Mayland Theatre

Dwodeyla: Well, I worked at a lot of the theatres on the east side of Cleveland, and a few on the west side. I was an apprentice stagehand for about 3 years, and as such, worked what the local union called “The Extra List” — which meant that I usually was assigned to a different place every night, or at best, every week or so. I did stay at the Ezella for a long time, because none of our journeymen stagehands bid on the job. When that happened, the union gave it to the apprentice with the most seniority — or sometimes to the guy they liked best. I could just about write a book about Cleveland theatres! By the way: The most “haunted” theatres I ever worked were the Park and Keith’s 105th Street, and then the old Hippodrome, downtown. I never saw a ghost in any of them, but strange noises, rustling curtains, and creaking floorboards were always present. There were even some old backstage dressing rooms that seemed colder than normal, for no apparent reason. But I could go on and on, and I’m sure whoever’s running this site would get upset with me. Soon as I figure out how to do it, I’ll add a few lines about the Ezella. I knew that old place from top to bottom!
I’m really happy to see that somebody cares something about the old Cleveland theatres. There were really some great ones. It’s a shame that most of them are now gone, and when old codgers like me are gone, who’ll be left to tell their stories? Anybody out there remember the Doan, the Liberty; the Uptown; the Knickerbocker; the Upper and Lower Mall; the Alhambra; the Stillman; the University; the Granada; the Lyric; the Union Square; and there’s probably 100 more!

Dave: Sounds like the old place really went downhill in the 70s! I worked there from about 1952 until 1955. I started as an usher at age 15. My mother worked in the concession stand, and I dated a girl who was the cashier. H. C. (Cliff)Pegg was the manager. I cleaned and painted that old downstairs men’s room many times, and of course, I used to burn trash in the incinerator in the boiler room. I never saw even so much as a trace of a leak in either the walls or the floor, so the flooding conditions must have started later on. The sidewalk heater was originally steam-heated. But we were told that a truck ran over it at some point early on, and the pipes broke. They replaced the concrete and installed the wires, and I remember that there was a separate box in the electric room that controlled this. We had to make sure that thing was on during snowy or cold weather, and off when it was warm – a pain in the posterior!
Of course I never knew about Rex, the porter. We had a famous and well-known stagehand by the name of Rex Anderson, who was a good friend of mine! I’m sure glad to know it was not he who hanged himself! As for hauntings from the pre-Rex days, I could tell you all sorts of stories about that! Finally, I’ll be happy to furnish info about the Ezella. I worked there as a stagehand – for about two years in the late 50s.

When I worked there in the 1970s, we found those big blacklight lenses for the side walls up in the attic. The sidewalk heating must have been changed because we had steam pipes from the boilers going out there, but they leaked and we didn’t use them anymore. Modern sold the parking lot to the Lincoln-Mercury dealer. GCC only owned the ground the building was sitting on and the small parking area directly in front. The marquee had a lot of flashing neon on it, but the city of Mayfield Heights changed their sign laws and forced us to have it adjusted so it no longer flashed. The mens room had been in the basement, but when it rained the basement would fill up with water as high as 2 steps from the lobby. When GCC renovated they made a new mens room on the first floor. If we were there when it started to rain heavily I had to go downstairs and shut off the gas for the boilers and the electric for the house fan and a/c compressor motors. After the tide went out the HVAC contractor would come and dry out all the equipment and start it up again. Jack Essex’s secretary came there to the movies once and told us about the porter, Rex, who had asked Essex for a raise because he was having trouble supporting his family. Essex wouldn’t give him the raise, and that night after the theatre closed and everyone was gone, Rex hanged himself on the stage. Before we had heard that we thought the place was haunted, because there were always strange things happening there.

Anyone have a photo they could email to me?
I visited the theatre once, during a tour of the Cleveland Theatres with General Cinema must’ve been just before it closed.