Proctor's Theatre
Encyclopedia
Proctor's Theatre is a former vaudeville house located in Schenectady
, New York
, United States
. Many famous artists have performed there, notably Mariah Carey
(whose 1993 top-rated Thanksgiving special was taped there), Britney Spears
, Hal Holbrook, Ted Wiles, and George Burns, as well as many others. It has one of the largest movie screens
in the Northeast
.
The theatre was opened on December 27, 1926. It was designed by architect Thomas Lamb
. Four years later it hosted the first public demonstration of television
. In 1979 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places
, shortly before being renovated after a long period of decline and neglect. A more recent renovation has added two other stages.
), in a densely developed commercial area. It and its interior arcade
are included in the Register listing.
It is a three-story building with attic
. The North (front) facade
is faced in stucco
, with engaged Doric
pilaster
s. Ornamentation
includes garlands
and patera
e on the frieze
s. A large marquee
covers the sidewalk in front.
Inside, the arcade that connects the entrance to the theatre features space for (originally) 14 boutique
s, with five copper-framed glass windows. A marble
staircase leads to the upstairs offices, and the box office and showcase are paneled in Walnut.
The foyer
is carpeted in red, with men's and women's smoking rooms on either side. Two more marble staircases lead to the balcony
level. A pastoral mural
in sepia decorates the wall. The staircases lead to a balcony promenade with an authentic Louis XV style
sofa. Decoration includes Corinthian
columns, iron railings and extensive gold leaf
detailing.
Corinthian columns also flank the proscenium
arch over the stage. Gold leaf detail is all over the domed ceiling and entrance arches, in contrast to the black and silver damask
wall coverings. The side loge
s are trimmed with iron grilles in the arches and heavy velvet drapes. Light is provided by a central black and gold chandelier
with 192 lamps, flanked by six smaller fixtures.
led to rapid growth in Schenectady through the late 19th and early 20th century. The city's streetcar network made its downtown more accessible to the city. Vaudeville
impressario Frederick Freeman Proctor
chose to build his first theater in 1912. In the last years of his life he decided to replace it. It cost $1.5 million ($ in contemporary dollars) to build and opened on December 27, 1926, with a showing of the silent film Stranded in Paris. The audience was so impressed by the lavish facilities no one complained about the malfunctioning Wurlitzer
organ
.
Sound equipment was installed at the theater for the new sound film
s two years later. Shortly before his 1929 death Proctor sold his theater chain to RKO Pictures
. The next year it was the site of the first public demonstration of television
, when an orchestra performed under the direction of the image of a conductor in General Electric Research Laboratory
approx 3 miles away.
The theatre had fallen into disrepair throughout the 1960s and '70s while population shifted and moved out of Schenectady. The theatre was going to be torn down to be turned into a parking lot until a group of activists joined together and created the Arts Districts of Schenectady.
Proctors recently finished a $24.5 million expansion in the fall 2007. Several local firms were involved, including Stracher Roth Gilmore (architectural), Ryan-Biggs Associates (structural), M/E Engineering (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) and Adirondack Scenic (theatrical & rigging designers). Three separate venues will be available for the public:
In September 2007, upon completion of the expansion project, Proctor's Theatre changed its name to "Proctors" to reflect that fact that it now contains three auditoriums.
On July 18, 2009, the theater won the Outstanding Historic Theatre Award, presented by the League of Historic American Theatres at their annual meeting in Cleveland. Proctors will host the group's convention in 2011.
2005:
2006:
2007:
Additional construction of the former Carl Company
1st Floor:
2nd Floor:
3rd Floor:
TBD
Schenectady, New York
Schenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Many famous artists have performed there, notably Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
(whose 1993 top-rated Thanksgiving special was taped there), Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
, Hal Holbrook, Ted Wiles, and George Burns, as well as many others. It has one of the largest movie screens
Projection screen
A projection screen is an installation consisting of a surface and a support structure used for displaying a projected image for the view of an audience. Projection screens may be permanently installed, as in a movie theater; painted on the wall; or semi-permanent or mobile, as in a conference room...
in the Northeast
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
.
