Best Historic Theaters
A grand variety of venues have drawn throngs of theatergoers and a full range of music lovers for most of the past century—some even longer. Renovated, restored, refurbished and sometimes merely touched up, these palaces of culture are still the arresting showplaces they’ve always been.
By Michael J. Bandler
GOODSPEED
OPERA HOUSE
East Haddam, CT
A couple of raucous comedies were the fare when banker and shipping magnate William Goodspeed built this stately red-carpeted Victorian theater in 1876. Located about 100 miles northeast of White Plains, New York, it is still the tallest wooden structure along the Connecticut River. In 1959, local visionaries bought it from the state for $1. Four years later, it reopened as a theater in which world premieres—for Annie and Man of La Mancha, to name a couple—and revivals were both welcome.
THE FOX THEATRE
Atlanta
It would cost more than $300 million today to build this opulent Moorish palace, which opened two months after the 1929 stock market crash. A former Shriners headquarters, it features an Egyptian-décor ballroom, grand salon, minarets, onion domes and a 4,678-seat theater. The 3,622-pipe theatrical Moller organ—named “Mighty Mo”—is the theater’s crown jewel. The Wedding Singer and White Christmas, both Broadway musicals, are on tap this month and next.
WAR MEMORIAL OPERA HOUSE
San Francisco
Don’t let the austere Doric colonnade exterior dissuade you from entering this noble Beaux-Arts structure, where the 3,146-seat opera house is adorned with a massive sunburst chandelier. Shaken, but not stirred, by the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, it is home to two world-class ensembles: the San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Ballet. A treat awaits opera fans this month: the world premiere of Philip Glass’ Appomattox, about the beginning of the end of the Civil War, with occasional pre-performance explanatory lectures.
THE SILENT MOVIE
THEATRE
Los Angeles
If you relish old Charlie Chaplin and Theda Bara flicks, scope out this bouquet to a bygone era; it’s the only cinema of its kind in the nation. Just look for the Art Deco neon marquee, deep in the heart of Hollywood. The 210-seat theater features sleek wooden floors, a new screen and projection booth, and a Yamaha digital keyboard for the live music that accompanies the “silents.” New owners have added “talkies” to the mix, and private parties in the cappuccino bar or on the Spanish outdoor patio help pay the rent.
PRESERVATION HALL
New Orleans
The line forms early every Thursday through Sunday outside this intimate temple of jazz in the heart of the French Quarter, where patience and eight bucks is all it takes to get in. Once inside, you’re enveloped by the sheer joy of the musicians who keep this cherished indigenous art form alive and well. Fifty years ago, musicians used to perform at this onetime tavern and gallery to draw people to the art. These jam sessions turned out to be more appealing than the paintings—and the “Hall” was born. The workmanlike setting, free of air conditioning, snacks and other creature comforts, hews to the mission reflected in its name.
WALNUT STREET
THEATRE
Philadelphia
If you’re looking for American antiquity, this is it: the oldest continuously operating theater in the country. It’s come a long way since the equestrian acts of its birth as “The New Circus” in 1809. Throughout nearly two centuries, actors from Henry Fonda to Marlon Brando have taken the stage. It’s where the curtain call originated, following a performance by Edmund Kean. Today, it succeeds as part of the nation’s dynamic regional theater movement, having presented more than two dozen world premieres since 1983. Its own production of Man of La Mancha runs through October 21.
Apollo Theater
NEW YORK
It’s “where stars are born and legends are made,” and for many years, this former burlesque house for white-only audiences was the only theater in the city willing to hire black entertainers. And did it ever, igniting the careers of Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Wonder and everyone in between. Now is an ideal time to visit the Apollo, with Harlem in the midst of a revival. Stop by any Wednesday at 7:30pm, when amateur night begins, as it has since the mid-1930s.
Hippodrome Theatre
BALTIMORE
If you’re wondering where Frank Sinatra first caused hearts to throb, this was the spot: a legendary vaudeville house-turned-movie palace dating from pre-World War I, where Bob Hope, Jack Benny and Milton Berle once trod. When it closed in 1990, it was the last movie theater in downtown Baltimore. Eventually, following the construction of the Inner Harbor tourist magnet and a new baseball stadium, the Hippodrome—with its lushly decorated 2,248-seat main theater—was reborn and restored. Hairspray—Charm City’s own musical—is showing October 16-21.
GRAUMAN’S
CHINESE THEATRE
Los Angeles
Begin your visit to this 80-year-old Hollywood landmark at the forecourt, with its celebrated cement handprints, footprints and hoofprints of ? lmdom’s greats, but don’t pass up the luxurious exterior-in the form of a giant red pagoda-with specially imported Chinese Heaven guard dogs at the entrance and a huge dragon snaking its way across the front wall. And remember, it’s a movie theater-so buy a ticket, stroll past the elaborate lobby wall murals featuring Asian scenes, enter the auditorium with its spectacular chandelier and slide into one of the 2,200 bright red seats.
BUCKS COUNTY PLAYHOUSE
New Hope, PA
In the late 1930s, when playwright Moss Hart heard that some 18th-century gristmills were about to be demolished, he and some friends decided to purchase the property and turn it into a theater.
The barn-shaped structure, located 40 miles north of Philadelphia, is open year round. Besides this month’s regular runs of Little Shop of Horrors and The Mystery of Edwin Drood, The Rocky Horror Show will resurface for six midnight performances. With luck, visitors may catch a glimpse of the theater’s famous fire curtain, painted by local landscape artist and muralist Charles Child.
