Unlike the other diagrams, this one shows the outline of the new enlarged stage house built in 1980. The oddly shaped portion is low-rise (workrooms, etc.) while the rectangular part is the tall portion with the fly space. The stage is 72 feet deep, one of the largest stagehouses in the country.
The website listed above appears to be down. There is a Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Keith-Albee-Performing-Arts-Center/108288042564817 but it doesn’t really have any info.
There is also a nice photo gallery at http://www.herald-dispatch.com/multimedia/galleries/news/x352191295/Gallery-Keith-Albee-Performing-Arts-Center.
From those photos (and a seating diagram at another website) we can see that the partitions have been removed and the multiplexing is all done. It looks in excellent shape, all restored.
Has this ever happened to YOU?? I put up the first photo for the Lorain Palace – a nice view of the front facade/marquee, and attached a snazzy description trumpeting the wonderful architecture. Lo and behold, when I later brought up the Palace’s webpage, there is a nice big exteriot photo of… the stagehouse!
Man, that was embarrasing. Turns out the .thumbs.db file for my photo folder was corrupted so the thumbnails didn’t match the actual photos. But all fixed now!
Sorry about the bolluxed numbering on my previous post – It looks like the comment mechanism does stuff to paragraph numbers that I need to be aware of.
Great update on the website – so many new features to check out! Photos, street views!
Great to see all the suggestions and how fast they’re being acted on! Thought I’d add my suggestions as well:
Search by city: This was a VERY important feature by me as I’d often be checking out a lot of theatres in a particular city. The search box on the main page only goes by name or zipcode (I rarely know the zipcode but usually know the city) and often I want to canvas a bunch from a specific city.
The new “movie theatres” search box at the top of the “theatres” page is workable but I have to click multiple times (country, then state, then city, sometimes even neighborhood) and is srickly with two-word names (New York) if you don’t know the syntax (“new-york”) Also, it is easy to miss the capabilities of this search box (it wasn’t clear upon first glance that I could search right down to neighborhood level). Also, this search box probably should also appear on the main page, as the “search for” feature there only allows search by name and zipcode.
Perhaps we could add a separate search page where people could search on one or more fields (city, state, screens, current use, name, # seats, etc.)
It was very helpful to be able to search by current name AND/OR former name, OR both. Often I would only be searching for a former name, sometimes I wanted both current and former.
a. Browse Lists: Could these be expanded to show perhaps 100 theatres (currently only ddisplays 30) That would help when say browsing by architecural style (i.e. returns 89 pages for “streamline moderne”). Also, could the little navigation box at the bottom have an input box added where a user can jump to a specific page? Right now we can only click on the first ten pages or the last two; it’s extremely tedious to navigate to the middle of a major list – you can only jump 4 pages at a time. BTW, I DO like the fact that the entire list can be sorted by name, city, status, etc!
b. These browse lists show only “open” or “closed” under “status”. Could the detailed status be put there instead (i.e. restoring, demolished, showing movies etc.? I do like the tabs above that allow us to break out the list by detailed status, but it’d be nice ti also have that lebvel of detail in the main list. Also, could the browse lists also display # seats and maybe year built?
Updates page: Could the “submit a theatre” feature have the ability to record changes to an existing theatre’s info? Sometimes I would be checking a lot of theatres and compile a list of 20-25 that I have updated info for. I would use the “contact us” feature to send in changes/additional info, but it would be a long list that would have to be manually edited into the database. This might make it easier at both ends (but still reviewed by CT).
—-some more trivial suggestions—
Additional fields: Could years built/renovated/demolished be added to the individual theatre pages? I know we’d enter that when submitting new theatres.
Architectural styles: could “modern” be added as a choice? Right now the closest choice is “streamline moderne” which is VERY different from outright Modern (i.e. few built after the mid 1950s could be considered Streamline). Also, I miss the “art moderne” designation as I felt that was fairly distinct from “streamline”.
“submit a theatre” That link should probably have a more prominent location, and not just say “submit your favorite…” We want people to submit ANY new theatres they know about, not just their favorite!
The Challenge of New York City: The boroughs of Bronx and Brooklyn as their own “cities”, with additional neighborhood designations (makes it easy to browse those boroughs) but theatres for Queens and Staten Island are split into their individual neighborhoods (i.e. Flushing, Astoria, etc. as the “city” field) Is it possible to have them grouped together by their borough name the way it’s done for Brooklyn and Bronx? (It’s only about 60-70 theatres IIRL.)
