Proctor's Theatre

Back entrance to Proctor’s Theatre on Smith Street, 1970s photo added courtesy Steve Myers.

After browsing around the Schenectady page linked to above, I found several other photos of the Art Theatre that was at 432 State Street prior to Proctor’s. It appears to be the same building in a few of them, so I believe Proctor’s remodeled the existing Art Theatre into their own. I posted only one photo of the Art Theatre entrance in 1913, but there are more available.

Also, the Mohawk Theatre on College Street which was a vaudeville and burlesque venue, ran films for one year it appears prior to closing in 1914. Also claiming to be the first to run an Edison talking film.

I believe I found the original stage light from this theater in a barn in central Nevada. Their was a note attached to them that said they were from Proctor Theater. They were made by GE and are stunning with mirror reflectors inside. Can anyone point me in a direction of photos of the old lights? I’ll post photos to the page if possible. Thanks for any help.

1960 photo added courtesy of the AmeriCar The Beautiful Facebook page.

The 1914/15 American Motion Picture Directory lists the Art Theatre at 432 State Street in Schenectady. Was this theatre demolished to make way for the Proctor’s or was it remodeled?

This theater opened as Proctors Theatre on December 27, 1925. It closed in the 1970’s. In 1979, the Arts Center & Theare of Schenectady (ACTS) aquired the theatre from the city. On October 4, 1979, Proctors was named to the National Register of Historic Places, (F.F. Proctor Theatre & Arcade #79003237). In 1983 the theater received new carpeting throughout and replicas of the original house curtain and 1926 marquee. Goldie, the mighty Wurlitzer organ, and a hydraulic lift for the organ and orchestra pit floor were installed. In 1984, Proctors Theatre became part of the League of Historic American Theatres (LHAT). After a $30 million renovation and expansion, it reopened as Proctor’s Theatre, (aka: The Mainstage) in 2007. The renovation project won the 2008 Excellence in Historic Preservation award from the Preservation League of New York State and was named as Outstanding Theatre in 2009 by the League of Historic American Theatres (LHAT). The complex now includes the 436-seat GE Theatre, (430 State Street) and the 100-seat Upstairs Theatre, (440 State Street). It’s a shining example of revival and re-use!

I was recently visiting there as part of the LHAT Conference and was very impressed! Schenectady you should be proud to have this great theatre alive in your town. Hopefully, the other houses will also come back. Also, there are some great people at historic theatre’s all around the nation keeping theatre’s alive.

BTW, while live performances are what we do most of at Proctors, we do now have two movie screens. One on which we primarily project 2nd Run Hollywood fare in the 35mm format, and another on which we project all of the following:
70mm iWerks films (incl. 3D)
Foreign & Indy films, as well as European professional opera and ballet performances in the VC-1 digital format

Beautiful house to see a film or stage show. I actually worked on one of the reconstruction projects in the 90’s, ripping up the original stage floor and replacing it.

I haven’t been in since the back of the house was renovated again, since I moved from the area two years ago.

One of the few success stories of theatre revitalization.

Yes. That is a rear entrance to the building. It connects to the same main hallway as the front entrance with the larger Marquee.

That is for the current Proctors that belongs to this page. WMHT has a documentary called “Matinee Memories” and that same photograph was featured in it. According to the documentary, there was a previous theater called ‘Proctor’s’ that used to sit on the same plot as the current Proctor’s. The building adjacent to the construction is also the same as the one that is there now.

I started running movies at Proctor’s and picking up some stage work-calls in March of ‘89, and became a full-time employee in October of '93, so I had no opportunity to meet Gwaterman. But I have been a part of nearly every presentation in the past 13 years, as a projectionist, spot-light operator, stagehand and most recently, flyman.
I was fortunate enough to be “farmed-out” to work with PDO, the rigging company which installed the new fly-rail and automated fire curtain, so I got a real close-up perspective on our reconstruction, from the trap-room up to the 72-foot grid height, personally installing every loft-block, guide-bar and steel cable in the system. Then we brought in “Phantom of the Opera” for a month-long run, and what an undertaking THAT was.

I can safely say that we’re a WHOLE lot nicer place to work, and perform in, now. It’s bigger, cleaner, safer, much more modern and well-equipped. A fascinating and detailed article about the expansion is available at this link:

<http://livedesignonline.com/mag/proctors_gamble/>

We continued to show sub-run movies this summer, such as “Thank You For Smoking”, “The Lake House”, and “X-Men III: The Last Stand”, with live organ music on Mondays and some Tuesday nights before the movie, and we also offer guided tours of the auditorium and backstage area (check our website <http://proctors.org> for details and schedule). The audience chamber remains largely unchanged in appearance, but technical upgrades have been emplaced to enhance the patron’s enjoyment.
Our stage season resumes in late September with an amazingly varied line-up of performances, so everyone should come see what’s new, what remains and what is yet to come!

I’ve only lived in Schenectady for a year and a half and I adore Proctor’s. The expansion/renovation is ongoing, but I saw the touring company of The Phantom of the Opera in February and it felt like Broadway.

I hope they continue to show films as well. I really enjoy going to such a beautiful place to see a film, even if it is a second run.