View of the Variety Theatre from the balcony.
I took the Greyhound bus from Chicago to Cleveland to photograph the last place on the road trip: The Variety Theatre. The theater opened on November 27, 1927, and closed in the 1980s. It was last in use as a wrestling venue called Wrestle Plex.
Full blog posts for all the theaters I visited on this trip are coming soon.
A close up of the mural painted above the proscenium arch.
Another day, another state. The Majestic (Uptown) Theatre in Racine, WI opened in 1928. It was designed in a gothic style, which was unusual for theaters. The theater closed in late 1959.
View of the auditorium from the side of the balcony.
After driving a bit more we made our way to our next theater. Look for a full post on this location soon.
View of the Majestic Theatre from the balcony.
We travelled 300 miles south to the Majestic Theatre in East St. Louis for the 3rd day of the road trip. The Majestic Theatre opened in February 1928 and was originally part of the Samuel Komm Theatre chain of St. Louis. It closed in 1960, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
View from the balcony of the New Regal Theatre.
I spent most of my second day in Chicago photographing the New Regal Theatre. This John Eberson designed theater opened in 1927 as the Avalon Theatre. It is said to be inspired by a Persian lamp Eberson found at an antiques market. The Regal closed in 2010 .
The ceiling decoration is called the largest flying carpet in the world.
The lobby of the Ramova Theatre.
I’m currently on a road trip to photograph some more abandoned theaters. Day 1 was spent revisiting the Ramova Theatre in Chicago.
The Ramova Theatre opened on August 21, 1929, and closed in the mid 1980s.
The main floor of the auditorium is now used as storage for a furniture store.
The Loew’s 46th Street Theatre opened on October 9, 1927 as the Universal Theatre. It was designed by John Eberson, a famous theater architect known for his atmospheric style auditoriums. According to an account in the Brooklyn Eagle, 25,000 people were present for the opening of the theater. The 2,675 seat theater was acquired by the Loew’s Corporation in August 1928, and closed so renovations could be made to the sound equipment. It reopened on September 10, 1928 as the Loew’s 46th Street Theatre.
The main level of the auditorium.
I recently spoke with Kathy McKean – the Managing Director of the Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts. MIFA owns and is renovating the Victory Theatre in Holyoke, MA.
1. What is MIFA?
“MIFA is a Holyoke based International Festival that brings world-class events to Holyoke and the Pioneer Valley. MIFA’s 2011 Season included Hal Holbrook in ‘Mark Twain Tonight’ and Silent Film Night The Last Command. Other presentations in Holyoke have been Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’, contemporary Irish Dance in ‘Irish Cream’, Eddie Palmieri in Concert, a series of French Dance, Enchanted Circle Theatre in ‘Sojourners Truth’ and Mikhail Baryshnikov 2004 World Tour. MIFA is a vehicle for community restoration and historic and architectural preservation and is renovating and reopening the historic Victory Theatre, a 1600 hundred-seat Broadway style theater in downtown Holyoke. The iconic theater will be returned to its original use as a live theater house for Holyoke, the Valley and the Northeast.”
After the Final Curtain 