Robins Theatre

The Robins Theatre in Warren, Ohio opened its doors on January 9, 1923. Designed by C. Howard Crane and I.J. Goldston and constructed by Charles Shutrump and Sons. Co of Youngstown, construction began in 1922 at a cost of $300,000.

The exterior is in the Italian Renaissance style, while the interior is in the Adam style. The interior boasts Vermont marble columns, grand staircases, an ornate ceiling resembling the night sky, and large window-shaped grilles. The orchestra floor seats 1,100, and the mezzanine seats 400, totalling 1,500 seats. The stage was once used for vaudeville productions, and could be converted from motion pictures to live theatre performances in 24 hours.

The Robins Theatre, along with several other area theatres, including the Ohio (former Duchess Theatre) [demolished] and the Daniel Theatre [converted into gymnasium] were controlled by The Robins Theatre Enterprises Co. Daniel J. Robins was founder and president, in partnership with his brothers Ben and David Robins. Daniel Robins was an earlier partner of Abe Warner of Warner Brothers. David Robins was later to marry Ann Warner. Many famous personalities have appeared at the theatre over the years. The Brown Derby Cellar Bar and Restaurant was a once a local showplace for famous Big Bands.

The theatre remained in continuous operation from 1923 to 1974, when its doors were permanently closed. The theatre remains almost completely original; however, thirty years of vacancy and disrepair have taken their toll, as is evident from peeling paint and crumbling plaster. Plans to completely renovate the theatre have been under discussion for several years. Preliminary plans are currently being made, however the renovation process is pending upon further funding.

In December 2017 the building was sold to Downtown Development Group LLC with plans to renovate and present concerts, comedy and film performances.

Recent comments (view all 40 comments)

RickB on December 29, 2017 at 3:22 pm

Theater has been sold to Downtown Development Group LLC; they plan to renovate and present concerts, comedy shows and movies. Tribune Chronicle story here.

wolfgirl500 on February 7, 2018 at 3:52 am

http://www.vindy.com/news/2018/feb/07/robins-theatre-renovators-tout-potential/

thom5340 on May 19, 2018 at 7:24 pm

I’m sorry to report that the Robins Theatre WILL NOT have a Theatre Pipe Organ installed. I offered to donate an original pipe organ to the theatre and the Development group informed me that they were not interested. If anyone knows of a theatre that wants a pipe organ, I have at least one to donate. You can contact me at 330-792-1321. Thom.

Matt Lambros on January 9, 2020 at 12:48 pm

It didn’t have an organ when it originally opened, and doesn’t have any organ chambers. They probably didn’t want to spend the extra money to work that out.

Matt Lambros on January 14, 2020 at 7:01 am

Status should be opened. The theater reopened on January 9, 2020.

Trolleyguy on January 14, 2020 at 7:50 am

Website: http://robinstheatre.com/ It appears from the website that only live performances will be occurring at the theatre.

DavidZornig on January 14, 2020 at 8:19 am

The website posted does say “film screenings”, under Facility Information, if you click Tech Specs. However they would have to be contacted I assume, as when you click to download the technical specs, it says it is password protected.

richardg on July 4, 2022 at 11:11 pm

I’ll be attending a concert there in August of 2022. I’ll update any information I find out about the renovations and programming

richardg on August 22, 2022 at 4:39 pm

On August 19th I and about 1200 patrons attended a concert in this newly and lovely restored theatre. The performance of the talented group, The Doo-wop Project and the ambience of the Robins Theatre resulted in an awesome evening. The multi million renovation created a fabulous showplace for the city of Warren. All the original seats were removed, reupholstered, refurbished and reinstalled so the original seating capacity of nearly 1500 has been retained. Unfortunately, since it’s now a concert venue rather than a movie theatre it made sense to install a digital marquee rather than the prettier neon and milk glass marquee. Large vertical signage is also absent.

Trolleyguy on August 22, 2022 at 5:43 pm

google photos has some great shots of the interior. Robins