New Castle Playhouse

The Baltimore family originally opened the State following the closing of their Baltimore Strand nickelodeon which was also located on Long Avenue. Long Avenue itself was a “second downtown” area of sorts which was a popular shopping district for Polish, Italian and other recent immigrant groups. Some referred to shopping on Long Avenue as “going to Europe.” The State theatre was almost always a second run house with occasional foreign language specials. It’s last incarnation was, briefly, as a XXX house before closing as a film theatre. The New Castle Playhouse has done a remarkable job of renovating the theatre and converting it to a live venue. The success of the Playhouse has also brought renewed life to the area in the form of restaurants and small shops. This is a good example of how it SHOULD be done. Currently a search is underway to locate the original architectural drawings of the theatre.

Nice looking little theatre.

The New Castle Playhouse can be seen in this photo.