The Show Must Go On
by Don Rittner

A little more than an hour from Troy, the mayor of Pittsfield is working with Robert Boland and the Friends of Colonial Theater Restoration to bring back the "Colonial Theater," a 1903 entertainment palace that once saw the performance of greats like George M. Cohan, Sara Bernhardt, John Barrymore, Eubie Blake, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Billie Burke, John Phillips Sousa and the Ziegfield Follies.

To the west of Troy, in Gloversville, a city with only 17,000 residents, the Glove Theater is a small 800 seat theater and was restored recently by the Gloversville Theatre Corporation (GTC). They were aided by the Fulton County Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Fulton County Economic Development Corporation, area school districts and the Fulton-Montgomery Community College. This theater was the first of the theater empire of the Schine Brothers that at one time boasted 150 theaters throughout five states.

Schenectady's Proctor's and Albany's Palace are doing well, and just south of us, in Poughkeepsie, the 130 year old Bardavon Opera House, the oldest continuously operating theatre in New York State, and one of the oldest in the nation, has a full plate of performances.

This trend of saving and restoring local theaters is not by chance. It's a trend that is happening around the country, in states from Alabama to Washington, and includes small theaters such as the 'Glove' to the large scale Radio City Music Hall.

In New York State, several old theaters have been saved or are in the stage of being restored. Prime examples of theater restoration projects, besides the ones already mentioned are: The Auburn Schine Theatre, the 1891 Fredonia Opera House, The Hollywood Theatre in Gowanda, Paramount Theatre in Middletown, The Little Theatre and Monroe Theaters in Rochester, and in New York City there are the New Amsterdam Theatre, New Victory Theatre, and the Roundabout Theatre - Selwyn Theatre.

Two organizations promote and provide services to theater restoration projects. The League of American Historic Theaters (www.lhat.org/index.html) was founded in 1976. They provide annual and regional conferences, provide assistance in research and planning, and publish inLEAGUE, which reports news from historic theatre projects around the country and features articles on all facets of historic theatre rehabilitation and operation.

The Theatre Historical Society of America (www.historictheatres.org) was founded in 1969 by the late writer and theater historian Ben M. Hall, author of the first book on movie palaces, "The Best Remaining Seats." They are the only organization in the United States which exclusively records and preserves the architectural, cultural and social history of American theaters. The group makes available information on over 8,000 theaters through its archive and publications, and encourages research in theater history. They also maintain The American Theatre Architecture Archive, an extensive collection of photographs, slides, negatives, books, blueprints, clippings, videotapes, programs, and other material on over 8,000 theaters nationwide. Finally, their American Movie Palace Museum features exhibits of photographs, artworks, antiques, artifacts, and other memorabilia relating primarily to the "golden age" of the movie palace.

According to a story on ProfNet: "The trend to restore old movie
palaces and historic theaters is accelerating because of the current
movie theater boom, the drive to preserve American history, and
downtown revitalization projects, says Gil Stern, president of Premier
Seating Company, which has directed seat restoration in such historic
houses as Loew's in Jersey City and The Senator in Baltimore.
"Restoring historic theaters to their original glory with full stages,
gilt ornamentation, and 1920s seating makes business sense, especially
when movie goers are assured that today's comfort innovations are
included."

Some communities are making theater restoration their prime economic model. In Cleveland, a recent newspaper report describes a project which may be the largest ever attempted:

"This fall, the world's largest theatre restoration project will be completed when Playhouse Square Center unveils the Allen theatre, the last of the four contiguous vaudeville and cinema houses to be revived in Cleveland's historic theater district. The completion of the 2,500-seat Allen brings the total number of seats in Playhouse Square to 9,500, making it the largest performing arts center in America outside of New York's Lincoln Center. The Allen, built in 1921 as a movie house, will be used primarily to present large scale, touring Broadway musicals. It is expected that the Allen will draw upwards of 300,000 more people to the theater district each year and pump an additional $30 million per year into the local economy. "

There are dozens of newspaper accounts around the country of communities restoring their historic theaters. Here in Troy, the only remaining movie palace is Proctor's on Fourth Street. There is renewed interest in reviving this theater as a developer eyes the commercial part of the complex. The next few weeks will tell us whether Troy's future will have a historic theater in it. If you want to learn more about Troy's Proctor's, or learn more about the sites described, visit the new Web site at www.themesh.com/proctors.