Allen Theatre

Thanks nice old ad CWalczak.

Right up until they were vacuumed up by amc in 2006, Loew’s wasn’t shy about letting people know who was managing their theaters. A point of negotiation with the merger, amc let the Loews name remain on the New York City theatres, because A.) Loews has had operations and headquarters there since the earth cooled, and B.) as a half-hearted acknowledgment that Loews had a more storied past than they do.

Was this theatre known as LOEWS ALLEN when they ran it from 1922 to 1932.

And what on earth do they need more lobby space for when there is already that magnificent domed rotunda? Do we really need more space for cocktail parties and black-tie events when what is really needed right now is more people from across the economic spectrum filling auditorium seats?

Frankly, I am disgusted that the Cleveland Playhouse, once one of America’s most distinguished regional theater companies is involved in this travesty. I attended many of their productions growing up in Cleveland and was very impressed with the Johnson complex when it opened (although rather liked their old 77th Street theater which, I think, was once a church or a synagogue, with its thrust stage). I thought (I am sure with many others), that the new complex not only would help revive surrounding area, but assure the longtime vitality of the Playhouse. One can only wonder what all those contributors and benefactors that helped build the Johnson complex and restore the Allen are thinking now. I have friends in the Cleveland theater community who often say that over the last decade or so, the Playhouse, unfortunately like some other venerable arts institutions in other cities, has been plagued with egos, conflicts over vision and purpose, and internal politics. Now this abomination.

They did this crap with the Hanna, too. Reduced the seating, transforming it into a type of performance space that will prove to be just a passing fad. In another 10 years traditional proscenium theatres will be back in vogue and the Great Lakes Shakespeare group will be moaning the space no longer meets their needs, and want a larger seating capacity. The difference is that the Hanna was fairly run down, whereas the Allen just underwent a multi-million dollar restoration. If they had proposed this plan while the Allen was still a dump, before the restoration, you could sort of breathe a sigh of relief and say well at least they are trying too save it from complete deterioration, but the theatre is no longer in desperate straits, condition-wise. That the Cleveland Playhouse has to reduce the seating to only 500 proves that they are really only a small-time production company, little more than a community theater group, lacking the artistic vision to come up with quality entertainment that would properly utilize a Class-A facility. I’m sure they could come up with a couple of benefactors to build them a small performance space that would suit their needs in one of the multitude of vacant retail spaces along Euclid Ave.

What will happen if, after the economy rebounds, more of the Broadway shows start touring again? Playhouse Square will regret their decision to let this venue be so drastically butchered. They should come up with a plan to partition the existing space that will preserve the architecture in a way that can be easily un-done to restore its present configuration, in the event The Cleveland Playhouse goes belly-up.

Once upon a time, the Playhouse Square Association used to literally beg for money, with all the unpaid staff, myself included, standing at the exits of the Palace Theatre with overturned straw hats begging for loose change from the exiting Lola Falana or Peggy Lee audience, like bums on Times Square. Now, apparently, they have cash laying around in closets and piled up in the corners. It wasn’t too long ago they spent a boatload of money to restore this beautiful theatre. and now they are going to let CSU and the Cleveland Playhouse come in and destroy it? They have forgotten that their founders vision was to RESTORE the theatres grand architecture, but I guess now they are just another business enterprise that has thrown their founding principles under the bus. It’s outrageous. Cleveland State should install an auditorium on their campus and stay over there. But the board of trustees of Cleveland Playhouse ought to be ashamed of itself. First, they sell the Playhouse building at 86th and Euclid, a beautiful building designed in the early 1980s by renowned architect and native son Phillip Johnson (probably the only example of his work in the area) to the Cleveland Clinic who will most likely demolish it to make room for more medical facilities or parking garages. And then, to compound the damage and destruction they do, they come into Playhouse Square, take over a beautiful theatre that doesn’t suit their needs and wreck and reconfigure it into something they can work with and eliminate 2000 seats. There are plenty of large vacant spaces in the area where they could build a schlock little 500 seat room with a stage, as great architecture obviously means nothing to them. The whole sordid plan is a travesty. These theatres need to be landmarked somehow, maybe by the state.

Plans have been announced to significantly alter the Allen to make it a home for the Cleveland Playhouse and the theater programs of Cleveland State University. Seating would be slashed from the current 2,500 to about 500. The existing balcony would be sealed off (for potential later use), and a new smaller balcony constructed; the current seating under the balcony would be eliminated and the lobby space extended into the vacated area. Although, supposedly, most of the architectural details would remain, they would be partially obscured by new acoustical panels. Two new black box theaters would also be built adjacent to to the theater building.

The rationale for such a drastic alteration is said to be the realization that given the reduced number of Broadway touring shows, the Allen is now too big to be economically viable and that the Palace is sufficient as the “big house” at Playhouse Square.

Here’s an article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer that includes both pictures of the Allen as it is currently, and sketches of the proposed changes and the new theaters: View link

Here are some new photos I took July 2009 of the Allen Theatre:

Lobby and Rotunda:
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Auditorium:
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Exterior, front and back:
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ÏÏ ALLEN THEATRE С HOWARD CRANE By I T Irary Architectural Record

dave-bronx: I have ordered the Patricia Mote book and can’t wait to receive it in the mail!

A book entitled “Cleveland’s Playhouse Square” by Patricia M. Mote chronicles in words and photographs the Loew’s State & Ohio, RKO Allen & Palace and Hanna theaters from their opening in the 1920s through 2006. It can be found in the Local Interest section of Cleveland area bookstores, and for those not in the area it can be ordered from the publisher at the following website:
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Dave-Bronx: Are your pictures of the Cleveland Allen Theater at Photobucket from ‘71 or '72? If so can I use one of them on a non-commercial site?

“……was only spared at the last minute from being bulldozed for a parking lot. Workers had already begun dismantling the interior when the word came to halt demolition.” Thank goodness as I will be touring this theatre along with the Ohio, State and Palace in Playhouse Square in the near future.