The KeyBank State Theatre is a

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

located at 1519 Euclid Avenue in

downtown Cleveland Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The economic and cultural center of the city and the Cleveland metropolitan area, it is Cleveland's oldest district, with its Public Square, Cleveland, Publi ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. It is one of the theaters that make up

Playhouse Square Playhouse Square is a theater district in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is the largest performing arts center in the US outside of New York City (only Lincoln Center is larger). Constructed in a span of 19 months in the early 1920s ...

. It was designed by the noted theater architect

Thomas W. Lamb Thomas White Lamb (May 5, 1870 – February 26, 1942) was a Scottish-born, American architect. He was one of the foremost designers of theaters and cinemas of the 20th century. Career Born in Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom, Thomas W. Lamb ca ...

and was built in 1921 by

Marcus Loew Marcus Loew ( ; May 7, 1870 – September 5, 1927) was an American business magnate and a pioneer of the motion picture industry who formed Loew's Theatres and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio (MGM). Life and career Loew was born in New York ...

to be the flagship of the Ohio branch of the Loew's Theatres company. Loew's State Theatre, as it was known then, was built in an Italian Renaissance style and was intended to show

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

shows and

movies A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...

. It opened on February 5, 1921, seating 3,400."State Theatre"
The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. May 13, 1998. Accessed January 26, 2007. Because of the desirability of having the theater's

marquee Marquee may refer to: * Marquee (overhang), a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building * Marquee (structure), a structure placed over the entrance to a hotel, theater, casino, train station, or similar building. * Pole marquee ...

on Euclid Avenue, the State Theatre was built at the back of the lot it shares with the Ohio Theatre, but with a series of three lobbies. This was the world's longest lobby serving a single theater, and it contained four huge

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

s by

James Daugherty James Henry Daugherty (June 1, 1889 – February 21, 1974) was an American modernism, American modernist painter, muralist, children's book author and illustrator. Life Daugherty was born in Asheville, North Carolina. He later lived in Indiana, ...

, entitled ''The Spirit of Pageantry—Africa, The Spirit of Drama—Europe, The Spirit of Cinema—America,'' and ''The Spirit of Fantasy—Asia.'' The theater was converted for the exhibition of

Cinerama Cinerama is a widescreen process that originally projected images simultaneously from three synchronized 35 mm movie film, 35mm projectors onto a huge, deeply curved screen, Subtended angle, subtending 146-degrees of arc. The trademarked pr ...

in 1967, but, due to financial trouble, closed in early February 1969, along with the rest of the Playhouse Square theaters. The cover of the February 27, 1970 issue of ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' was a two-page pull-out featuring ''The Spirit of Cinema America'', which inspired the creation of the Playhouse Square Association."Playhouse Square Center"
Builders Exchange Magazine. February 2004. Accessed January 26, 2007. Two years later in 1972, and again in 1977, both the State and Ohio Theatres were threatened with demolition to build a parking lot, but were saved through public outcry. In 1973, the newly formed Playhouse Square Foundation obtained a long-term lease for the

Palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

and State, and Ohio Theatres, and by 1977, the Loew's Building was purchased by

Cuyahoga County Cuyahoga County ( or , see ) is a large urban county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. The county seat and most populous city is Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,264,817, making it the second ...

."Playhouse Square"
The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. July 1, 1997. Accessed January 26, 2007. Also in 1973, the musical revue ''

Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris ''Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris'' is a musical revue of the songs of Jacques Brel. Brel's songs were translated into English by Eric Blau and Mort Shuman, who also provided the story. The original 1968 Off-Broadway product ...

'' opened in the State Theatre's lobby. The revue was expected to run for three weeks, but instead played for two years,"About PSC"
Playhouse Square Center. 2003-2005. Accessed January 26, 2007. making it the "longest-running show in Cleveland history." In 1978, the State was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

as part of Playhouse Square. Restoration of the theater began in 1979, and was completed in the summer of 1984, after the addition of a $7 million stagehouse. The State Theatre reopened on June 4 of that year, becoming the home of the

Cleveland Ballet The Cleveland Ballet was founded in Cleveland in 1972 by Dennis Nahat and Ian Horvath as a dance school, the School of Cleveland Ballet. It was the second incarnation of the Cleveland Ballet, having been preceded a ballet company of the same name ...

and

Cleveland Opera Cleveland Opera Cleveland Opera was incorporated by David Bamberger, Carola Bamberger, and John D. Heavenrich in March 1976 and presented its first season in October and November of that year with sold-out productions of Puccini's ''Madama Butterf ...

. With the restoration, seating capacity was reduced to the present 3,200. The State Theatre was renamed KeyBank State Theatre in 2017 in honor of a $10 million gift to the Playhouse Square Advancing the Legacy Campaign.

References

{{Coord, 41, 30, 3, N, 81, 40, 51, W, display=title Theatres in Cleveland Movie palaces Cinema of Cleveland Loew's Theatres buildings and structures Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Cleveland, Ohio Thomas W. Lamb buildings Cinemas and movie theaters in Cuyahoga County, Ohio Former cinemas in the United States