Address | 805 Hennepin Avenue Minneapolis, Minnesota United States |
---|---|
Owner | Hennepin Theatre Trust |
Operator | Historic Theatre Group |
Capacity | 2,181 |
Construction | |
Opened | 1921 |
Reopened | 1991 |
Architect | J.E.O. Pridmore |
Website | |
www |
The State Theatre is a historic theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. It is one of four restored theatres in the Hennepin Theatre District. [1] It is one of four restored theaters on Hennepin Avenue, along with the Pantages Theatre, the Orpheum Theatre [2] and the Shubert Theatre (now The Cowles Center).
The State Theatre seats 2,181. It opened in 1921 and was then considered the most technologically advanced and elaborate theatre in the United States. It was designed by the Chicago architect J.E.O. Pridmore in a free Italian Renaissance style and boasted the first well-driven air conditioning system in Minneapolis. The original stage floor was glass, lit from underneath to create stunning visual effects. The opening night program included a silent film, newsreel and travelogue. A Wurlitzer pipe organ was installed in 1925 and concerts were held every day for 25 cents. The State's original neon marquee, which ran the entire width of the theatre, dated back to its opening; it was replaced with electric bulbs and large letters reading "STATE" in the 1940s. The neon sign was recreated for a modern remodel and again adorns the theatre's frontage. Between 1921 and 1978, the State Theatre was used primarily as a movie house, but also hosted vaudeville acts, concerts and ballet. The movie screen was the largest screen west of the Mississippi River at the time. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid set a national record at the State in 1970 for the longest run in America. The final picture show was Tommy on New Year's Eve 1975.
The theatre was built on the site of the first mansion constructed by T. B. Walker in 1874 for his family at 803 Hennepin Avenue. His home stood there for forty years until it was demolished to make way for the theatre complex. [3]
From 1978 to 1989, the building was the Jesus People Church. The historic exterior State Theater signage was removed and church signage was installed. Interior alterations were also made.
The Minneapolis Community Development Agency purchased the LaSalle Plaza block, including the State, in 1989 as part of the LaSalle Plaza development. After nearly two years of renovation at a cost of $8.8 million, the State Theatre re-opened in November 1991 with the Minnesota Opera's production of Carousel . The restored proscenium spans almost the full width of the building and curves 100 feet (30 m) above the stage. The six chandeliers in the house are original, as are the murals on the walls. Since the re-opening in 1991, the State has hosted live Broadway touring productions such as Avenue Q , Sweeney Todd and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat , concerts by Patti Smith and Gordon Lightfoot, author and adventure speaker series and films including the world premiere of the Minnesota-based movie, Grumpy Old Men . The theater appeared in the film Jingle All the Way with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad in 1996. Hennepin Theatre Trust has been the owner and operator since 2005. [4]
Historic Theatre Group's original partner was Jujamcyn Productions. SFX (now Live Nation) bought Jujamcyn Productions in 2000. [5] Live Nation sold most of its theatrical properties, including its Minneapolis operations, to Key Brand Entertainment in 2008. [6] Steve Vai recorded his concert here in 2007, releasing it as both the live album and concert video, Where the Wild Things Are, in 2009. [7]
The Brave New Workshop (BNW), based in Minneapolis, Minnesota was founded by Dudley Riggs in 1958 and is the longest running sketch and improvisational comedy theater in the US. BNW continues the tradition, of writing, producing, and performing as a Resident Theatre of Hennepin Theatre Trust.
Nicollet Island is an island in the Mississippi River just north of Saint Anthony Falls in central Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to the United States Census Bureau the island has a land area of 194,407 square metres (0.075 sq mi) and a 2000 census population of 144 persons. The island makes up a large part of the city-designated Nicollet Island/East Bank neighborhood. The island is named for cartographer Joseph Nicollet, who mapped the Upper Mississippi in the 1830s.
The Pellissier Building and adjoining Wiltern Theatre is a 12-story, 155-foot (47 m) Art Deco landmark at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue in Los Angeles, California. The entire complex is commonly referred to as the Wiltern Center. Clad in a blue-green glazed architectural terra-cotta tile and situated diagonal to the street corner, the complex is considered one of the finest examples of Art Deco architecture in the United States. The Wiltern building is owned privately, and the Wiltern Theatre is operated by Live Nation's Los Angeles division.
The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts is a performing arts center and flagship for dance in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Cowles Center was developed as an incubation project by Artspace Projects, Inc and includes the refurbished 500-seat Goodale Theater ; the Hennepin Center for the Arts, home to 20 leading dance and performing arts organizations; a state-of-the-art education studio housing a distance learning program; and an atrium connecting the buildings. The Cowles Center is a catalyst for the creation, presentation and education of dance in the Twin Cities.
The Pantages Theatre is a historic theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The original building was a Beaux-Arts style twelve-story complex on Hennepin Avenue, designed by Kees & Colburn and operated by Alexander Pantages, a Greek immigrant who opened 500 theatres.