Adjusting street view – I understand that once someone updates a street view, only that person can do further updates for that theatre. Could one release themselves from that obgligation and allow someone else to do it? I’m not sure I’d want to be responsible for future updates (of course once a street view is updated it shouldn’t need changing anyway unless the Empire 25 building gets moved down the street again :–)
I agree with CT staff having the say on which photo ios the definitive one for the theatre page, but would itbe possible to make a suggestion if one sees a (possibly recently posted) photo that is clearly better in terms of brightness, color quality, sharpness, etc.?
Any way to widen the width of the “comments” section slightly (would require narrowing the right hand links/ads column)
OVERALL: These issues pale in comparison to the enormous improvements you’ve made to an already fantastic website so I’m certainly not complaining! This has been an amazing resource, but is so much better now!
They aren’t just a gym – more of a combination fitness center and physical therapy center. From a photo on their website (linked above) it looks like they’ve preserved the aut=ditorium fairly well – original architectural features as well as the proscenium are still there. Looks like a well maintained business.
In response to Joe Vogel’s question, the backmost part of the original theater (the front part of the auditorium, proscenium and stage area) was widened to the left and right bu quite a bit. Into that area they built the new cinemas. The remainder of the Amherst Cinema was gutted and converted into stores & restaurants.
The photo tours posted by Matt Labros in january show the paintaings to the left and right of the proscenium to be gone — I hope they were simply removed for restoration (I expect that to be the case)
According to the above article, the victory has raised $19,500,000 of the $27,000 needed to complete the renovation, and they sre launching a fundraising campaign to raise the remaining amount. A much earlier fundraising cappain’s proceeds were partially used some time ago to repaier the roof, remove asbestos, board up the building and complete the renovation plans.
The photos referenced in TC’s 2005 link above appear to have been done right after the 1940s renovation. They are all dated 1943, and everything looks all freshened up. The good news is the original decor is almost completely intact – just a few minor art deco touches here and there (movie poster cases in the lobby, etc.)
The auditorium photo is intriguing – it looks like there are about 1,800 seats there (the description says 1,400 after the renovation). I can’t figure how the auditorium could have originally held 3,000 – unless there was a 2nd balcony that was completely removed during the renovation.
points out that the repairs still hasn’t started yet, as the legislature is working out an extension to the developer’s tax credits. They’re still hoping to have it reopened for the 2012-2013 season.
1940?? I had always thought the Paramount opened sometime in the 1920s, based on the decor, but my memory isn’t the best. At any rate, it’s a shame it’s gone.
Update: The managers packed it in after receiving a hefty rent increase. No word on whether it will be rented to new managers or converted to retail or another use.
Projection System
Film:
•35/70mm Century projectors with variable speed capabilities and1:37, 1:66, 1:85 and 2:35 anamorphic aspect ratios; 4500 xenon bulb.
•16mm Elmo projector with 24fps and 18fps speeds, full frame and anamorphic; 2000 watt xenon bulb.
Video:
•Barco DP2000 2K DCI compliant DLP projector with Dolby 3D
•Video decks available: HDCAM (Sony J-H3), Digibeta and Beta SP NTSC and PAL (Sony J-3 , J-30), HDV (Sony HVR-M25U), DVCAM (Sony DSR-11), DVC PRO (Panasonic AJ â€"D250), DVD, VHS, and 3/4†U-Matic
Sound System
•Dolby cinema processor with SRD, SR and mono soundtrack playback
•Bi-amped sound system with subwoofers and surrounds
•Dolby E available through Dolby DMA8 Plus
The RKO Boston had the balcony walled off with a concrete ceiling extending from the balcony to the back stage, with a Cinerema auditorium in the orchestra section. This was subsequently twinned before the building closed (currently used for sotrage). The theater originally seated just over 3,000, so the two screens must be at least 700 seats each. The upper part has been vacant since the 1960s at least – most of the plaster ornamentation is there but a lot of stuff (lighting, etc). was stripped out and that portion at least would require a lot of renovation. I am not sure of the condition of the lower part (vacant since mid 1980s). The exterior of the building is a national landmark so the building itself is being maintained.
There isn’t much else in the Boston area in terms of triplexes – the old Cinema 57 downtown (Now Stuart Street Theatre) was a twin. Current tenants have only renovated one auditorium; the other is still empty, but possibly available.
Unlike the other diagrams, this one shows the outline of the new enlarged stage house built in 1980. The oddly shaped portion is low-rise (workrooms, etc.) while the rectangular part is the tall portion with the fly space. The stage is 72 feet deep, one of the largest stagehouses in the country.
The website listed above appears to be down. There is a Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Keith-Albee-Performing-Arts-Center/108288042564817 but it doesn’t really have any info.
There is also a nice photo gallery at http://www.herald-dispatch.com/multimedia/galleries/news/x352191295/Gallery-Keith-Albee-Performing-Arts-Center.
