Loew’s Penn Theatre

At the beginning of October the Theatre Historical Society of America completed a move from Elmhurst, IL to Pittsburgh, PA. We were greeted with overwhelming hospitality and kindness by our new neighbors and community members.

To mark the occasion the animation above is of one of downtown Pittsburgh’s flagship historic theatres, the Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts, originally called the Loew’s Penn theatre. The theatre was built on the site of the Hotel Anderson and construction for the theatre began in 1926. The architects were brothers C.W. Rapp & G.L. Rapp, some of the leading architects of the movie palace era. The theatre was built for the Loew’s chain and was set to open September 5, 1927 but Marcus Loew, founder of Loew’s, passed away that day delaying the opening until September 6th.

The theatre did well for many years but like many movie palaces of that era attendance began to waver in the 60s creating an uncertain future for it. The Howard Heinz Endowment stepped in and purchased the building at the end of the 60s starting a three year redevelopment of the building. On September 10, 1971 it was reopened as the Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts, the home to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra giving the theatre its second act.

THS is very pleased to be in Pittsburgh and we look forward to the many great opportunities the city and its people have to offer.