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, the theaters became a major entertainment hub for the city for much of the 20th century. However, by the late 1960s, the district had fallen into decline and its theaters had closed down. In the 1970s, the district was revived through a grassroots effort that helped usher in a new era of downtown revitalization. For this reason, the revival of Playhouse Square is often locally referred to as being "one of the top ten successes in Cleveland history."
History
Construction
Following World War I, local developer Joseph Laronge, who had previously opened the Stillman movie house on East 12th street, envisioned a row of theaters on Euclid Avenue between East 14th and East 17th streets. Laronge and New York City business magnate Marcus Loew, among others, founded a partnership called Loew's Ohio Theatres to develop the area.
The organization's first two theaters, the Ohio and State (now known as the KeyBank State), were designed by eminent architect Thomas W. Lamb in the Italianate style. It was considered essential for the theaters' marquees to face Euclid Avenue, but because of space constraints the State Theatre was built at the back of the lot, although its lobby shares the Euclid frontage with the Ohio Theatre. Construction began in 1920, and the pair opened in early February 1921.
Across Euclid Avenue, Charles A. Platt's Hanna Theatre, part of the Hanna Building complex, opened in late March 1921. Although the theater faces East 14th Street, it is still part of Playhouse Square. It was named for the prominent Cleveland Senator Mark Hanna.
Meanwhile, the Bulkley Building housing the C. Howard Crane-designed Allen Theatre was being built next door. Completed in early April 1921, Jules and Jay Allen's Pompeiian-style theater was sold to Loew's in 1922.
The last theater to be constructed was the Palace Theatre, now known as the Connor Palace, opening in November 1922 in the Keith Building, which at the time was the tallest in Cleveland. There was a great promotion for the theater's opening: the largest electric sign in the world was turned on to show that the Palace was open for business. Built by Edward F. Albee in honor of his friend and business partner, B.F.Keith, the Palace was billed as the “Showplace of the World.” Headlining the opener was America's favorite mimic, Elsie Janis, who shared billing with Eduardo Cansino, Rita Hayworth's father. Albee invested over $2 million in the vaudeville venue, which became known as the “…swankiest theater in the country.”
Designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Rapp and Rapp, the Palace was a regional flagship of the Keith-Albee chain of vaudeville theaters.
The area surrounding the theaters soon became known unofficially as “Playhouse Square.” The Euclid Square Association, a civic group, tried to rename the district “Euclid Square,” although these efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. The area is now officially designated as "Playhouse Square."
Closing and rebirth
The theaters successfully showed a variety of serious theater, vaudeville shows, and movies for more than forty years. However, during the years following World War II, suburbanization and the rise of television led to the decline of the theaters. Fire broke out in the Ohio in 1964, and the other Playhouse Square theaters were struck by vandalism. Between May 1968 and July 1969, all the theaters closed except the Hanna.
Plans to reopen and restore the theaters began almost immediately. In 1970, Raymond K. Shepardson, a Cleveland Public Schools employee, formed a non-profit group named the “Playhouse Square Association” with the Junior League of Cleveland, Inc. The cover of the February 27, 1970 issue of Life was a two-page pull-out of James H. Daugherty's The Spirit of Cinema America, a mural in the State Theatre's lobby.
Plans to raze the Ohio and the State Theatres in 1972 and 1977 caused a public outcry, and in 1973 the newly formed Playhouse Square Foundation obtained long-term leases for the Palace, Ohio and State Theatres, while Cuyahoga County commissioners purchased the Loews Building. Also in 1973, the musical revue Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris opened in the State Theatre lobby. Expected to run two weeks, the show instead played for two and a half years. In 1978, Playhouse Square was added to the National Register of Historic Places.