Deserted Places: theater

Showing posts with label theater. Show all posts

Monday, October 16, 2017

An abandoned (literally) underground music hall in Boston

Boston's Piano Row is a historic district known for its piano showrooms built in the late 19th century. There, piano dealers M. Steinert & Sons own the building standing at No162 Boylston Street. The six-story building was designed by architects Winslow & Wetherell and it was erected in 1896 by company employee Alexander Steinert.

Four stories below the ground, the building features Steinert Hall, a now abandoned concert auditorium designed in the Adam-style with fluted Corinthian pilasters separating round arches. In the early 20th century, the 'Little Jewel' as Steinart Hall was called, was considered headquarters for the musical and artistic world of cultured Boston. Among those who performed there, 40 feet below ground, were Josef Lhévinne, Josef Hofmann, Harold Bauer, Fritz Kreisler, Ignacy Jan Paderewski and Sergei Rachmaninoff.

The last performance was given in 1942 as the hall closed due to new stricter fire code restrictions enforced after the 1942 Cocoanut Grove Nightclub fire and a prohibitive cost of updating the hall.

In 2015, it was reported that the new owners of the building were hoping to restore Steinart Hall and open it again as a concert hall.

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Jessica Rinaldi/bostonglobe.com

greiglamont.blogspot.com

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Thursday, July 21, 2016

Inside Washington Coliseum, where the Beatles gave their first concert in the US

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Washington Coliseum is widely known as the venue where the Beatles gave their first concert in the United States. In its 75 years of history it has hosted a wide array of performances and athletic events, including ice skating, martial arts, ballet, music, circuses, and speeches until it then became a jail, a waste management facility and a parking lot.

Washington Coliseum opened in February 1941, as Uline Ice Arena built by Miguel L. "Uncle Mike" Uline for his hockey team, the Washington Lions. The first act was Sonja Henie's Hollywood Ice Revue while one of its first events was a pro-America rally designed to promote U.S. entry in World War II, just weeks before Pearl Harbor.

The arena was renamed Washington Coliseum in 1960 after it was bought by jewelry wholesaler Harry G. Lynn. It then became the basketball court for Washington Capitols where Earl Lloyd became the first African American athlete to play in the NBA.

In 1964 the Beatles gave their first concert in the US, less than 48 hours after their historic appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. 8,092 fans attended the event with the Beatles playing for approximately 40 minutes. Concerts in the arena were banned in 1967 after a riot during a performance by The Temptations.

Between 1969-1970 Washington Coliseum hosted a sport event for the last time, becoming the home of Washington Caps. In 1971 it was briefly turned into a makeshift jail for up to 1200 male and female prisoners arrested during the 1971 May Day Protests against the war in Vietnam.

From 1994 to 2003 the Washington Coliseum served as a trash transfer station by Waste Management, the company that handles trash disposal for the District of Columbia. Then, Waste Management applied for its demolition, however in 2007 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 2015, Outdoor retailer REI announced that Washngton Coliseum will be redeveloped and will be turned into their fifth flagship store with additional office and retail space for other businesses.

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SEE ALSO: More abandoned arenas and theaters around the world // More abandoned sports facilities // More abandoned places in the United States // LIST OF ALL DESERTED PLACES
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Jennifer L. Reid/urbanghostsmedia.org

Aaron DeNu/urbanghostsmedia.org

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Monday, May 16, 2016

Inside Cleveland's abandoned Variety Theater

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Built in 1927, and initially operating as a vaudeville theater, the Variety Theater was one of the earliest cinemas in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned by Warner Bros. from 1929 to 1954, it became one of the busiest movie theaters on Clevaland's West Side. During the 1970's and 1980's it became a second-run theater and finally a rock concert venue. Bands such as Metallica, R.E.M. and Dead Kennedys are among those who appeared in the 1,900-seat theater.

It was during a Motorhead concert on December 2, 1984 when the loud music cracked the ceiling and plaster began to fall on to the audience. The power was cut off to stop the band from playing. Two years later, a judged order Variety Theater closed. Since then it has remained abandoned and hidden from the public.

In 2009 the abandoned theater was purchased by Friends of the Historic Variety Theatre, an organization aiming to restore and operate the theater.