The theatre was opened on December 27, 1926. It was designed by architect Thomas Lamb
Thomas Lamb
Thomas Babbit Lamb was an American industrial designer. He is best known for his innovative handle designs closely modeled on the mechanics of the human hand.- Biography :Lamb was born in Detroit City on September 18, 1896...
. Four years later it hosted the first public demonstration of television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. In 1979 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
, shortly before being renovated after a long period of decline and neglect. A more recent renovation has added two other stages.
Building
The theater building is located on the north side of State Street (NY 5New York State Route 5
New York State Route 5 is a state highway that extends for across the state of New York in the United States. It begins at the Pennsylvania state line in the Chautauqua County town of Ripley and passes through Buffalo, Syracuse, Utica, Schenectady, and several other smaller cities and...
), in a densely developed commercial area. It and its interior arcade
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
are included in the Register listing.
It is a three-story building with attic
Attic
An attic is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building . Attic is generally the American/Canadian reference to it...
. The North (front) facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
is faced in stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
, with engaged Doric
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s. Ornamentation
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
includes garlands
Garland (decoration)
A garland is a decorative wreath or cord, used at festive occasions, which can be hung round a person's neck, or on inanimate objects like Christmas trees. Originally garlands were made of flowers or leaves.-Etymology:...
and patera
Patera
A patera was a broad, shallow dish used for drinking, primarily in a ritual context such as a libation. These paterae were often used in Rome....
e on the frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
s. A large marquee
Marquee (sign)
A marquee is most commonly a structure placed over the entrance to a hotel or theatre. It has signage stating either the name of the establishment or, in the case of theatres, the play or movie and the artist appearing at that venue...
covers the sidewalk in front.
Inside, the arcade that connects the entrance to the theatre features space for (originally) 14 boutique
Boutique
A boutique is a small shopping outlet, especially one that specializes in elite and fashionable items such as clothing and jewelry. The word is French for "shop", via Latin from Greek ἀποθήκη , "storehouse"....
s, with five copper-framed glass windows. A marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
staircase leads to the upstairs offices, and the box office and showcase are paneled in Walnut.
The foyer
Foyer
A foyer or lobby is a large, vast room or complex of rooms adjacent to the auditorium...
is carpeted in red, with men's and women's smoking rooms on either side. Two more marble staircases lead to the balcony
Balcony
Balcony , a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade.-Types:The traditional Maltese balcony is a wooden closed balcony projecting from a...
level. A pastoral mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
in sepia decorates the wall. The staircases lead to a balcony promenade with an authentic Louis XV style
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
sofa. Decoration includes Corinthian
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
columns, iron railings and extensive gold leaf
Gold leaf
right|thumb|250px|[[Burnishing]] gold leaf with an [[agate]] stone tool, during the water gilding processGold leaf is gold that has been hammered into extremely thin sheets and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades...
detailing.
Corinthian columns also flank the proscenium
Proscenium
A proscenium theatre is a theatre space whose primary feature is a large frame or arch , which is located at or near the front of the stage...
arch over the stage. Gold leaf detail is all over the domed ceiling and entrance arches, in contrast to the black and silver damask
Damask
Damask is a reversible figured fabric of silk, wool, linen, cotton, or synthetic fibers, with a pattern formed by weaving. Damasks are woven with one warp yarn and one weft yarn, usually with the pattern in warp-faced satin weave and the ground in weft-faced or sateen weave...
wall coverings. The side loge
Loge
Loge may refer to:Geography*Loge-Fougereuse, a village and commune in the Vendée department of France*La Loge, a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department of France*La Loge-Pomblin, a commune in the Aube department of France...
s are trimmed with iron grilles in the arches and heavy velvet drapes. Light is provided by a central black and gold chandelier
Chandelier
A chandelier is a branched decorative ceiling-mounted light fixture with two or more arms bearing lights. Chandeliers are often ornate, containing dozens of lamps and complex arrays of glass or crystal prisms to illuminate a room with refracted light...
with 192 lamps, flanked by six smaller fixtures.