From those photos (and a seating diagram at another website) we can see that the partitions have been removed and the multiplexing is all done. It looks in excellent shape, all restored.
Correction: This is actually the ceiling of the main lobby! It was hard keeping track of the ceilings of the various lobbies and foyers. My mistake.
Correction! The lower half is real marble, only the upper half is scagiola.
My mistake – that is actually the left sidewall of the auditorium (and corner of stagehouse in front)
Also please notice the massive new stage house built onto the State in the 1980s.
Has this ever happened to YOU?? I put up the first photo for the Lorain Palace – a nice view of the front facade/marquee, and attached a snazzy description trumpeting the wonderful architecture. Lo and behold, when I later brought up the Palace’s webpage, there is a nice big exteriot photo of… the stagehouse!
Man, that was embarrasing. Turns out the .thumbs.db file for my photo folder was corrupted so the thumbnails didn’t match the actual photos. But all fixed now!
Sorry about the bolluxed numbering on my previous post – It looks like the comment mechanism does stuff to paragraph numbers that I need to be aware of.
Great update on the website – so many new features to check out! Photos, street views!
Great to see all the suggestions and how fast they’re being acted on! Thought I’d add my suggestions as well:
The new “movie theatres” search box at the top of the “theatres” page is workable but I have to click multiple times (country, then state, then city, sometimes even neighborhood) and is srickly with two-word names (New York) if you don’t know the syntax (“new-york”) Also, it is easy to miss the capabilities of this search box (it wasn’t clear upon first glance that I could search right down to neighborhood level). Also, this search box probably should also appear on the main page, as the “search for” feature there only allows search by name and zipcode.
Perhaps we could add a separate search page where people could search on one or more fields (city, state, screens, current use, name, # seats, etc.)
It was very helpful to be able to search by current name AND/OR former name, OR both. Often I would only be searching for a former name, sometimes I wanted both current and former.
a. Browse Lists: Could these be expanded to show perhaps 100 theatres (currently only ddisplays 30) That would help when say browsing by architecural style (i.e. returns 89 pages for “streamline moderne”). Also, could the little navigation box at the bottom have an input box added where a user can jump to a specific page? Right now we can only click on the first ten pages or the last two; it’s extremely tedious to navigate to the middle of a major list – you can only jump 4 pages at a time. BTW, I DO like the fact that the entire list can be sorted by name, city, status, etc!
b. These browse lists show only “open” or “closed” under “status”. Could the detailed status be put there instead (i.e. restoring, demolished, showing movies etc.? I do like the tabs above that allow us to break out the list by detailed status, but it’d be nice ti also have that lebvel of detail in the main list. Also, could the browse lists also display # seats and maybe year built?
—-some more trivial suggestions—
Additional fields: Could years built/renovated/demolished be added to the individual theatre pages? I know we’d enter that when submitting new theatres.
Architectural styles: could “modern” be added as a choice? Right now the closest choice is “streamline moderne” which is VERY different from outright Modern (i.e. few built after the mid 1950s could be considered Streamline). Also, I miss the “art moderne” designation as I felt that was fairly distinct from “streamline”.
“submit a theatre” That link should probably have a more prominent location, and not just say “submit your favorite…” We want people to submit ANY new theatres they know about, not just their favorite!
The Challenge of New York City: The boroughs of Bronx and Brooklyn as their own “cities”, with additional neighborhood designations (makes it easy to browse those boroughs) but theatres for Queens and Staten Island are split into their individual neighborhoods (i.e. Flushing, Astoria, etc. as the “city” field) Is it possible to have them grouped together by their borough name the way it’s done for Brooklyn and Bronx? (It’s only about 60-70 theatres IIRL.)
Adjusting street view – I understand that once someone updates a street view, only that person can do further updates for that theatre. Could one release themselves from that obgligation and allow someone else to do it? I’m not sure I’d want to be responsible for future updates (of course once a street view is updated it shouldn’t need changing anyway unless the Empire 25 building gets moved down the street again :–)
I agree with CT staff having the say on which photo ios the definitive one for the theatre page, but would itbe possible to make a suggestion if one sees a (possibly recently posted) photo that is clearly better in terms of brightness, color quality, sharpness, etc.?
Any way to widen the width of the “comments” section slightly (would require narrowing the right hand links/ads column)
OVERALL: These issues pale in comparison to the enormous improvements you’ve made to an already fantastic website so I’m certainly not complaining! This has been an amazing resource, but is so much better now!
They aren’t just a gym – more of a combination fitness center and physical therapy center. From a photo on their website (linked above) it looks like they’ve preserved the aut=ditorium fairly well – original architectural features as well as the proscenium are still there. Looks like a well maintained business.
