Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center

Short note: The photo of the Keith Albee was taken by Greg Pauley of GHTC. He also took the close up pics of the restoration of the Keith following the fire that are available on the Keith Albee's official site.

It would be terrible if this theater were destroyed. It is a beautiful theater that has just been renovated. If only it were'nt competing witha near-by multiplex.

This was one of three atmospherics that Thomas Lamb worked on simultaneously, the others being Proctor's 58th Street in New York City and the Keith-Albee in the NYC suburb of Flushing, Queens. The Huntington Keith-Albee is the least lavish of the three, probably because the city then had a population of only 66,000 and wasn't a major stop on the vaudeville circuit.

The keith albee in huntington, wv is in serious trouble. Articles about closing it and the building not being able to survive are horrible. The town is building a theatre complex two blocks away, so city funds are going towards that instead of this truly beautiful place.

I grew up in huntington and cannot stand the thought of something happening to this theatre. What can citizens such as myself do to help? The place is so historical and the most beautiful theatre I have been in. The Fox theatre in Atlanta (my current home) is half the size and prospers so much.

Please help! The article seems like it is okay, but it is not.

Thanks,
Jennifer Pritt
770-541-5427
jenniferpritt@hotmail.com

There is nothing that is going to preserve this monumental building as a theatre, once the multi-plex is completed. It is the cities responsability to bring attention to it seeing as how they have spent so much tax $ on it already. What could happen is... if the Historical Society was notified of the theatre's history, it would be Nationally noticed and no way could be torn down. That would make it possible to utilize the famous/beautiful building as another means of public use. Maybe an actual theatre, like the Marshall Artist Series, or maybe a place where local bands/singers could go and perform on seperate stages... there are numerous possibilities. Someone just needs to get the ball rolling.

James Lester

There's no "The" in the theatre's name. It's simply Keith-Albee.

I was a stagehand for several shows at the Keith-Albee. Elephant Man, Mornings at Seven, Pennsylvania Ballet, and A Chorus Line, all part of the Marshall Artist Series. This theater is incredible. It needs to be saved. Any ideas? I want to help.

dmichaelbarber@yahoo.com

I think we should really pull together and save the theatre. The basement alone is worth restoring and offering tours. I will help as well.

jenniferpritt@hotmail.com

I agree. We as a community need to work together to save this landmark. If you have any ideas please contact me!!

I'm an out of towner, but I want to see this theatre preserved! Is there anything I can do to help?

It would be a shame to lose one of America's last great motion picture palaces. I grew up in Huntington and I can say there is nothing left in Hollywood, where I reside now, that compares to the original Keith Albee of my youth.

Looking for historical information. My Great Aunt, Rae Eleanor Ball played violin with the RKO circuit (1910-1930). I am looking for any and all information that you may have that showed she played at your theatre. Thank you for your time.
shortykab@yahoo.com

Jennifer & Niles;

I am confused here, is the theatre now open as the site says, or is it closed? Please give me the status of the building. If both of you could contact me by e-mail at jreadmond2001@yahoo.com I would be very interested in discussing with you some ideas about the Keith Albee.

The theater is completely open, I work there everyday. I have sent letters to many public officials soliciting help, support, and money to help the Keith stay open. If anyone has ideas for more I can do, please contact me. rush7@marshall.edu

Here is a link to a current B&W photo of the Keith Albee.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/i_am_jacques_strappe/16145315/in/pool-cinemasignage/

This is a brief article and color photo of the Keith-Albee Theater.

More photos can be seen here.

I can't imagine turning a Lamb atmospheric (or any atmospheric) into a 4 screen venue!

This theater is closing to movies Jan 22, 2006!. 2 days, Im going to the final show to be shown in the main theater. Im going to be so sad to see it go.

Ive seen a lot of movies at this theater and it is amazing. I wish that I could see it fully restored because Ive seen pictures of it when it is fully lit and cleaned, its even more beautiful then.

The downstairs bathrooms/waiting room are also amazing. I used to be so frightened going down their when I was a kid. Heck, its still a little scary now. It would be a great area to film part of a horror movie. I watched Scream 2 there and let me say going to the bathrooms were even more frightening when I went afterwards, its much scarier than the movieplex bathroom shown when a character is killed in that movie.

