The Renaissance Theatre, previously known as the Ohio Theatre, is a restored

movie palace A movie palace (or picture palace in the United Kingdom) is any of the large, elaborately decorated movie theaters built between the 1910s and the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opening every year between 192 ...

-type

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

located at 138 Park Ave. W in

Mansfield, Ohio Mansfield is a city in and the county seat of Richland County, Ohio, United States. Located midway between Columbus and Cleveland via Interstate 71, it is part of Northeast Ohio region in the western foothills of the Allegheny Plateau. The city ...

. The 1,402-seat theater opened on January 18, 1928, as the Ohio Theatre and serves today as the largest performing arts center in North-Central Ohio. The Renaissance Performing Arts Association operates the facility and annually produces and presents approximately 40 productions consisting of Broadway-style musical theater shows, classical music concerts, comedy shows, educational performances and outreach programs, popular music concerts, special events, and family shows. The Renaissance is also home to the Mansfield Symphony Orchestra and the

Miss Ohio The Miss Ohio Scholarship Program selects the representative for the U.S. state of Ohio to compete for the title of Miss America. The pageant is held annually, during the "Miss Ohio Festival" week, at the historic 1,600 seat Renaissance Theatre ...

Scholarship Pageant, the state competition for the

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

Pageant.

History

The Miss Ohio Pageant played a significant role in the saving of the Ohio Theatre and its renovation into the Renaissance Theatre. Mansfield originally hosted the Miss Ohio Pageant at the Ohio Theatre from 1959 through 1962. After Sandusky's Jacquelyn Mayer, Miss Ohio 1963, was crowned Miss America 1963, the Miss Ohio Pageant was relocated to the Ballroom Pavilion at

Cedar Point Cedar Point is a amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. Opened in 1870, it is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the U.S. behind Lake Compounce. Cedar Point is owned and op ...

Amusement Park in Sandusky. In 1975, the pageant returned to Mansfield, first to Malabar High School Auditorium from 1975 through 1978, then to the Madison Theatre in 1979. In 1980, it was decided to televise the pageant. Because of inadequate stage depth and backstage space at the Madison Theatre, then pageant producer Denny Keller and pageant set designer Paul Gilger persuaded the Miss Ohio Board of Directors to move the pageant back to Mansfield's Ohio Theatre, reopening the facility and sprucing it up for the pageant's first televised broadcast. The pageant's return to the old Ohio Theatre was the initial event that eventually led to the total renovation of the theatre and its reincarnation into the Renaissance Theatre. The Miss Ohio Scholarship Program has been held at the theatre continuously since 1980, for over 40 years. In August 1980, the Ohio Theatre became The Renaissance Theatre. In January 1997, the theater's name was changed to The Renaissance when it merged with the Mansfield Symphony. On May 31, 1983, The Renaissance was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. The original building was completely restored in 1985 at a cost of $2.25 million. During the summer of 2008, construction began on expanding the Renaissance Theatre with the demolition of the condemned building that neighbored the theatre. Construction continued throughout the following year and the addition was opened into the existing structure in November 2009. The new portion of the theatre remained closed to the public until January 30, 2010, during the Grand Opening Gala. Grammy award winner, Sylvia McNair, performed for guests after dinner which was held in the new lobby. The new addition included the addition of an elevator that provided handicap access to all parts of the theatre for the first time, eleven offices for staff, a permanent music library for the Mansfield Symphony and Symphony Chorus, expanded restroom facilities, new concession area, two meeting spaces, and a coat check station. On June 27, 2010, the marquee, that had been placed on the building during the 1984 restoration, was removed due to safety concerns. It was donated to the Mansfield Sailors and Soldiers Museum to be put on display at its original site, the area where the Madison Theatre stood. A new electronic marquee was installed on the new addition, during the 2008 expansion, to take the place of the Madison Marquee.

References

External links

The Renaissance home page
{{National Register of Historic Places Buildings and structures in Mansfield, Ohio Concert halls in Ohio Theatres in Ohio Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Movie palaces Theatres completed in 1928 Neoclassical architecture in Ohio Tourist attractions in Richland County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Richland County, Ohio 1928 establishments in Ohio Public venues with a theatre organ Performing arts centers in Ohio

History

See also

References

External links