Maltz Opera House

steelbeard1 on July 16, 2021 at 1:52 pm

Please rename this theater entry to Maltz Opera House, the name it is going by today.

dallasmovietheaters on August 24, 2020 at 2:01 pm

The Maltz Opera House launched November 10, 1879 with “The Rose of Auvergne” and “"Lischen and Fritzchen.” AMC closed its Classic State 3 just over 140 year later on March 16, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The circuit made the closure permanent at the end of July of 2020. It then sold off both the State and the Royal Knight to Jeff Konczak and his wife, Tina, who hoped to restore both venues from ‘plexed to single stage venues.

Joe Vogel on April 23, 2011 at 1:36 am

The Maltz Opera House was built in 1876. This book, a history of Alpena published in 1891, has both a brief biography of George Maltz and a short article about the opera house, with a drawing.

Julius Cahn’s Theatrical Guide lists the Maltz Opera House as a second-floor theater seating either 880 or 900, but in the interior photo linked above by Lost Memory the auditorium doesn’t look at all like something from the late 19th century, so there must have been extensive alterations to the theater at some point, probably in the 1920s-1930s judging from the decor. Most likely the original auditorium was demolished and a new, ground floor auditorium built.

The current facade, though of a similar architectural style to the original, shows numerous differences as well, including a substantially different pattern of fenestration (now bricked up) on the upper floors. It’s unlikely that much remains of the original Maltz Opera House, other than parts of the walls.