One thing I am very thankful for however is that this theater will remain open for performing arts and there are 4 performing arts shows already scheduled, also the Marshall Film Festival will remain there so at least through that time the film equipment will remain. Hopefully they will keep the film equipment permanently for occasional shows.

There is a series of articles into today's Huntington newpaper about the future of this theater. There's a push to convert it into a live performance center which would require the restoring all the original seating and thus eliminating the balcony mini cinemas. Apparently, some heavy hitters are involved and the situation looks favorable. Still, nothing is certain.

The Marshall University Foundation now owns the Keith-Albee, and the board of directors is trying to decide what to do with it. I am working for them as an intern right now. I am their representative for the Keith-Albee, as well as liaison for any public inquiries or interest. Native of the Huntington community, I am working on my Master of arts administration at the University of Cincinnati right now.

If you have any ideas for the Keith-Albee or are interested in supporting its renovation, please email thekeithalbee@gmail.com (i know there is no "the" in the formal title, but this is the closest email I could get :^) Emails sent to this address will come to me. Thanks!

Emily Morse

Emily, do they plan on using the theater's organ very much in the future? I saw on the ATOS website that there is a 2/7 Wurlitzer hybrid organ installed in the theater.

In response to MikeR, the organ is a Wurlitzer Style E with 4 ranks of additional pipes. It was originally installed in the Granada Theater in Bluefield, WV. It was removed from the Granada in 1970 and was in a private residence for years. Our group purchased the organ in 2000 and installed it in the Keith. We do use the organ every chance we can. The plans are to enlarge it into a 3 manual organ with about 16-20 ranks. Get in touch with me if you'd like to know more about the organ. posted by Huntington Theatre Organ Project, Inc. Send e-mails to GranadaKeith@aol.com

I was there recently for about a ten hour tour. This theatre is amazing, and the basement and sub basement took a very long time to go through. The altec Lansing speakers look like little specs from the booth. Also there has to be the largest squirrel cage blower I have ever seen behind the booth for the AC system, with a 50 HP motor.
The organ was being played while I toured the theatre, by a friend of mine. And I must say that once the Solo chamber is added and the Kimball console installed the sound will be even more unbelievable.
What is also amazing is that the blueprints for this theatre are actually still in the theatre, along with booking sheets that go way back, with details on ticket and concession sales for every movie. The view from the roof is amazing. And seeing the amount of marble and the amount of light bulbs alone was worth the trip to this theatre.
For those of you that don't think this is enough, the little candy store next door to the theatre is also a time warp. I bought enough candy there to last the ten hours i was in the theatre.

Thanks to Bob E. and GranadaKeith, hope the organ project keeps going smoothly. Hopefully Jelani Eddington will play there in the future. I will drive from Texas again to see him there.

Thanks, Brad. Yes, the theatre is incredible. Brad and some friends came up for an 'unofficial' tour of the place. The building is in very good shape for a building built in 1928. It is also important to remember that the Keith Albee and the Ohio Theatre, Cols. Ohio, both Thomas Lamb theaters, were being constructed at the same time. The Ohio Theater opened in March 1928 and the Keith in May, 1928.
The Keith Albee Theater will open again this fall with the Marshall University Artists Series productions and the fall international film festival. Look for the Artists Series page on the Marshall U. web pages at www.marshall.edu

A brief article regarding this theatre's conversion to a performing arts center can be found at http://www.herald-dispatch.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060908/NEWS01/60908006/1005/NEWS10

This is a photo of the Keith-Albee Theater.

The new movie "We Are Marshall" had a gala World premiere at the newly restored Keith-Albee the other night. The film depicts the rebuilding of the Marshall University football program after a tragic plane crash took the lives of the entire team, coaching staff and a number of fans back in 1970. I saw some footage of the premiere on one of the network Entertainment tabloid TV shows earlier this week.

Here's an article from a local newspaper that includes a photo of the theater's marquee. Here's another from a local TV station's website.

If you do a search on Google Images for "Keith-Albee theater" a number of links come up, including this terrific recent shot of the exterior.

