The State Theatre is a real jewel in the Portland-area music scene and a legacy in New England. Originally constructed and opened on November 8, 1929, the State was designed in a semi-Atmospheric/Spanish style with an original seating capacity of 2,300. It operated as a first-run  movie house until the late 1960s, when it became a porn theatre.  In 1989, it was closed and fell into a state of disrepair. In the mid-1990s, the theatre was saved and restored, but closed again for a brief time after its restoration, reopening soon after as a performing arts and concert venue.  The State Theatre hosted such diverse acts as Wilco, Modest Mouse, Gillian Welch, David Byrne, Interpol, Snoop Dogg, Ray LaMontagne, Sonic Youth, John Hiatt and Kings of Leon before it closed again in early 2006.

The State Theatre reopened last year under the partnership of The Bowery Presents, an independent concert promoter based in New York City, and Alex Crothers, owner of Higher Ground in South Burlington, Vermont, and an independent concert promoter company and who produces more than 420 events a year in the New England region.  The partners hired me to serve as General Manager and Talent Buyer for the venue in June of 2010, and we soon underwent four months of extensive renovations that included raising the stage, installing new seats and carpet, painting, and building administrative offices and a new sound and light package.   This was in addition to the previous two years of work that our landlord, Stone Coast Properties, put into the space – including rewiring the room, building new fire escapes and totally restoring the ceiling. 

Opened in 1922, the Waterbury Place Theater has a glorious—and inglorious—history. Theatrical impresario Sylvester Poli hired period architect Thomas Lamb to build another in his string of movie palaces. Designed in what is described as a Renaissance Revival style, the Palace Theater featured an eclectic mix of Greek, Roman, Arabic and Federal motifs and boasted grand lobby spaces, and ornate dome ceilings, in a palatial setting fit for a king—but intended for the people of Waterbury.

In its heyday, stars of vaudeville, stage and screen made personal appearances.  The likes of Eddie Cantor, Rudolph Valentino, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Frank Sinatra, Jackie Gleason, the Andrew Sisters, Tommy Dorsey and Tony Bennett  were some of the greats who performed in front of packed houses.  It became the Loew’s Poli  in a corporate merger with Loew’s, and was the premier movie house in a city that boasted small theaters in most neighborhoods.