State Palace Theatre
1108 Canal Street,
New Orleans,
LA
70112
1108 Canal Street,
New Orleans,
LA
70112
14 people
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Showing 76 - 82 of 82 comments
When I was last in New Orleans for Labor Day 2003, the theater was opened Fri Sat and Sun showing classic movies. I wanted to go but never made it. Does anybody know if they still are doing that?
Canal St sure had a lot of theaters in it’s day.
Hmmm, I just commented in the Joy Theater section about how when I was in New Orleans in February, and remember them having a “Superbowl” party in one of the “abandoned” theaters on Canal Street. I had at first assumed it was the Joy, but now I am not sure if it may have been the State. Either way, either the Joy or the State was hosting a “Superbowl” party, where I assume they played the game on the screen.
If it was in fact the State, it looked quite abandoned too, just like the Joy Theater, because the next day when I walked past, the theater was boarded up tight. I really wanted to go over to Bourbon Street for the evening, but almost wished I had gone to the superbowl party in the theater, just to see the inside.
Wow. How restored is this place?? When I went there in the late 80s to see “Jason Takes Manhattan,” it was a fairly spooky place. I was the only white person in the audience & people were throwing things at me and heckling (!), so I left early. The place was trashed. There were chandeliers hanging from threadbare strings, the drapery was all torn up (as was much of the seating), and the grand staircase felt very, very creaky. Most of it looked original, but the way they had it tripled was nothing short of sacrilidge. I found this all very interesting as a Chicago native, having seen the painstaking refurbishment/restoration of the Chicago Theater on State. I beleive this theater may have had the same architechts? You tell me.
Michael, the orchestra plays next door at the Orpheum. Rock concerts play across the street at the Saenger. The State Palace is trying to get any booking it can.
I visited and toured the Loew’s State during 1988 and have not seen it since, but these are my recollections.
The State (as well as the Saenger) has a large handsome lobby to direct patrons past the store fronts on Canal Street. The most usual aspect of this (and the Saenger) is that the lobby is “T” shaped with large door ways opening onto each of the side streets. Beyond the head of the “T” is the orchestra foyer with its own doors opening onto the side streets.
Like many other Thomas Lamb Loew’s theaters, there is only a single large balcony, no mezzanine.
I remember the State being tripled at that time, with 2 screens under the balcony and the balcony seats looking onto the proscenium screen.
The stage was hemp.
The one thing that I will always remember about that trip was the carpet in the orchestra aisles. It must have been original to 1926 (?) as it was worn through the pile, through the backing and through the pad all the way down to bare concrete.
There was a photo of the theater soon after it opened showing a cooling tower on the stage-house roof with the words “Loew’s Vaudeville” painted on the slats.
In the old projection booth were the old Ashcraft Super Cinex projection lamps sitting on even older bases. Newer automated equipment was actually running.
The Loew’s State seated 3335 people when it was a movie theatre.