Interesting that Warren wrote at the beginning of this thread that this theater was the least lavish of the three atmospherics he was working on simultaneously at the time. While the interior appointments might not have been as rich and lush as the Proctor's or Keith's in New York, the exterior of the of the Huntington Keith-Albee is certainly more intracately fashioned than either one of the other two. Images I've seen of the Proctor's 58th Street show a very plain and utalitarian facade. The Keith's in Flushing has a facade that is very similar in style to the Keith-Albee, but not quite as handsomely finished or ornamented.

In any event, of the three, only the Keith-Albee survives as an active facility. The RKO Proctor's was long ago demolished and the RKO Keith's has been sitting vacant and vandalized for over 20 years and is about to have its auditorium razed and fabulous atmospheric grand foyer co-opted into the lobby of some sort of mixed-use residential/commercial banality.

Here is a recent photo of the Keith-Albee Theater.

Lots happening at the Keith-Albee! The Hyman family, which had owned the theatre for the past 80 years gifted it to the Marshall University Foundation in 2006, which in turn gifted it to a new non-profit foundation, Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center, Inc, which now runs it as a performing arts center. Their new web page is at http://www.keithalbeearts.org/ Function above should be changed to "performing arts". Much of its current schedule is performances as part of the Marshall Arts series. Keith Hyman, whose grandfather built the Keith-Albee serves on the board of directors.

The foundation is conducting studies to plan a series of renovations. the first of these commenced late 2006; the removal of the downstairs mini-theatres to restore the auditorium to its original configuration. From their renovation info I see the proscenium is 47.6 feet wide and 25 feet high.

The website above has photo galleries both past and present. The auditorium looks in very good condition; the balcony was never separated from orchestra - the photos are the first I've seen of an atmospheric theatre with green sky lighting! Interesting effect. The webpage doesn't have any recent news about renovations but it has been having performances all spring.

Here is an ad for the Keith-Albee dated July 15, 1928.

This is a recent photo of the Keith-Albee Theater.

Hmmm. I'm surprised they kept the "1 2 3 4" signage on the marquee after restoring the interior to a single screen.

I don't know if that is intentional or just an oversight on their part. This is a new website for the Keith-Albee Theater. The location given on the website is:

Keith-Albee Performing Arts Center
924 Fourth Avenue
Huntington, WV 25701
(304) 696-3632

Here is a recent view of the Keith-Albee at night.

Thanks to all of you who have posted. The Keith Albee is alive and well. In reference to Ed Solero's post, we have not restored the marquee yet. That project is in the future. One problem we have is that some of the plastic on the attraction sign is in rough shape and there are some broken pieces--if we remove the 1-2-3-4 we may jeopardize the integrity of the sign. We're working on that.
This past August and September we removed the last vestage of the multiplex by renovating/restoring the Lobby. The ticket counter and concession stand that was a compromise for multiplex operation was removed and the inner lobby was restored. The grand foyer was carpeted as an interim measure until a complete restoration can take place. Thanks to the Hyman family most of the decorations removed during the late 1970s multiplexing were safely stored in the basement of the building. This summer a new counterweight system was installed. So, things are being done, but it will definitely take time and money to completely restore the theatre.

Remarkable that those decorations were spared the trash bin! Great foresight on the part of the Hymans, if their intentions in storing the items were a matter of thoughtfulness and respect rather than economic haste or efficiency. Thanks for posting, GranadaKeith.

Ed: The Greater Huntington Theater Co. was very careful in the renovation to a multiplex and attempted to leave as much of the original decoration as possible should the theater be restored. Much care was taken not to damage any of the decorative plaster in the auditorium and the lobbies. We are very fortunate that the Hymans took such care.

Indeed, GranadaKeith!

I worked for a local architect several years ago, and have been interested in the architecture of many buildings in the Huntington area. I would like to get a copy of The Keith Albee Theater blueprints. I don't know if the Court House keeps that kind of information or not, or if they do, would they let me get a copy.
If anyone in the area knows how to get these prints. I would appreciate the information.

This is a 2008 photo of the Keith-Albee.

Here are two 1985 photos:

Photo1

Photo2

2009 photo of the Keith Albee courtesy onasill.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7156765@N05/4098856440/sizes/o/