Ceilings and Domes

When going to a show or a movie it is easy to focus on the stage and forget to look at the magnificent design and architecture around you. If you are under a balcony your view of much of the auditorium may be obscured and one feature you may miss altogether is the ceiling. Ceilings in historic theatres were areas of huge variations and deceptively large chandeliers, imagine lowering one to change bulbs and how many bulbs each one had! Here are but a few examples of the crowning features in all their opulent glory.

Orpheum theatre in San Francisco, CA – opened 1926, architect B. Marcus Priteca. – photo by Michael Miller

Paramount theatre in Aurora, IL – opened 1931, architects Rapp & Rapp. – photo by Darryl Jorden

Oritani theatre in Hackensack, NJ – opened 1926, closed 1983, auditorium demolished 1985, architect William Lehman – photo by Michael Miller

Beacon theatre in New York City, NY – opened 1929, architect Walter Ahlschlager – photo by Michael Miller

Sheridan theatre in Chicago, IL – opened 1927, closed 1951, used as a synagogue before being converted back into a theatre in the 1970s named the Teatro El Palacio. The theatre was closed and demolished in the 1990s. – photo by Chicago Architectural Photographing Company.