History
The arrival of General ElectricGeneral Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
led to rapid growth in Schenectady through the late 19th and early 20th century. The city's streetcar network made its downtown more accessible to the city. Vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
impressario Frederick Freeman Proctor
Frederick Freeman Proctor
Frederick Freeman Proctor , aka F.F. Proctor, was a vaudeville impresario who pioneered the method of continuous vaudeville. He opened the Twenty-third Street Theatre in New York City...
chose to build his first theater in 1912. In the last years of his life he decided to replace it. It cost $1.5 million ($ in contemporary dollars) to build and opened on December 27, 1926, with a showing of the silent film Stranded in Paris. The audience was so impressed by the lavish facilities no one complained about the malfunctioning Wurlitzer
Wurlitzer
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to simply as Wurlitzer, was an American company that produced stringed instruments, woodwinds, brass instruments, theatre organs, band organs, orchestrions, electronic organs, electric pianos and jukeboxes....
organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
.
Sound equipment was installed at the theater for the new sound film
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
s two years later. Shortly before his 1929 death Proctor sold his theater chain to RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
. The next year it was the site of the first public demonstration of television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, when an orchestra performed under the direction of the image of a conductor in General Electric Research Laboratory
General Electric Research Laboratory
General Electric Research Laboratory, the first industrial research facility in the United States, was established in 1900. This lab was home to the early technological breakthroughs of General Electric and created a research and development environment that set the standard for industrial...
approx 3 miles away.
The theatre had fallen into disrepair throughout the 1960s and '70s while population shifted and moved out of Schenectady. The theatre was going to be torn down to be turned into a parking lot until a group of activists joined together and created the Arts Districts of Schenectady.
Proctors recently finished a $24.5 million expansion in the fall 2007. Several local firms were involved, including Stracher Roth Gilmore (architectural), Ryan-Biggs Associates (structural), M/E Engineering (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) and Adirondack Scenic (theatrical & rigging designers). Three separate venues will be available for the public:
- Historic Proscenium Main Theatre, which seats about 2700
- GE Black Box Theatre which will seat 450. This multifunctional theatre has retractable seating at the press of a button the seating will go into the wall which allows the space more unconventional usage for the theatre
- This 100 seat theatre located in the Wright Family Building of 440 State Street will allow smaller pieces to be performed, such as one man/woman shows, jazz performances or a place for playwrights to showcase new material with staged reading.
In September 2007, upon completion of the expansion project, Proctor's Theatre changed its name to "Proctors" to reflect that fact that it now contains three auditoriums.
On July 18, 2009, the theater won the Outstanding Historic Theatre Award, presented by the League of Historic American Theatres at their annual meeting in Cleveland. Proctors will host the group's convention in 2011.
Timeline of the expansion
2004:- Replacement of the 25+ year old roof
- Acoustic wall built in main theatre to improve sound quality
- Foundation work for new stagehouse begins
2005:
- $1 million sound system installed
- Revamped Candy Counter making it easier for patrons
- Tripling the size of the former stagehouse, including a three bay enclosed loading dock, crossover and new dressing & multi purpose rooms backstage
2006:
- Construction started for the GE Theatre, which includes 4,000 sq flat floor theatre, 450 seats, at the press of a button can disappear providing alternative opportunities of the space and a 60' x 60' wide format screen and equipment known as iWERKS-ExtremeScreen.
- New carpet in the main theatre
- New furniture in the men's’ lounge of the main theatre
- Restoration of the Golub Arcade
- Creation of the Ed Sells & Eveline Ward-Sells Green Room
- Larger and improved gift shops
- Restoration on decorative plaster work and plaster
- Removal of paint that covered frosted glass panels and copper edging
2007:
Additional construction of the former Carl Company
1st Floor:
- Completion of the GE Theatre
- New box office
- Expanded lobby space for easier patron traffic flow
- More restroom facilities for patrons
- 3 story atrium outside of GE Theatre
- Various retail outlets: Northeastern Fine Jewelry & The Muddy Cup Coffee House & Cafe
2nd Floor:
- Gallery & various conference spaces
- New administrative offices & board room
3rd Floor:
TBD
See also
- Proctor's Theater (Troy, New York)Proctor's Theater (Troy, New York)Proctor's Theater is located on Fourth Street in Troy, New York, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and is a contributing property to the Central Troy Historic District, added to the Register in 1986.It was built in 1914 for vaudeville performances by...
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Schenectady County, New York