Playhouse Square

We stopped by the theatres last week, much thanks to Ruth Flannery, Barb Mazzone, Jim Hamilton, Tom Einhouse, and Megan Anderson,  a good day spent with a couple old friends and a couple new ones. It's really great to see theatres in such great shape, and quite active. 45 years ago people kept saying "nobody is going to go down there anymore,"  they were clearly wrong and the result is a thriving theatre district.

Really thankful people like the Connor Family have come forward to help insure these theatres will be around for generations to come.

I'm still amazed that this lobby that had been totally destroyed by fire on July 5, 1964 was totally recreated. Evergreene did such a tremendous job in here.

Dome, Ohio Theatre.

A couple views from the stage, 3,500 seat State Theatre.

I was 17 in 1974, I have no memory of this. Nick Spontelli had a little room in the corner of this area many years ago.

View from projection room. During the run of El Grande de Coca Cola I used to drop in from the roof and watch my favorite parts. That was a great show.!

Mezzanine, State Theatre, the reservation desk during the Brel run was on the right.

Mezzanine ceiling detail.

Exit doors, rear of auditorium, house right. In 1973 this was used as the entrance to the Playhouse Square Cabaret in the lobby of the State Theatre, across the street from these doors the Playhouse Square Garage once stood, where patrons received free parking. There was a lot of water damage in this corner, the wall on the right was down to exposed brick. Some of the damage was caused when CEI disconnected the main steam line into the theatre. It was supposed to be torn down anyway, when that didn't happen the line was reconnected, and we got a new sidewalk.

State Theatre lobby, looked a lot different when I first saw it in 1972, dusty, your footsteps echoing. There wasn't much light, the chandeliers were sold after the theatre closed. no body was going to come down here anymore they said. But they were wrong. Photo from last spring, forgot to take one when we were there on Monday.

Plaque on floor of State Theatre lobby. Those of us who were here for Brel are forever connected by an indivisible bond.

Palace Theatre lobby. Once when I was about 16 I was dead tired and took a quick nap at the bottom of the stairs in the distance. When I awoke, people were standing around me, they thought I fell down the stairs and was dead.These chandeliers were a real pain to lower for relamping and cleaning.

 South mezzanine, Palace Theatre.

 Blue urn.

 Dome, Palace Theatre.

 Auditorium side wall, Palace Theatre.

 Auditorium side wall, Palace Theatre.

View from projection room, Palace Theatre. I had a desk by the Brenograph port so I could look down on the auditorium. Back then I snagged this space because no body was going to come all the way up here.

Back of projection room, Palace Theatre. I lived up here for awhile, stripped insulation off a steam pipe for a Keith building office that passes through here. The Keith Building was always heated during the winter, the Palace, not so much back then. There used to be a fan in this window, the marks where it once was are still visible. That fan made it quite comfortable in the summer. Later when I lived downstairs in the Cinerama booth, I'd come up here when it was hot.

Plaque in lobby of B.F. Keith building.