Jujamcyn Theaters LLC, formerly the Jujamcyn Amusement Corporation, is a theatrical producing and theatre-ownership company in New York City. For many years Jujamcyn was owned by James H. Binger, former Chairman of Honeywell, and his wife, Virginia McKnight Binger. The organization is now held by its president, Jordan Roth, and president emeritus, Rocco Landesman.
Hennepin Avenue is a major street in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It runs from Lakewood Cemetery, north through the Uptown District of Southwest Minneapolis, through the Virginia Triangle, the former "Bottleneck" area west of Loring Park. It then goes through the North Loop in the city center, to Northeast Minneapolis and the city's eastern boundary, where it becomes Larpenteur Avenue as it enters Lauderdale in Ramsey County at Highway 280. Hennepin Avenue is a Minneapolis city street south/west of Washington Avenue, and is designated as Hennepin County Road 52 from Washington Avenue to the county line.
Orpheum Theatre is a theater located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is one of four restored theaters on Hennepin Avenue, along with the Pantages Theatre, the State Theatre and the Shubert Theatre.
Mayo Clinic Square on Block E in downtown Minneapolis, is a building bounded by Hennepin Avenue, North 6th Street, North 7th Street, and 1st Avenue North. It is part of the Downtown West neighborhood in Minneapolis, historically known as the Warehouse District. It is one block south of the Warehouse District/Hennepin Avenue light rail station on the METRO Blue and Green lines. "Block E" is a City planning department designation of the block; other blocks have similar designations
Minneapolis is the largest city in the US state of Minnesota, and the county seat of Hennepin County.
The Unique Theater was an 830-seat vaudeville theater, built in 1904 on Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was built in the Renaissance Revival style, and situated between the Hennepin Center for the Arts and the West Hotel.
LaSalle Plaza is a Class A skyscraper located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota that is 387 ft tall. It is the 20th-tallest building in the city and fills a city block, bound by 8th Street S, LaSalle Avenue, 9th Street S, and Hennepin Avenue. The complex includes a thirty-story office tower and a two-story retail base. It was designed and developed in 1991 around the pre-existing Historic State Theatre.
Broadway Across America (BAA) is a presenter and producer of live theatrical events in the United States and Canada since 1982. It is currently owned by the John Gore Organization, which purchased it from Live Nation in 2008.
The John Gore Organization (JGO), formerly known as Key Brand Entertainment (KBE), is a producer and distributor of live theater in North America, as well as an e-commerce company, focused on theater. KBE was founded in the UK in 2004 by 14-time Tony Award-winning Producer John Gore who is the company's Chairman, CEO and Owner.
The Morris A. Mechanic Theatre was a playhouse at 1 South Charles Street that was part of the Charles Center of Baltimore, Maryland. The theatre was built by and named for owner Morris A. Mechanic who operated a number of theatres in the city such as The Stanton Theatre, Ford's Grand Opera House, the Centre Theatre, and the Century and Valencia Theatres, all of which have since been demolished except for the Centre which the exterior has been restored and the interior has been repurposed as classroom and studio space for Maryland Institute College of Art and Johns Hopkins University film programs. The Mechanic theatre was demolished in 2014.
Minneapolis Central Library is a public library located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the largest library in the Hennepin County Library system. It bills itself as having "the third largest per capita public library collection of any major city in America with a collection of more than 2.4 million items—including books, DVDs, music, government documents." The 353,000-square-foot (32,800 m2) building at 300 Nicollet Mall with two levels of underground parking was designed by César Pelli and opened on May 20, 2006. It has over 300 computers for use by the public, an 8,140-square-foot (756 m2) atrium, an 18,560-square-foot (1,724 m2) green roof planted with low-growing ground cover designed to "be sun- and drought-resistant", and a host of energy-efficiency measures.
The Terrace Theatre was located at 3508 France Avenue North in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. Upon its opening on May 23, 1951, the Terrace received critical acclaim for its “bold architectural lines [and] extensive patron services.” The 1,299-seat theater, designed in the mid-century modern style by the Minneapolis architectural firm of Liebenberg & Kaplan (L&K) for movie exhibitors Sidney and William Volk, was a popular Twin Cities destination for nearly fifty years. It changed hands in 1980 and again in 1987, when it was remodeled from a single-screen auditorium into three screens by dividing the balcony. The last movie was screened in 1999 and the theater remained boarded up for seventeen years before it was demolished in the fall of 2016 to be replaced by a Hy-Vee grocery store.
Liebenberg and Kaplan (L&K) was a Minneapolis architectural firm founded in 1923 by Jacob J. Liebenberg and Seeman I. Kaplan. Over a fifty-year period, L&K became one of the Twin Cities' most successful architectural firms, best known for designing/redesigning movie theaters. The firm also designed hospitals, places of worship, commercial and institutional buildings, country clubs, prestigious homes, radio and television stations, hotels, and apartment buildings. After designing Temple Israel and the Granada Theater in Minneapolis, the firm began specializing in acoustics and theater design and went on to plan the construction and/or renovation of more than 200 movie houses throughout Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Architectural records, original drawings, and plans for some 2,500 Liebenberg and Kaplan projects are available for public use at the Northwest Architectural Archives.
The Palace Theatre is a historic theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Dating from 1916, it was renovated in 2016 to become a live music venue.
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