate30.jpg
http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandstate28.jpg
http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandstate27.jpg
http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandstate37.jpg
http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandstate35.jpg
http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/theatres/clevelandstate49.jpg

Ad for a less-than-memorable feature at the State:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/modestospeed/428711831/in/set-72157594571697814/

Thanks for the photos.

Renewing link.

Some action at the State:

'Wicked' witch wins battle of nerves over screaming woman in the crowd By Tony Brown, The Plain Dealer December 10, 2009, 7:00AM

Merideth Kaye Clark went out there an understudy. She came back a tough cookie.

And a showbiz disaster became a "beautiful theatrical moment, and the actors onstage and the 2,700 people in the audience shared something." That's how Clark recalled it all Wednesday.

On Tuesday night, in the midst of the quietest moment in the hugely popular Broadway tour of "Wicked" at the State Theatre in PlayhouseSquare, a drunken, obscenity-filled brawl broke out in the audience, tour manager Steve Quinn said.

Clark, a standby filling in as Elphaba, the green witch, had to make a quick decision as police and others scuffled with -- and eventually handcuffed and forcibly removed -- a screaming woman in the audience, Quinn said.

Clark could have followed Hugh Jackman and Patti LuPone, who recently stopped shows when cell phones rang in the audience. Instead, Clark sang the sad, beautiful "I'm Not That Girl" despite the increasing volume and invective, until the perpetrator was dragged out kicking.

"I thought, 'If the show stops, then she wins. If I go on, she loses.' "

As Clark sang the last notes in the newly minted silence, the audience rose to give her an ovation that "felt like a whole minute, and I guess I kind of took a bow. It was very magical."

As for the other woman in the tale, Cleveland police identified her as Kathleen Holmes, 49, of Rock Creek. She was charged with two misdemeanors, and would have been released if she hadn't attacked the booking officer, police said. She was charged with felonious assault and was in jail Wednesday night.

Holmes will get her chance to sing this morning, when she's due to be in the audience of a judge.

SAD. But not surprising considering how inconsiderate people are in public anymore........