Adams Theatre
28 Branford Place,
Newark,
NJ
07102
28 Branford Place,
Newark,
NJ
07102
8 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 53 comments found
This has quite a long lobby back to the auditorium which stretches from Halsey Street to Treat Place. The lobby looks like it has a clothing store.
tisloews: You are welcome. I pride myself on the theatre related stories that I find through different sources and being able to share them with fellow cinema treasures members.
Good story Patsy.
This theatre and the Paramount in NYC are mentioned in the history of the legendary musical group, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
http://www.history-of-rock.com/four_seasons.htm
I found this link to be easier to get directly to three Adams Theatre images: View link
[=stillimage&orderby=title&numresults=10&key=NJDH&&numresults=1&start=6]http://www.njdigitalhighway.org/search/results.php?q1=Newark&q1field=fulltext&q1bool=AND&q2field=fulltext&rtype[]=stillimage&orderby=title&numresults=10&key=NJDH&&numresults=1&start=6](http://www.njdigitalhighway.org/search/results.php?q1=Newark&q1field=fulltext&q1bool=AND&q2field=fulltext&rtype[)
There’s some nice photos of the Adams Theater on this website called NJ Digital Highway…
perhaps the victoria theater ad references an old name for congress theate? /theaters/13122/ http://caprioconnections.com/pictures/statue1.html “Victoria Theatre, 257 S. Ornage Ave. Newark, the home of refined Italian Vaudeville and the best Italian features, every Saturday and Sunday, Week days English and best Photo Plays” here is pic of ad for vaudeville and high quality photo plays on back wall of adams
View link
I’m reading the autobiography of my favorite singer, Vic Damone, and he mentions having performed here early in his career while he was doing radio, records, & clubs.
This is another 1981 photo.
stage door??? View link looking at google earth it seems like this stage door on treat place must be the Adams, which runs from halsey to treat? and the branford side is just the lobby? but what to make of the signage for victoria theater on the back in the other picture?
Here is a 1981 photo of the Adams:
http://tinyurl.com/cztybz
The theater was presenting burlesque shows in the early 1950s, according to some litigation at that time.
CWalczak, I apologize for the comment about Cleveland. I did hesitate before adding it to the list because I do know that Cleveland is in better shape than the other cities that I mentioned. I know that they have made some strides in preserving theaters in the Playhouse Square area and are trying hard to get back on its feet, but Cleveland still has major problems throughout the city as a whole. The credit crisis has hit the city incredibly hard and I believe Cleveland has one of the country’s largest forclosure rates (maybe the highest for a major city).
I do wish this theatre, along with the Paramount a few blocks away could be revived, but I dont know…
I have to disagree about Cleveland – while it certainly has not erased grittiness throughout the city, it certainly has done an incredible job of preserving most of its downtown movie palace treasures, something that New York City cannot claim. It may not be what it was in the past, but it is hardly a city in ruins.
Hi Cypress, Do you currently live in one of Newark’s gritty wards? Do you look over your shoulder when you walk down the street at night. Do you worry about being burglarized while you sleep? Are your neighborhood stores just Dollar Stores, check cashing vendors and bodegas? Oh, I forgot the store front churches! Do you have to go to a whole other neighborhood to shop at real department stores or go to a supermarket or feel comfortable sitting in a park? Who wants to live like that? I’m so grateful that New York has been able to wipe most of that away throughout the entire city to the betterment of almost all of its residents.
The cities who have been unable to do this; Detroit, Gary, East St. Louis, Cleveland, Compton, Camden sit in ruins.
Hi LuisV. I guess I am misguided. What one person considers ‘gritty’ another considers an eyesore. I was pretty lost around that time and I found in that old Times Square something that resonated with me: neglect, abandoned, but still a diamond in the rough that needed TLC.
The Adams restoration would be more probable if Newark in genereal and this neighborhood in particular were more inviting.
Cypress… Why do you feel that Newark losing its “grit” is a terrible thing? Obviously you don’t live there. Who wants to live in a neighborhood filled with crime and fear? Given the choice, virtually no one.
Times Square was a cesspool that was symbolic of the city as a whole in the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s. Once it was cleaned up and its “Grit” removed, what happended? The Theater Boomed, hotels boomed, restaurants boomed and then, surprise!…People WANTED to live in Times Square/Hells Kitchen.
Newark could only dream of having success like this. In the early 90’s New York had a murder count of 2,200 people. Today it is around 500. A big part of the reason for the decline is the city’s success in getting rid of that “grit” you appear to like. Many more people are alive today because of the city’s success. Yet Newark is at its high point in murders. Why would you want it to stay this way?
When I was there last year I saw the same sign. The gates were up and I almost made it into the auditorium but some guy came by and basically told me to take a hike. From the looks of the lobby just past the front door it seems they were operating a discount store but it failed.
It was so sad to see a great beauty like the Adams reduced to a discount store.
That sign has been there for a long while now:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweintraub/276592822/
Went by today, the “ADAMS” letters that were left have been removed and new panels cover the three sides of the marquee “$1.00 DISCOUNT”.
Ed I agree with your idea about the Paramount. But with the NJPAC nearby I wonder if the power-that-be will allow such competition. I feel that the Paramount would make a great theater to stage shows like the New Amsterdam in Times Square. It’s a shame that developers don’t think like we do. We are able, for the most part, to see a broader picture. They see things in dollars per square feet.
I have been saying for the past year, if they want people to come back to Newark, you need something for them to come back to. Bringing the Adams, and its companion a few blocks away, the Paramount would be a great start. Lets not find them being turned into offices or condos, like so many other great palaces have.
I agree with Ed. downtown Newark has that gritty feel to it that Times Square once had. Soon it will be scrubbed clean and it will lose its real vibe. The Newark Paramount, with lots of love and cash, could become a great concert hall.
With Prudential Center having just opened just a few blocks away, I’d wager that much of the real estate in the area will be ripe for redevelopment in the coming few years. This would probably be a good time for shutter bugs to get themselves to downtown Newark and document what remains along the Broad Street corridor before it is all re-zoned and re-built beyond recognition.