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Ohio Theatre (Columbus)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the theater in Columbus, Ohio. For other uses, see Ohio Theatre.
The Ohio Theatre is a historic restored movie palace which serves as the leading performing arts center in Columbus, Ohio. Known as the "Official Theatre of the State of Ohio", it was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977[1].
Located in downtown Columbus on the site of the old Columbus City Hall, the Ohio Theatre was designed by the noted theatre architect Thomas W. Lamb. It was furnished by New York decorator Anne Dornan. Built by the Loew's and United Artists movie theatre chains, the 2,779 seat Spanish Baroque movie palace opened on March 17, 1928. It featured its own orchestra and Robert-Morton theatre organ (still in use today). In addition to movies, deluxe variety shows graced the stage, with performers that included Milton Berle, Ray Bolger, Buddy Ebsen, Jean Harlow, Ginger Rogers, and Jack Benny.
Loew's closed the theatre in 1969 and it was threatened with destruction before being saved and renovated by the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA). The original building was completely restored during the 1970's, while additional modern lobby, office and stage facilities were added in the 1980's.
The Ohio was one of the earliest restorations of a movie palace for use as a performing arts center and served as a model for many later historic renovation projects in the United States. Today it is the home of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, BalletMet, the Broadway Series, Opera Columbus, and the CAPA Summer Movie Series.