Variety Theatre

During the early 80's this theatre was also rented out as a hall. I remember that there were several early 80's well known heavy metal acts that played there during their national tours. One band reportedly played so loud that part of the inside structure (I believe it was the ceiling) cracked. Soon after that there were no more acts allowed because it was thought the theater could be further damaged by the load music.

On www.theshadowlands.net/places/ohio it mentions the Variety Theater. It says that there are a figure in white and a man with red eyes. There is paranormal stage noise that is reported to have been made by a worker who fell off the light balcony and died on the stage. My friend Anthony Asher can see ghosts, even though he is 9 or 10 like me.

An article on the history of the Variety Theater, including now-and-then photos, can be found at westparkhistory.com

A Kimball organ KPO 7001 Size 3/11 was installed in the Variety Theater in 1927.

The Variety Theater was recently sold. The new owner reportedly wants to reopen the theater and include films in the programming

I believe the seating capacity of the Variety was much higher than stated above. More like 1550 on the ground level and 350 in the balcony.

We are in the process of restoring the Variety Theatre. The marquee is scheduled to be repaired and re-lit late summer 2007. The theatre originally had 1900 seats but most of the original seats on the floor have been removed (balcony seats are intact). The Friends of the Historic Variety Theatre is a new 501 (c)(3) organization dedicated to the renovation and successful operation of the Variety Theatre. Plans are to bring it back as a multi-use theatre with films (second run) and live performances (childrens theatre, dinner theatre, plays & musicals, and private parties/receptions). Estimated cost of the renovation is $5 million. From what I've heard, it was the Motorhead concert (2/12/84) that cracked the plaster. The theatre is currently vacant and the Friends have already started work to address the parking problems. We're trying to collect stories and memorabilia from the days when the theatre was operational. Please feel free to contact Gretchen Moore at Westown CDC at 216-941-9262 x 12 or gmoore@westowncdc.org for more information or to share what you have/know.

In an effort to retrieve photos from the theatre, we are offering $20 per picture to anyone who can bring photos of the theatre from 1949 or before. We will return original photos to you. We would very much appreciate any photos that include the original marquee (with vertical blade).
For more information, contact Gretchen Moore at 216-941-9262 x 12 or at gmoore@westowncdc.org

The westparkhistory website posted by gshatterhand in 2005, has a circa 1930 photo of the Variety Theater. Click on the photo for some history of this theater. The website also mentions that the architect was Nicoli Petti. westparkhistory website.

Bryan....I just noticed that both of the websites that we linked to give the address as 11815 Lorain Avenue.

Thanks for pointing that out, Lost, I didn't notice that. I've changed the address to 11815 Lorain. The Film Daily Yearbooks I have also give that address for the Variety.

Here's a direct link to the detailed article about the Variety page mentioned above:

http://www.westparkhistory.com/spotlight/variety.htm

Among other things (a great article) it was built in 1927, at the same time as the Park, with 1900 seats (AFR 1936 says 1,931 seats) with 1,500 in orchestra and 400 in the balcony. The auditorium is turned 90 degrees from the street, angled to the right. At present it is in basically good shape, considering how long it has been closed and the roof and building are structurally sound.

The Friends of the Historic Variety Theatre have a new website: www.varietytheatrecleveland.com You can find photos and information about the "Buy a Bulb" campaign to raise money to restore the marquee.

The last time films were shown at the Capital Theater was the summer of '82 when River and Tom Smith (Liberation Brew) created the Cleveland West Film Society. The films "King of Hearts" and "Harold and Maude" drew big crowds. There is hope the the Variety Theater neighborhood will experience a similar revival that the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood has, good luck Capital Theater.

I was at the Variety Theater on 2/12/84 for the Motorhead show. Exciter from Canada and Mercyful Fate from Denmark opened for them.
The buzz outside the theater was the new record "Kill Em All" by a band called Metallica. Motorhead indeed was the loudest EVER, and I remember Lemmy saying to the crowd something like "they're kicking us off" (the stage). The next day I believe I failed my 11th grade chemistry test. Later, I remember there was an article in Circus magazine that detailed how the "plaster fell from the ceiling" at the Motorhead show. I wish I still had that article. Anyways, the Variety was a great place to see live music!

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1229938362237470.xml&coll=2

Article in today's Plain Dealer about the restoration of the Variety and LaSalle theaters.

Variety Theater photo

I was at that same Motorhead concert in 1984 w/ Merciful Fate, and i have also seen Metallica, W.A.S.P., Saxon, Armored Saint, Breaker, Wendy-o-Williams, Shok Paris....Those were the best concerts i have ever went too. Just the smell, atmosphere and energy nothing could ever match up to that. I grew up on West 117th by Halloran Park and i had a historic childhood, thanks to the Variety Theater. I hope they host concerts some day after they restore her.

Here is a 1982 photo. I was wondering if that was the same Papa Johns that is now a national chain.
http://tinyurl.com/c6axy6

Amother 1982 photo of the Variety Theatre.
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c35%2c3%2c-1&catpageindex=3&catpagesize=25&ProductID=29591

Just posting to re-link to the e-mail notifications.

1973 photo of the Variety Theatre.
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c35%2c3%2c-1&catpagesize=25&ProductID=31889
1979 photo of the Variety Theatre.
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c35%2c3%2c-1&catpagesize=25&ProductID=31890
1985 photo of the Variety Theatre.
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c35%2c3%2c-1&catpageindex=17&catpagesize=25&ProductID=31893
Another 1985 photo of the Variety Theatre.
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c35%2c3%2c-1&catpageindex=17&catpagesize=25&ProductID=31894

The band that cracked the ceiling was Motorhead. I was at that show 1985 or 1986 I believe. Merciful Fate also played. Plaster was falling from the ceiling and the maintenance man tried to stop Motorhead from playing any more encores. He finally had to literally pull the switch on the breaker box, which really angered Lemmy from Motorhead.

Motorhead was '84 I guess. We tried to get fast food from a drivethrough after the show. Ha! My brother and his friend promoted a later show with Exciter. We helped load in the amps, which most were empty cabinets for show. Got to see the concert from backstage.

The 1985 picture posted above was the Exciter show put on by JD 2 Productions. Ripper, the opener got into a fight with he crowd when power failure interrupted the show. Power was fixed and the show went off.