State Theatre

TLSLOEWS on March 28, 2011 at 2:40 pm

Sorry that sould be, with our City Manager, not with or City Manager.Also when I was the Manager at the Loews Melrose I was in the lobby of the theatre one afternoon when I heard the pay phone ringing so I picked up the phone and it was Rein Rabakuk calling from Dallas to tell me to fire my Asst. Manager. I thought this was strange as the theatre was not open in the afternoon then,and how did he know I was even there.Anyway when my Asst.came in that night and saw me there in my suit that night,I was off most Friday Nights but had to go to the bank and do the checks and send out the weekly reports, I would wear my street clothes, and he would run the theatre that night,he knew something was up,and I had to give him the bad news.Sorry I am of topic,now back to the State Theatre.

Chuck1231 on March 28, 2011 at 9:31 am

At one time Cleveland had a City Manager with each theatre having its own manager and assistants, the Regional manager also had his office at the State Theatre in Cleveland (during the early 1960’s the Reg. Mgr. was Rein Rabakuk). It was pretty much the same way in St. Louis where the City Managers office was at the State theatre but the theatre also had a manager along with there being a manager and assistants at the Orpheum and the Mid City.

TLSLOEWS on March 27, 2011 at 6:34 pm

Just wondering as Loews had these two theatres in the same building if they shared the same Manager or did both theatres have seperate Manager and staff. When I worked for Loews I got moved around a lot but the theatres were not right next door to each other.

TLSLOEWS on August 4, 2010 at 7:45 pm

Great 1969 photo of the 2 Loews marquees.

saps on December 11, 2009 at 6:21 pm

Some action at the State:

‘Wicked’ witch wins battle of nerves over screaming woman in the crowd By Tony Brown, The Plain Dealer December 10, 2009, 7:00AM

Merideth Kaye Clark went out there an understudy. She came back a tough cookie.

And a showbiz disaster became a “beautiful theatrical moment, and the actors onstage and the 2,700 people in the audience shared something.” That’s how Clark recalled it all Wednesday.

On Tuesday night, in the midst of the quietest moment in the hugely popular Broadway tour of “Wicked” at the State Theatre in PlayhouseSquare, a drunken, obscenity-filled brawl broke out in the audience, tour manager Steve Quinn said.

Clark, a standby filling in as Elphaba, the green witch, had to make a quick decision as police and others scuffled with — and eventually handcuffed and forcibly removed — a screaming woman in the audience, Quinn said.

Clark could have followed Hugh Jackman and Patti LuPone, who recently stopped shows when cell phones rang in the audience. Instead, Clark sang the sad, beautiful “I’m Not That Girl” despite the increasing volume and invective, until the perpetrator was dragged out kicking.

“I thought, ‘If the show stops, then she wins. If I go on, she loses.’ ”

As Clark sang the last notes in the newly minted silence, the audience rose to give her an ovation that “felt like a whole minute, and I guess I kind of took a bow. It was very magical.”

As for the other woman in the tale, Cleveland police identified her as Kathleen Holmes, 49, of Rock Creek. She was charged with two misdemeanors, and would have been released if she hadn’t attacked the booking officer, police said. She was charged with felonious assault and was in jail Wednesday night.

Holmes will get her chance to sing this morning, when she’s due to be in the audience of a judge.

chspringer on July 22, 2009 at 1:41 pm

Thanks for the photos.

Chuck1231 on April 24, 2009 at 1:29 am

1969 photo of the Loew’s State Theatre.
View link
Another 1969 photo of the Loew’s State Theatre.
View link

dave-bronx™ on January 28, 2009 at 5:38 pm

One of several great murals painted by James Daugherty on the lobby walls of the Loew’s State can be seen here. I believe this is ‘The Spirit of Cinema’, and was photographed by Life Magazine for the cover of the February 20 1970 issue. That issue featured an article entitled “Goodbye to the Glory Days: Hollywood Puts Its Past Up For Sale”.

lostmemory on July 21, 2007 at 12:39 pm

This is an updated link for the one that Bryan posted on Jul 29, 2004. Its an ad from the Saturday Evening Post dated Aug. 25, 1923.

lostmemory on May 16, 2007 at 10:25 am

Here is a 2007 close-up view of the State Theater.

cheebalicious on February 7, 2006 at 6:59 am

Over on the Loew’s Palace page, W.H. Wingo said the following:
“…the ornamental leaded-glass "Exit” signs which I also saw at Loew’s State and years later at the State Theater in Cleveland, Ohio. They were made like stained glass windows but just said “Exit” in red on a white background. Maybe a feature common to the chain, or a favorite device of the architect.“

I have two questions:
– were these indeed a feature common to Loew’s theatres, or something the architect preferred? Or just something so common to all movie houses because of the technology of the times that no one ever mentions it?
– have these signs been restored?

dave-bronx, those pics are heartbreaking.

Patsy on November 28, 2005 at 4:48 pm

dave-bronx: “……the Palace also had Cinerama, and they also ripped out the opera boxes on either side of the stage to accommodate the cinerama screen. Those boxes have now been restored.” I almost fainted when I read the first part of your post in regards to the damage caused by Cinerama, but then read the next sentence! Amen!