C. W. & George L. Rapp, commonly known as Rapp & Rapp, was an American architectural firm famed for the design of movie palaces and other theatres. Active from 1906 to 1965 and based in Chicago, the office designed over 400 theatres, including the Chicago Theatre (1921), Bismarck Hotel and Theatre (1926) and Oriental Theater (1926) in Chicago, the Five Flags Center (1910) in Dubuque, Iowa and the Paramount Theatres in New York City (1926) and Aurora, Illinois (1931).
A movie palace is a large, elaborately decorated movie theater built from the 1910s to the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opening every year between 1925 and 1930. With the advent of television, movie attendance dropped, while the rising popularity of large multiplex chains in the 1980s and 1990s signaled the obsolescence of single-screen theaters. Many movie palaces were razed or converted into multiple-screen venues or performing arts centers, though some have undergone restoration and reopened to the public as historic buildings.
Thomas White Lamb was a Scottish-born, American architect. He was one of the foremost designers of theaters and cinemas of the 20th century.
Powers Auditorium, in Youngstown, Ohio is one of the largest auditoriums in the Youngstown-Warren area. The facility is the main venue of downtown Youngstown's DeYor Performing Arts Center. The complex also includes the Adler Art Academy, Beecher Flad Pavilion, and Ford Family Recital Hall. Originally built in 1931 as the Warner Theatre, the former movie palace was renovated and reopened as Powers Auditorium in 1969.
The Ohio Theatre is a performing arts center and former movie palace on Capitol Square in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. Known as the "Official Theatre of the State of Ohio", the 1928 building was saved from demolition in 1969 and was later completely restored. The theater was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977.
The Stanley Theater at Kennedy Boulevard and Pavonia Avenue is a historic theater in Journal Square in Jersey City, New Jersey.
The Benedum Center for the Performing Arts is a theater and concert hall located at 237 7th Street in the Cultural District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Designed by the Philadelphia architectural firm Hoffman-Henon, it was built in 1928 as the Stanley Theatre. The former movie palace was renovated and reopened as the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts in 1987.
The Midland Theatre is a 3,000-seat theater located in the Power & Light District of Kansas City, Missouri, United States. The National Collegiate Athletic Association under Walter Byers had its headquarters in the building from the 1950s until it moved to 6299 Nall Avenue at Shawnee Mission Parkway in Mission, Kansas in 1971. The theatre was originally known as the Loew's Midland Theatre until 1961. Over the years, the theatre has been known by various names including: Saxon Theatre, Midland Stadium, Midland 1-2-3 Theatre, Midland Theatre and The Midland by AMC, and Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland.
The Chicago Theatre, originally known as the Balaban and Katz Chicago Theatre, is a landmark theater located on North State Street in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1921, the Chicago Theatre was the flagship for the Balaban and Katz (B&K) group of theaters run by A. J. Balaban, his brother Barney Balaban and partner Sam Katz. Along with the other B&K theaters, from 1925 to 1945 the Chicago Theatre was a dominant movie theater enterprise. Currently, Madison Square Garden, Inc. owns and operates the Chicago Theatre as a 3600 seat performing arts venue for stage plays, magic shows, comedy, speeches, sporting events and popular music concerts.
The Warner Theatre is an Art-Deco style movie palace located at 68-82 Main Street in Torrington, Connecticut. It opened on August 19, 1931 as part of the Warner Bros. chain of movie theaters. Today it operates as a mixed-use performing arts center. It is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places and also a contributing property in the Downtown Torrington Historic District.
The Keith-Albee Theatre is a performing arts center, located across the street from the Frederick Building in downtown Huntington, West Virginia, United States.
The Los Angeles Theatre is a 2,000-seat historic movie palace at 615 S. Broadway in the Jewelry District and Broadway Theater District in the historic core of Downtown Los Angeles.
The Palace Theatre is an entertainment venue in downtown Albany, New York, located on the corner of Clinton Avenue and North Pearl Street. The theatre is operated by the Palace Performing Arts Center, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Established in 1984 and incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation in 1989, the Palace Performing Arts Center, Inc. was created to operate the theatre and utilize its full potential as a cultural and entertainment center in Albany.
The Strand Theatre was an early movie palace located at 1579 Broadway, at the northwest corner of 47th Street and Broadway in Times Square, New York City. Opened in 1914, the theater was later known as the Mark Strand Theatre, the Warner Theatre, and the Cinerama Theatre. It closed as the RKO Warner Twin Theatre, and was demolished in 1987.
Moe Mark was the brother of Mitchel H. Mark. Together they opened the first known permanent, purpose-built motion picture theater in the world, Vitascope Hall a.k.a. Vitascope Theater or Edisonia Hall in 1896 Buffalo, New York, and the first movie palace, the Strand Theatre (1914) in New York City. They founded Mark-Strand chain of theaters which operated dozens of theatres in the United States. His brother died in 1918. In 1926, Mark sold part of the chain to Stanley Company of America and in 1929, he sold the remainder to Warner Brothers which had purchased the Stanley Company in 1928. In 1953, Warner's theater holdings were spun off as Stanley Warner Theaters and in 1967 merged with RKO Theatres to become RKO-Stanley Warner Theatres.
The Broadway Theater District in the Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles is the first and largest historic theater district listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). With twelve movie palaces located along a six-block stretch of Broadway, it is the only large concentration of movie palaces left in the United States. The same six-block stretch of Broadway, and an adjacent section of Seventh Street, was also the city's retail hub for the first half of the twentieth century, lined with large and small department stores and specialty stores.
The Hippodrome Theatre is a theater in Baltimore, Maryland.
The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts is a complex in Worcester, Massachusetts, that includes an auditorium, where touring acts perform regularly, and several classrooms that host classes relating to the arts.
Hoffman-Hennon was a prominent Philadelphia architectural firm known for its theater designs. W. H. Hoffman was the firm's senior partner. He partnered with Paul J. Henon Jr. to form Hoffman-Henon Co. The firm designed more than 100 theaters, 46 of them in Philadelphia. Many are still standing and several remain open.
The Uptown Theatre is a historic movie theater in Utica, New York. It opened on December 29, 1927, during the silent film and Vaudeville eras, and is the city's oldest surviving theater, predating the Stanley Theater by eight months. It was part of the Kallet chain of movie theaters, like the Capitol Theatre in nearby Rome and other theaters no longer standing throughout Upstate New York.
