Playhouse Square

Playhouse Square



Hanna Theatre Cutrin



                Since the 1920s, Playhouse Square has been an amazing place to go to where people of all ages could go see performances of plays/movies by their favorite performers.  Playhouse Square has always been a magical place, especially for children growing up in downtown Cleveland.  Parent's would take their children to the many theatres for cheap entertainment when the Square first opened.  During a certain time period, however, many people took Playhouse Square for granted and many people stopped going to see shows because of the new technology coming into play (“Playhouse Square History”).  Even though some people stopped going, Playhouse Square still remained up and running, but only for some time.  Playhouse Square, located at 1501 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, OH, is a place where people can go to see their favorite plays, Broadway Musicals and movies come to life.



State Theatre Lobby



                Within the months of February 1921 and November 1922, 5 of the 8 theatres that make up Playhouse Square were built (“Playhouse Square History”).  At first these 5 theaters were built to provide silent movies, actual theater and Vaudeville (“Playhouse Square”).  The first theater to go up was the State Theatre, which opened February 5, 1921.  The State Theatre was mainly used for movies and Vaudville, which is a series of separate acts of comedy, acting and dancing.  The lobby of the State Theatre ended up being 320 feet from the start of the street, to the theatre itself.  This theatre lobby is said the be the longest in the world.  The next of the 5 theatres to go up was the Ohio Theatre built on February 14, 1921.  It was an Italian Renaissance styled theatre, mainly used specifically for plays.  The lobby of the Ohio Theatre contained 3 murals called "Cycle of Venus" done by Sampitrotti.  Unfortunately, all of the murals were lost in a lobby fire in 1964.  The 3rd theatre to go up was the Hanna Theatre on March 28, 1921.  The Hanna Theatre was also an Italian Renaissance theatre and was also used specifically for just plays.  The Hanna Theatre has the same interior and the same ceiling style today.  The curtain of the Hanna Theatre is a very unique part of Cleveland’s history and of Playhouse Square history because of all of the culture that was put into it, from the different fabric’s from different countries, to the many places it traveled to get to the Cleveland theatre (“The Hannah Theater Curtain”).  On April 1, 1921, the Allen Theatre was built.  It was also an Italian Renaissance styled theatre, but it not only consisted of plays, but also silent movies.  The first silent movie played there was "The Greatest Love" with Phillip Spitainy and a 35 piece Orchestra.  At the time, it was one of the only "daylight atmospheric" theatres in the country, and the only very decorative spots in the theatres were the side boxes.  The last of the first 5 theatres to be built was the Palace Theatre built on November 6, 1922.  The Palace Theatre was a French Imperial styled theatre used to Vaudville and modified movies.  It had a Grand Hall that was made with Czechoslovakian crystal chandeliers.  It also had 7 floors of dressing rooms backstage.  



Playhouse Square



                A while after the 5 theatres were created, 3 new additions were added Playhouse Square.  The first addition was Kennedy's Cabaret which was actually located under the lobby of the Ohio Theatre and it was actually used as a work room for the State Theatre.  It was named after Kathleen Kennedy, who was an early member of the staff who helped create Playhouse Square.  The next addition was East-14th Street Theater, which was mainly a multi-purpose room.  The last addition was the Westfield Insurance Studio Theatre, which was a multi-purpose Black-Box, meaning it wasn't as used as the other 2 additions.  The first addition was used for staff parties and was also used as a lounge for the actors.  The last 2 additions were used mainly for storage and supplies.  With these 3 additions, Playhouse Square became the second largest performing arts center in the United States, after New York (“Playhouse Square”).

                During the Great Depression, however, the theatres started to lose a lot of business because of the lack of money in the economy.  The theatres also lost business because of the radio that became more popular after World War 2, and the television that came out after World War 2 (“Playhouse Square”).  Many people found no need to go to Playhouse Square to see plays or movies because they could now stay in their homes and watch the same things on television.  Playhouse Square went through its own Depression, causing 4 of the 5 theatres to close within a 14-month time span (“Playhouse Square History”).



Ohio Theatre



                The theatres closed in the exact way that they opened, starting with the State Theatre and ending with the Palace Theatre.  The State Theatre and the Ohio Theatre both closed on February 2, 1969, the Allen Theatre closed on May 7, 1968, and the Palace Theatre closed on July 20, 1969.  The Hanna Theatre managed to stay open for almost 2 more decades after the other theatres had closed, closing in 1988 (“Playhouse Square History”).  Once the theatres closed, they became a site of a lot of vandalism and they were neglected by the people for quite some time.  However, in 1970, a group of people who called themselves the "Playhouse Square Association" took off and became a non-profit organization and worked to get the theatres re-opened (“Playhouse Square”).  The organization went around to community leaders, pitching them their idea of preservation of Playhouse Square.  Eventually they raised $40 million to re-open all the theatres and preserve/restore some of the theatres. 



                The Ohio Theatre was the first theatre to re-open on July 9, 1982.  Next came the State Theatre re-opening on June 9, 1984.  Then, the Palace Theatre re-opened on April 30, 1988.  It took the Allen Theatre and the Hanna Theatre longer to re-open because of the renovations.  The Allen Theatre re-opened on November 1, 1994 (“Playhouse Square History”).  It was also restored on October 3, 1998, and renovated on September 16, 2011. The last theatre to be re-opened was the Hanna Theatre finally re-opened in September 1997 and was restored on September 20, 2008.  With all of the theatres re-opened, people began to go see shows again and money began pouring into the theatres once again (“The Hanna Theater Curtain”).               

                During the time period of the theatres being closed, people realized that sometimes seeing plays, movies, or Broadway Musicals live and up close, is a better experience than just watching it on the television or listening to it on the radio.  If the Playhouse Square Association didn't come together to plan to get the community to re-open the theatres, the theatres wouldn't be opened today.  Today the theatres have a wide variety of people walking in and out of the buildings, whether it be for tours, jobs, or just to see a play.  Today, the theatre does very well and shows an average of 2 or 3 plays a month in each theatre.  People have come from all over the country to see the different theatres and to watch a play simply because of the experience and the culture diversity each theatre has.  From the lobby designs to the ceils of the theatres themselves, they enrich you with cultures of the Italian Renaissance and French Imperialism, and they show off art work from the people who lived before us and who helped create something so important to most of us now.