Posted: 3/3/16 at 3:51pm
Another vote for boston opera house
Posted: 3/3/16 at 3:59pm
Roxy, you have a lot of knowledge on theatres. Do you know anything about the uptown theatre in Chicago?
Posted: 3/3/16 at 4:18pm
It has been closed for awhile. I know there has been some volunteer preservation effort going on. The neighborhood supporting it may not be the best and the theater is,huge - over 4000 seats.
Suggest you Google it and a ton of stuff including photos will come up. You can also go to cinema treasures.org which is a treasure trove of info on theaters in the U S and all over the world.
Posted: 3/3/16 at 4:58pm
For the non-Chicagoans, here is the Oriental which a few of us have mentioned (this is a much better version than my profile picture from the stage).
Here is the former Bank of America Theatre - now the PrivateBank Theatre - soon to be home to Hamilton (how they are going to fit two turntables on to that stage will be interesting). You can't really see what I like to refer to as the "picture frame" in its full glory. It's the gold bands seemingly coming off the mezzanine.
Here is the Cadillac Palace Theatre (they tend to do the really large tours - i.e. Lion King, Finding Neverland, etc.)
Here is the inside.
Posted: 3/3/16 at 5:03pm
Colonial Theatre in Boston...
Posted: 3/3/16 at 5:15pm
The Fox in STL is gorgeous. The only downside is how huge it is.
Posted: 3/3/16 at 5:28pm
The Auditorium Theater by Adler and Sullivan in Chicago is huge and has lovely mosaic floors and murals. It was the home for Les Miz for a long time. The upper balconies actually feel like they are tilted.
Posted: 3/3/16 at 5:58pm
The Plaza in El Paso is an atmospheric theater. Do you know if the cloud machine and stars still work Ozjust4?
Posted: 3/3/16 at 6:11pm
The Majestic in San Antonio, TX is the most gorgeous place I've ever seen.
Whomever said Procters and the Benedum mustn't get out much.
Updated On: 3/3/16 at 06:11 PM
Posted: 3/3/16 at 6:28pm
The Academy of Music in Philadelphia is a grand old space, especially from the stage. From the audience perspective, the angle of the top tier (which can also be very dark and has bench seating) can be scary, though.
Posted: 3/3/16 at 6:29pm
Sadly neither of the touring houses in Pittsburgh (both converted movie palaces) rival the gorgeousness listed here.
Perhaps if the Nixon hadn't been torn down to build a stupid skyscraper. Still forever looking for pictures of it...
Posted: 3/3/16 at 6:31pm
Winter Garden and Elgin Theatres in Toronto "stacked" Edwardian theatres
Posted: 3/3/16 at 6:34pm
I'm obviously biased towards my home touring theatre... Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, TX.
Posted: 3/3/16 at 6:36pm
Those of you interested in touring houses, do yourself a favor and check out this photo album: https://m.flickr.com/photos/dionnemusic/albums/72157624160598457
Posted: 3/3/16 at 6:45pm
The Majestic in San Antonio is atmospheric as well.
Posted: 3/3/16 at 6:48pm
It's not a US theatre it's here in Manchester, UK and it's The Palace Theatre. 2000 seats and beautiful, just the right size.
Posted: 3/3/16 at 7:24pm
The Fox in Atlanta, like others have said, it stunning. It's an amazing space to be in, but it was a big movie palace, so there are about 4500 seats. If you have a bad seat (and there are a lot bad seats), then it can be a real pain to see a show. It's just so cavernous. But architecturally, it's a marvel.
Posted: 3/3/16 at 8:04pm
Since I lived in and around Memphis for decades, I always had a fondness for the Orpheum. I go all the way back to the first national tour of The Wiz, Hermione Gingold in Side by Side by Sondheim and Vincent Price as Oscar Wilde in Diversions and Delights.
Updated On: 3/3/16 at 08:04 PM
Posted: 3/4/16 at 12:21am
The Fox in St. Louis is beautiful, but it is in a dreary, almost isolated stretch, which detracts for me. In addition, there is zero slope in the humongous orchestra. I saw South Pacific a dew years back from the sixth or seventh row. I am six feet tall, yet I moved back to around the 35th row, so I could at least see something.
Boston has two. The Opera House is gorgeous, but the auditorium is a little too big. The Colonial is PERFECT, better than any theatre on Broadway IMO. Perfect size, perfect acoustics, beautiful...just a special theatre.
i agree re the Oriental in Chicago. Gorgeous. Only there once, for Wicked, and I had a seat in the 10th row or so on the aisle, so it was a perfect evenng.
The worst I have ever been to is in Richmond. They changed the name a few years back, and I think it is now the Altria, but it used to be called the Landmark. Too big, incredibly ugly, horrible side sections, acoustics that distort most of the sound and give the impression that all human voices are coming from off-stage; from the first row of the mezzanine, you feel like you are in another state.
One thing is generally true of the road theaters...virtually all of them are much too big. Three quarters of the seats are worse than anything you will get on Broadway, so far from stage.
Posted: 3/4/16 at 12:32am
I second HSky on The Academy of Music in Philly. Perhaps I'm biased because I've been going there since I was ten years old, but it's just so gorgeous and ornate. Also, that chandelier is to die for. As HSky mentioned, the amphitheater can be a little scary (but usually is a good cheap option and not THAT bad), but I usually stick to the family circle and below for that reason.
Updated On: 3/4/16 at 12:32 AM
Posted: 3/4/16 at 12:58am
Repping The Fox St. Louis again in this thread because I have a soft spot for that huge old barn.
The grandiose lobby:
It really is close to the gaudy point, but the sheer size and symmetry of the room absorb some of the intensity.
Posted: 3/4/16 at 1:06am
It's a hell of a lot more interesting seeing a movie, especially a classic one at one of these theaters instead of seeing it in an antiseptic shoebox.
I was in many of these theaters. You have no idea how puny you feel standing in the train station size lobby of the St Louis Fox. You could be in the theater 24/7 for a week and still have not seen every detail.
Updated On: 3/4/16 at 01:06 AM
Posted: 3/4/16 at 1:07am
Another vote for the Fox in St. Louis. It is magnificent, with no picture I have ever seen doing it justice.
Posted: 3/4/16 at 1:10am
Totally agree. I literally takes your breath away.
