Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Palace Theatre: The Cinerama Booth

Winter at the theatres was always a dreadful experience, especially when we were dark. Cleveland winters being what they are always made January/February bookings a bit tricky. During those cold months the heat would be set rather low, cold enough to see your breath in the Palace auditorium. There were only a few warm spots to hang out in, one was Bob Rody's office where we often ate lunch in the mid 70's. The other was my home 1974-76, the Cinerama booth. I had 2-3 electric heaters running almost non-stop during the winter, so it was fairly warm in there. Most everyone in those cold dark months would drop in on a daily basis. It was the place to be.
From Box Office, May 9, 1960.
Palace Auditorium, 1975, photo by William Gesten/Foto Arts Inc.

The booth was demolished in August 1977 as part of the ongoing restoration project, but the memories remain.

2 comments:

Bill Grulich said...

Frank... I remember the Palace Cinerama Booth. It was a very cool place. I also remember you cranking the volume up on the Beatles' records. It was LOUD and cool at the same time.

Frank Dutton said...

Live records sounded really good in the empty theatre, especially at 3 AM.