Erie Playhouse
13 W. 10th Street,
Erie,
PA
16501
13 W. 10th Street,
Erie,
PA
16501
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The 980 seat Strand Theatre was one of the big 3 movie theatres in Erie—the other 2 being the Warner Theatre and Shea’s Theatre. This Strand Theatre opened on November 14, 1948, and replaced an earlier (larger) Strand Theatre which operated on State Street. Originally built by Stanley-Warner, I believe this new Strand Theatre later stood empty for a number of years until it was rescued by the Erie Playhouse company in 1983.
Currently seating 433, the theatre has been renovated in 1993 and 2007 and was recognised by the American Theatre Association in 1985 as one of the Ten Best Community Theatres in the United States.
Contributed by
David Stear, Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 32 comments)
Still wish it looked like the THSA mystery theater #12 photo in the Jan 14, 2008 post! IF those doors are still in existence which I seriously doubt, they should be re-installed.
A 1996 view of the former Strand Theater building in Erie.
http://tinyurl.com/32t27o
This is how the Erie Playhouse should still look, imo!
There was a balcony in the Strand. My father was a part-time projectionist there during the Seventies. I would sit with him in the booth or in the balcony (which was closed to the public by that time for some reason. I saw many movies there, including The Godfather,Jaws (18 times) and a re-release of 2001. The balcony was only opened one time that I remember, for Star Trek 2 in 1981 or ‘82.
This Strand Theater replaced the original Strand, which was around the corner on State Street. The “new” Strand had a stadium style balcony. The design was art moderne. As you entered the lobby, the concession stand was to your left, which also had the stairs leading to the rest rooms on the lower level. The three strip Cinerama was set up in one booth in the balcony. in 1960, “Ben Hur” opened in 70mm and, if memory serves, played for almost a year. for 70mm they returned to the original booth. Across the street was the Majestic, an old vaudeville house which became Shea’s. There were also the Colonial, Columbia and the State in downtown Erie
1986 Photo
Here is a nice 2009 photo.
Here are more photos beginning in 1971:
http://tinyurl.com/y859vnd
http://tinyurl.com/y8eoqgy
http://tinyurl.com/ydxpqcd
http://tinyurl.com/ydhqfqo
Here’s my July 2010 photo showing the new ticker-type marquee, squares on facade cleaned up, new doors, horizonal stripes removed… all just horrible in my opinion:
http://agilitynut.com/10/7/eth.jpg
I agree it looks “TACKY” but thats just my opinion,the owners most likely love it though.