In response to Joe Vogel’s question, the backmost part of the original theater (the front part of the auditorium, proscenium and stage area) was widened to the left and right bu quite a bit. Into that area they built the new cinemas. The remainder of the Amherst Cinema was gutted and converted into stores & restaurants.
The photo tours posted by Matt Labros in january show the paintaings to the left and right of the proscenium to be gone — I hope they were simply removed for restoration (I expect that to be the case)
Sorry, that should read “19,500,000 of $27,000,000” (above)
According to the above article, the victory has raised $19,500,000 of the $27,000 needed to complete the renovation, and they sre launching a fundraising campaign to raise the remaining amount. A much earlier fundraising cappain’s proceeds were partially used some time ago to repaier the roof, remove asbestos, board up the building and complete the renovation plans.
The photos referenced in TC’s 2005 link above appear to have been done right after the 1940s renovation. They are all dated 1943, and everything looks all freshened up. The good news is the original decor is almost completely intact – just a few minor art deco touches here and there (movie poster cases in the lobby, etc.)
The auditorium photo is intriguing – it looks like there are about 1,800 seats there (the description says 1,400 after the renovation). I can’t figure how the auditorium could have originally held 3,000 – unless there was a 2nd balcony that was completely removed during the renovation.
Their official website is back up at http://thesaengertheatre.com/
Mostly it’s a place holder saying more details on the renovation will come soon and has links to their productions at Mahalia jackson theatre.
This article http://www.wdsu.com/r/27209846/detail.html
points out that the repairs still hasn’t started yet, as the legislature is working out an extension to the developer’s tax credits. They’re still hoping to have it reopened for the 2012-2013 season.
According to this article (http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2011/03/post_35.html), renovations of the Orpheum started on 2/14/11.
Over the next 12-14 months they plan to repair the roof, stage, electrical, seating and everything else.
They are continuing to secure financing while the work progresses.
The previous owners (mentioned in above posts to 2009) sold the orpheum to a new owner in 2010.
Some more details:
Each auditorium has it’s own name:
1: Main Stage. Seating: 519 orchestra, 243 (usable) Balcony
2. Ballroom. (upstairs) Seating: 108
3. Jewel Box. (the former back orchestra) Seating: 130
4. Lathis 4. (in adjacent storefront) Seating: 100
The proscenium is 31 feet wide, the stage 26 feet high, the stage is 18 feet deep from plaster line (proscenium?) to the back wall. is 18 feet deep
With the closing of the Kipling Cinemas on 3/27/11, the Lathis should start doing very good business, being the only cinemas left in town.
1940?? I had always thought the Paramount opened sometime in the 1920s, based on the decor, but my memory isn’t the best. At any rate, it’s a shame it’s gone.
Update: The managers packed it in after receiving a hefty rent increase. No word on whether it will be rented to new managers or converted to retail or another use.
The Kipling Cinemas have closed. No indication whether this is temporary or permanent.
Nov. 2010 article about efforts to restore the Metropolitan:
View link
From their website:
Projection System
Film:
•35/70mm Century projectors with variable speed capabilities and1:37, 1:66, 1:85 and 2:35 anamorphic aspect ratios; 4500 xenon bulb.
•16mm Elmo projector with 24fps and 18fps speeds, full frame and anamorphic; 2000 watt xenon bulb.
Video:
•Barco DP2000 2K DCI compliant DLP projector with Dolby 3D
•Video decks available: HDCAM (Sony J-H3), Digibeta and Beta SP NTSC and PAL (Sony J-3 , J-30), HDV (Sony HVR-M25U), DVCAM (Sony DSR-11), DVC PRO (Panasonic AJ â€"D250), DVD, VHS, and 3/4†U-Matic
Sound System
•Dolby cinema processor with SRD, SR and mono soundtrack playback
•Bi-amped sound system with subwoofers and surrounds
•Dolby E available through Dolby DMA8 Plus
The RKO Boston had the balcony walled off with a concrete ceiling extending from the balcony to the back stage, with a Cinerema auditorium in the orchestra section. This was subsequently twinned before the building closed (currently used for sotrage). The theater originally seated just over 3,000, so the two screens must be at least 700 seats each. The upper part has been vacant since the 1960s at least – most of the plaster ornamentation is there but a lot of stuff (lighting, etc). was stripped out and that portion at least would require a lot of renovation. I am not sure of the condition of the lower part (vacant since mid 1980s). The exterior of the building is a national landmark so the building itself is being maintained.
There isn’t much else in the Boston area in terms of triplexes – the old Cinema 57 downtown (Now Stuart Street Theatre) was a twin. Current tenants have only renovated one auditorium; the other is still empty, but possibly available.