The Pabst Theater
MILWAUKEE
Captain Frederick Pabst had his mind on more than hops back in 1895, when he built this drum-shaped opera house in the European tradition, stylishly featuring red and maroon décor, an Austrian crystal chandelier weighing more than two tons, a white Italian Carrara marble staircase and a proscenium arch with gold leaf highlights as the stage’s frame. All of this splendor—including a seven-foot statue of Apollo on the apex of the arch—is evident today, thanks to a restoration in 1976. Th e lineup, however, is more contemporary, with Suzanne Vega, Chelsea Handler and the Capitol Steps coming this month.
HENNEPIN THEATRE
DISTRICT
Minneapolis
Three sparkling theaters opened in the heart of this city between 1916 and 1921. The Orpheum, bedecked in deep Victorian colors and boasting an Italian crystal chandelier, joined the live vaudeville circuit. The State, once considered the most technologically advanced theatre in the US, was designed for “silents,” newsreels and travelogues.
The Pantages, a two-story building with an Art Moderne façade and Beaux Arts interior, was renovated in 2002. Today, the three are one, able to accommodate a total of 5,800 patrons. The Lion King will take the stage this month.
www.hennepintheatredistrict.org
SYMPHONY HALL
Boston
As the 20th century arrived, Bostonians greeted a new concert hall for the symphony orchestra. It was long, narrow and high, in the European shoebox tradition, with keen attention paid to an aspect rarely considered before: acoustical perfection. Examples of this concern are the stage walls, which slope inward to focus the sound. The original leather seats are still in place, as are the massive chandeliers and the 16 Greek and Roman statues that line the walls. The BSO opens its season October 4 with an all-Ravel program, followed by an exploration of modernists, Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski and a local boy who’s made good, Michael Gandolfi.
AfiSILVER THEATER
Silver Spring, MD
This state-of-the-art facility—the new East Coast headquarters of the American Film Institute—was fashioned within the framework of a popular Art Deco local theater from the 1930s (when Silver Spring was in rural America), which closed after neighboring Washington, DC, engulfed it. Now, as a key jewel in the overall redevelopment of downtown Silver Spring, the three-auditorium complex offers first-run films; revivals arranged by theme, director or actor; interviews and panel discussions; and at least one major film festival each year.
HISTORIC ASOLO
THEATER
Sarasota, FL
Back in 1937, when Everett Austin, director of the Ringling Museum, first saw the dismantled components of a once exquisite 18th-century Italian theater in the collection of an antiquarian in Italy, he decided he had to purchase them, transport them across the Atlantic and someday restore Asolo, Italy’s cultural jewel. Today, that historic theater, created in tribute to a deceased Cypriot queen, welcomes visitors anew. And even before the lights dim and plays, films, lectures and concerts begin, audiences have a chance to marvel at more than six dozen gold leaf-trimmed panels featuring portraits of classic Italian writers and artists, restored to glory.
THE GRAND
OPERA HOUSE
Wilmington, DE
Mustachioed, sneering, slouching villains were all the rage, along with comic operas, spiritualism and sports exhibitions, during the fledgling years of this hall, built in the late 1870s in the style of the French Second Empire. Greats like Buffalo Bill Cody and John Philip Sousa came through this legendary theater, located about 30 minutes west of Philadelphia. After the nickelodeon gave way to silent films and later “talkies,” the Grand became just another movie house. It closed in the late ’60s, but a one-night reopening at its 1971 centennial got people thinking. Today, it thrives as a nonprofit organization that emphasizes music. This month, drop in for evenings with David Sedaris, and Crosby and Nash.
WESTPORT COUNTRY PLAYHOUSE
Westport, CT
For Ethel Barrymore, Henry Fonda, Julie Harris, Stephen Sondheim, Joanne Woodward and others, it all began in a late June thunderstorm 76 years ago—the night this trailblazing theater’s journey began. Not only has this 200-year-old barn (located just 30 miles from White Plains, NY) introduced Broadway—and the world—to these leading artists, but it has also taken risks, with playwrights as well as actors. It’s been a rocky road at times, with its future threatened more than once. In 2000, fundraising and renovation began, and seven years later, the playhouse—with its distinctive red drapes, timbers and rafters—is ready for year-round programming. On tap through October is Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation of Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw.
CENTRAL CITY
OPERA
Central City, CO
Arias at 8,500 feet in a lovingly preserved onetime mining town just 40 miles west of Denver are what await visitors to this tiny community, known in post-Civil War days as “the richest square mile on earth.” The opera house—with its distinctive stone façade exterior and interior jewel-box theater and sculptured ceiling—once welcomed Oscar-nominated Lillian Gish to its stage. Today, with its annual opera festival having just turned 75, Central City—and its restored historic district—affords visitors an uncommon perspective on the settling of the mountainous West.
Outdoor Entertainment
The Muny
ST. LOUIS
When a couple of local offi cials in 1916 targeted a verdant urban hillside as the site for a production of As You Like It to commemorate the 300th birthday of the Bard, they set in motion 90 years of opera and musical theater. Th e Muny itself—stage, orchestra pit, dressing rooms—was constructed in 1917 in what is now Forest Park. It is now the oldest outdoor theater of its kind in America. Th e theater has 1,620 of the 9,000 seats set aside as free on a first-come, first-serve basis—so check the schedule early, and get in line.
Shankweiler’s Drive-In Theatre
OREFIELD, PA
Franklin Delano Roosevelt had barely moved into the White House when Wilson Shankweiler welcomed cars into his open-air theater 60 miles north of Philly in 1934. Th roughout the summer, the drive-in features near-digital quality sound transmitted through the car radio. Make sure to abide by the rules of this rural Pennsylvania movie oasis: Don’t bring your family pet, don’t sit on top of your vehicle and, by all means, “keep your foot off the brake pedal!”
Westport Country Playhouse: Robert Benson
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