State Theatre
406 S. Burdick Street,
Kalamazoo,
MI
49007
406 S. Burdick Street,
Kalamazoo,
MI
49007
7 people
favorited this theater
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Auditorium featured in this 1928 trade ad for American Seating: Boxoffice
To say that the theatre was “restored to its original condition” is far from reality.
Here is a nice photo.
1963 Photo
1980 Interior
An earlier entry reminds me of the Blizzard of 1967 when I resided there…it was a 28-inch snowfall…and paralyzed the town for days. There was a photo taken by the Gazette of a worker shovelling the snow in front of the State Theatre which the AP picked up for national distribution. The film on the marquee: “The Endless Summer.”
A 2009 photo can be seen here.
This is another 2008 photo.
Here is a photo taken in 2000:
http://tinyurl.com/7eoqfa
Here is the State Theater marquee lit up and flashing.
Thanks, Now I’ll be able to sleep tonight.
Frank Caliendo is the guy that does the John Madden impressions on the football pregame show.
Haha – of course you get a picture of our marquee the day the wind knocked the letter N off… “REO TICKETS ON SALE OW” It wasn’t even like that for very long. Sneaky, sneaky. You probably noticed the bit of white paneling behind the letters that’s caved in a bit. That’s getting fixed, thankfully.
This is just the marquee.
I remember going to see the Butthole Surfers there in the 90s and people destroyed one of the statues down towards the stage. I look back at that and become really angry at the needless destruction of one of Kalamazoo’s most historic buildings under such stupid circumstances.
Here is a recent close-up view of the State Theater.
“When the State Theatre opened on the corner of S. Burdick and Lovell Streets in July 1927, it brought the "atmospheric” movie palace experience to Kalamazoo.“ All towns should be so lucky to have an "atmospheric” movie palace experience brought to their hometown!
This is an updated link for one that I posted back in January of 2005 which no longer works.
Sarahbauman… sorry to move us off topic for a post… would you be so kind as to contact me regarding your theater. I’m working on an article about Ebersons Atmospheric designs and would enjoy being able to ask a few questions. Thank you.
Tim
Here is a 2007 photo of the State Theater.
Oh, yeah… PS…
The building the theatre is in is pretty huge, so there are other companies or offices that use office spaces upstairs. So companies like Case Management aren’t actually part of the State Theatre, they’re just located above it. The State Theatre’s just the State Theatre!
Hey. Since some of you seem pretty interested… Actually, a lot of the cool stuff they moved/took down when they’ve “cleaned up” or changed things in the theatre is still there. It’s either been put back up, or put somewhere else safe where it can still be seen, but not harmed. We have some in the box office in the entryway and in the office next door to the main entrance. And the fountain, cool spanish light fixtures are still working & there, and even the moving clouds & stars ceiling still works. It’s funny â€" the switches & everything you have to use to turn on the lights & all of that are so old. I feel like I’ve warped back in time every time I use them. Granted, there are some things that won’t be coming back… The doors got changed in the 60’s to an all-glass front & there used to be a big gorgeous fountain in the entry way, and where the bars are now used to be posh little seating areas with chairs/couches and terra cotta (sp?) pottery with big lush plants all around & whatnot. Sometimes I wish I were absolutely loaded so I could make that place look as lavish as it once did. Would be so cool.
The original marquee actually was so massive and heavy that the way it was put up on the corner of the building corroded things over the years and it eventually went crashing down, so the marquee you all see now was put there in its replacement. Some things have fallen down over the years, yes, such as little statues & whatnot. There are some things that fell or broke over time, but we’ve still got a lot of it. Tons of old posters, too, but we wish we could find some from its early days. This year’s the 80th anniversary!
There are pictures up on the website (www.kazoostate.com). If you guys were that interested, I’ve got a ton of pictures of old cool stuff we found cleaning out random little hidden storage rooms under the seating areas & whatnot. I could get them up somehow.
For those of you that are myspacers, check out www.myspace.com/kazoostate
Here is another recent photo of the State Theater and this is a recent close-up.
State Theater ** (added 1983 – Building – #83004623)
404 S. Burdick St., Kalamazoo
Historic Significance: Architecture/Engineering
Architect, builder, or engineer: Vanderhorst,Henry, Eberson,John
Architectural Style: Mission/Spanish Revival
Area of Significance: Architecture
Period of Significance: 1925-1949
Owner: Private
Historic Function: Recreation And Culture
Historic Sub-function: Theater
Current Function: Unknown
When my wife and I were first married, we lived in Kalamazoo for a while. I saw two movies at the State. We went one night and seen what has become one of my favorite movies, Jeremiah Johnson with Robert Redford. The next time we went to the State, My wife brought it to my attention that there was another Robert Redford movie playing there and ask if I would like to go. I asked what the movie was about and she said “ahhh, it’s just like that Jeremiah Johnson movie.” It was “The Way We Were!” I was tricked into seeing that one!
There are only upper balcony pics inside the theatre, there was a function going on in the auditorium so I was only in the balcony.