Fabian Theatre

Not much I’m afraid.

The boxes are long gone, and the original proscenium is there but hidden above the drop ceiling created in the new booth for theaters 4 and 5, which were built sometime in the late seventies/early eighties.

When they triplexed it, they put up a fake wall in front of the proscenium with a floor leading to it from the balcony. That’s where they put the new screen. The area under the balcony was used for theaters 1 and 2. The backstage was gutted when they made theaters 4 and 5.

Later today I’ll post a color image of the balcony theater. It’s pretty ugly!

I’m sorry for the poor quality, but here is a rare photo of the Fabian’s interior, circa 1925:

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who painted the murals in the fabian building?

I was born and raised in Paterson ( live outside usa now ) and I am drawn to Paterson every trip back home.Can’t they start with reno-ing the office buildings to bring in people that care? Then revamp the Fabian into a high end burlesque, dinner, cigar club ? The second floors of the old stores have great spaces for artists or huge living lofts.. Offer the best of the best silk !! companies to sell their silks in Paterson.. Get fashion to move in.. Then they will create restaurants, galleries..the new SOHO .. The bones are there. An aggressive sell to a few good people with a keen eye can get the ball rolling..Asbury Park sparks more interest than Paterson and Paterson has far more to offer as far as buildings, history, location…….and make the Alexander Hamilton a swanky hotel it once was !

“Paterson” now back in print! (via www.bn.com et al)

“I never should have left Paterson,” comedian Lou Costello said in 1951’s “Abbott & Costello Meet the Invisible Man.” In fact, Paterson has been a place of comings and goings for generations, yet still manages to pull at the heartstrings. Larry Doby, who broke the color barrier in the American league, called it home. Among the many notables born in the “Silk City” were shuttle astronaut Kathryn Sullivan and actress Sue Ann Langdon, who played Alice Kramden in the 1962 version of “The Jackie Gleason Show.” What’s more, this city — an industrial giant once envisioned by Alexander Hamilton — gave birth to the famed Colt revolver, the modern-day submarine, the locomotives that linked America’s coasts and the engine that powered Charles Lindbergh’s “Spirit of St. Louis.” Its Danforth Library is a work of art in itself, designed by architect Henry Bacon, who went on to create Washington D.C.’s Lincoln Memorial in its image. Today, it houses an art collection — much of it the family legacy of Paterson’s own Garret Hobart, vice president under McKinley — that could earn it the name “Paterson’s Louvre.” There is also no shortage of local lore. The Ghosts of Eastside High School didn`t get that moniker by accident. The school sits on a one-time cemetery. And yes, Lou Costello couldn’t stay away, coming back for premiers at The Fabian. Philip M. Read, the great-grandson of a Paterson silk weaver whose family like so many others emigrated from Macclesfield, England, is a graduate of Boston University and long-time journalist who has worked for several New Jersey newspapers. His first job, in fact, was at the old Paterson News. Join him in this eye-opening and appreciative look back, mindful of what was and what still might be.

The building looked stable,if not sound.Is that an illusion?I’ve seen falling down ruins “saved”.This looks better than some that have been rehabed.I was surprised how bustling and busy downtown looked.(Although my employer has decided to get the heck out of Dodge and put their bldgs up for sale)

I drove by the Fabian last week.It is a sad sight.This must be the focal point to turn Paterson around,or there is no point.If you could put potential in a bag,you could fill a landfill with the potential that is Paterson,but if there is no soul,a landfill is what Paterson is.

What is the status on the Fabian in this present day?

ghamilton: you hit it right on the head about Paterson. The place is like the land that time forgot. Because it’s so undervalued, the old buildings are still there albeit, some quite rundown.

The oddest thing is that the Great Falls is pretty much right in the downtown area and hardly anyone knows about it. It has to be one of the most amazing sites in the northeast.

Thanks for that image. Do you also have the inside of the program? I would love to see the program.

Any place can be “cleaned up"if the will is there.Miami Beach was once a cesspool of vile filth.Everytime I’m forced to venture from VA to the bowels of downtown Paterson(I work for a Co.there)I am blown over by the potential there.The beauty of the bldgs still erect and the natural setting give rise to the imagination.I do have to admit to a degree of occasional real fear,since NJ doesn’t honor VA gun laws.The Fabian’s fate will be a sign of the real fate of this city.If there is no hope for the one,there is none for the other.

“Plus, to be brutally honest, downtown Paterson is not a very safe place, even in the daytime.”

Not safe in the daytime? that is ridiculous! Paterson may have a whole lof of problems, but theres is no to exagerate how woeful these problems are. The reason why the Fabian when out of business it was simply because it was not producing any money. When the factories started to move out of the city – and whole bunch of folks moved out – left the city in ruins with an immense number of empty building and unemployed people.

But then again it could have been all the lunch time muggings that scared the folks away from downtown.

As far as money is concerned, why can’t there be an adopt a seat program? anybody interested in adoptingt a seat would have a small plaque on the back of said seat. There are corporate sponsors just waiting to jump on programs like this, how about volunteers? People who have the expertise donating thier time and effort to save this place. It can be done and I would love to have help in getting a commitee together any body interested please give me a call 973-341-4740 Joe