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Matthew Christopher/flavorwire.com

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Monday, October 6, 2014

An abandoned Soviet era circus in Moldova

This abandoned circus is situated in the heart of Chisinau, the capital and and largest city of the Republic of Moldova. It was originally constructed back in 1981 when the country was known as the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic and it was a part of the USSR. In the Soviet era, circus was very popular and this is why this large and impressive building was built. In its auditorium there is space for 2,000 spectators.

Times changed though and today Moldova is one of the poorest countries in Europe. The circus closed in 2004 for repairs but it never opened again. The inside however remains almost intact, perhaps waiting for better days to come.

SEE ALSO: More abandoned theaters around the world // LIST OF ALL DESERTED PLACES
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abandonedjourney.com

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Monday, September 15, 2014

The abandoned Loew's Kings Theatre in New York

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Loew's Kings Theatre opened September 7, 1929 in Brooklyn. The 3,676 seat house was built and operated by the Loew's Theatres chain, and was one of the five "Loew's Wonder Theatres" in the New York metropolitan area. It originally presented shows that combined movies and live vaudeville. Many celebrities who grew up in Brooklyn and went to area high schools worked as ushers at Loew's Kings, among them were Sylvester Stallone and Henry Winkler.

King's Theatre closed in 1971 and fell in disrepair for the next 4 decades. Although it was left intact at the time it shut down, extensive physical damage was sustained to its interior as a result of decades of neglect, water damage and vandalism. The City of New York, owner of the theater since 1979, decided in 2010 to fully restore it and renovate it in order to be used as a modern theater, accommodating some 250 performances a year. Restoration works are currently in progress and Kings Theatre is going to reopen in 2015. Most of the following photos where taken before these works began.

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Jim.hederson/Wikimedia Commons

Tod Seelie/gothamist.com

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Monday, July 21, 2014

An abandoned 1920s cabaret theatre in Berlin

This abandoned cabaret theatre was discovered in the central Mitte area of Berlin, Germany. It opened in 1905 as a musical hall and restaurant, named “Fritz Schmidt’s Restaurant and Festival Halls” and soon became an established venue for Berlin’s ballroom society. In 1919 it changed operators and became “Kolibri Festival Halls and Cabarets”. It was the era of the German "Kabarett" and that was when this theatre hall had some of its best days. It all ended at some point after 1934 when the Nazi regime started its crackdown on the cabaret scene.

The cabaret theatre was found inside an abandoned three-storey building surrounded by taller apartment buildings. After tons of rubble were removed from its interior, a 300 square metre (3230 sq feet) ballroom with wall paintings and metre-high stuccoed ceilings was revealed. The kitchen on the ground floor had a special lift to send up food and drinks to the hall on the second floor. LAVA architecture firm undertook the task of restoration of the building in order to be used as a space for performances and exhibitions, studios, meetings and conferences, and luxury apartments for short term and executive rental.

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Moritz Gruppe GmbH/Ronny Goyn/www10.aeccaffe.com

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Monday, March 3, 2014

Abandoned Russian cinemas

Between 2010 and 2011, Russian photographer Sergey Novikov travelled around Moscow and St Petersburg to take photos of old movie theaters, some of them abandoned and other reused. Novikov says "I prefer an engrossing film to disgusting popcorn. I don't mind shifting about in a squeaky chair, soaking in the atmosphere of an old cinema. Unfortunately, the films have already left them." All photos by Sergey Novikov.

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Sergey Novikov

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Monday, October 15, 2012

An abandoned concert arena in Western Australia

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Perth Entertainment Center opened its doors on 27 September 1974 and for the next 3 decades it was the venue of choice for many top international rock and pop artists. Queen, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, U2 and Oasis were only few of the names that performed on its stage.

The indoor arena, built in the city center of Perth, Western Australia, had a capacity of 8,000 seats and it is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest purpose built regular theatre (containing a proscenium arch) in the world. Except of music concerts, it also hosted theatrical plays, musicals, circuses, corporate functions and international beauty pageants (Miss Universe 1979). From 1990 to 2002, it was home to NBL team Perth Wildcats and from 1988 to 1989 to WNBL's Perth Breakers.

The venue officially closed in August 2002 and remained abandoned ever since. It was demolished between May and December 2011, and now a new facility called Perth Arena is being built in its place.

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