Warner Theatre

The theater opened the evening of April 14, 1983, for its final screening – the invitational premiere of the locally made “Flashdance.”

A special guest at the premiere was Pittsburgh Police Officer Victor Cianca Sr., who made a cameo appearance in the picture directing traffic. Vic died Jan. 24, 2010. Vic had either just retired or was about to retire at age 65 when the picture screened.

I am going through some olf family photos and thought some of you may appreciate these. These are of my grandfater during the run of How The West Was Won in 1963. He wa sa projectionist at the Warner back then.

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http://i39.tinypic.com/os52q0.jpg

I know it broke my heart the day they finally took those Norelco projectors out of that upstairs booth….Just seeing them in that photo almost brought tears,, It was'nt long after that, they moved the Cinerama projectors downstairs….and very rarely ever used the booth upstairs again…

Hi, Joe. I grew up in Pittsburgh during the 50’s and 60’s and some of my most cherished memories are of going to the Warner Theater for their reserved seat engagements. I checked out the pictures on that page and yes, that is the Warner but with some significant modifications. The beautifully carved proscenium arch was preserved but everything behind it was removed: the half dome, the screen, the cameo panels, the orchestra pit, the screen, the stage, even several front rows of seats. This was all replaced by a large stage. A solid deep red curtain hung down behind the arch across the width of the stage. It seemed to come down to the base of the half dome. One can see from the picture where they obtained the stage depth to be able to hold a Cinerama screen, which stretched in an impressive arch from one end of the stage to the other. A curved deep red curtain was also in place masking the screen. Now for regular 70mm productions like “Ben-Hur”. a normal flat screen was used, stretching across the entire stage with its own deep red curtain. I believe the boxes on the side were kept but they were mostly for show. I never saw anyone actually sitting there. The primary colors were beige and deep red. The carpeting and the seats matched the curtains. The deep red of the stage curtains was reinforced by a row of lights with red cels that were attached to the front wall of the balcony. I believe the foyer was much larger than in the picture because I don’t remember looking down on the last rows of the orchestra, so they must have removed several rows nd created a wall to contain the auditorium. Yes, that chandelier was there and the design of that dome resembled the main one in the auditorium itself, just without the chandelier. I don’t remember any furniture being there. I was hoping for some interior pictures of the theatre too, but thanks to linking to the pictures of The Grand. It brought back so many memories. I thought it was the most beautiful theater in the area, and it was well kept during that period so that it could show so many prestigious pictures.

it is a shame that this theatre and all the others are now no longer, either torn down, or in another use. At least some of them are still in use as legit theatres. When I lived downtown I of course always went to these theatres,but even when I lived in Shadyside or East Liberty I came downtown to go to the movies.It was always so much more special. I understand progress and all but it is a shame when a downtown area of a city is devoid of any movie theatre, the multiplexes really ruined it all