Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Encyclopedia
The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall (1928), opened as the Portland Publix Theater before becoming the Paramount after 1930, is a historic theater building and performing arts center
in Portland, Oregon
, United States
. Part of the Portland Center for the Performing Arts
, it is home to the Oregon Symphony
, Portland Youth Philharmonic
, Metropolitan Youth Symphony, White Bird Dance Company, and Portland Arts & Lectures. It is also a concert and film venue. Originally (and sometimes still referred to as) the Paramount Theatre, it is also locally nicknamed "The Schnitz".
It is the last surviving theater building on Broadway
, which was once lined with large theater houses.
, famous for its theater buildings, designed the Italian Renaissance-style building. The building was variously described by the newspapers as being of the French Renaissance or Northern Italianate style. The Paramount was considered, at its opening, to be the largest and most lavish theater for a city the size of Portland. Originally opened as the Portland Publix
Theatre, a vaudeville
venue in March 1928, the name changed to the Paramount Theater in 1930, as the owners had a contract to run Paramount
films locally. The building continued to show films until 1972, after which it hosted concerts.
Visitors were greeted by a 65 feet (19.8 m) high "Portland" sign above the Broadway Marquee, which contained approximately 6,000 theatrical lights. The sign read "Paramount" from 1930-1984. The theatre was designed with many foyers and lobbies. The main entrance to the auditorium boasted huge French-paned windows facing east and south, covered with velvet drapes. The walls were covered with mirrors and marble, and the floors were covered with expensive carpets. The furnishings had been purchased from a French museum and private collections. The concessions stand was made of marble and stretched nearly half the length of the main lobby. It was described as the "longest candy counter in the West."
The lobby was lit with huge crystal chandeliers. Nearly $35,000 had been spent on them. The largest had a span of nearly 8 feet (2.4 m), weighing over 1700 pounds and containing 181 lights. Currently, the largest chandelier has 137 candle bulbs, and the smaller ones each have 124 bulbs.
The top row of the balcony seats was six stories above the stage. Small staircases from the main lobby led to the balcony area which contained men's and ladies' lounges. The men's lounge was equipped with fireplaces, telephones, radios, phonographs and attendants. The women's lounge was furnished with dressing tables, mirrors, maids and hairdressers. There was also a Louis XV Ampico-Knabe grand piano in ivory and gold available to the women.
The walls of the auditorium were elaborately decorated with murals and near the front of the stage, small balconies were hung with drapes which hid the pipes from the $46,500 Wurlitzer organ. This organ was stored under the stage and was mounted on a platform that could be raised to the level of the stage at the touch of a button. Two organists could play simultaneously.
The seating capacity
of the theater was boasted to have been 4000 seats by the newspaper ads of the day. Their ads promised "An acre of seats". Actually, the seating capacity
was in the neighborhood of 3000.
The ceilings were of a special design. The ceiling panels were suspended from the roof of the building and jutted out toward the sides of the auditorium, leaving a small hollow next to the wall. A series of electric light bulbs were set in the hollow, not visible to the audience. Their glow fell on the patrons indirectly, giving the effect of space and freedom.
The stage had an orchestra pit that could be raised and lowered and hold a 30-piece orchestra. There was also a "flying" stage which could be raised or lowered or moved about above the main stage.
In July 1928, the theatre appeared on the front page of the newspaper, figuring in an unusual robbery. A young man, Robert Nolan, had lived in Southern California for a time. While living there, he appeared as an extra in the movie, "Wheel of Chance." He had moved back to Oregon and when he saw that the movie was showing at the Portland theatre, he decided to go see himself on the "silver screen." While he was in the lobby, he saw two people walking by carrying the day's receipts. As he was watching the movie, the idea formed that he should take a chance before he left Portland to acquire a little extra money. He went to the box office and held up the attendants for $1176. He was apprehended several days later, having spent all but $1.50 of the money on bootleggers
and drinking parties.
During the Great Depression
, the theatre hired roving musicians and a "psychic" to entertain in the lobby before movies, in an effort to attract patrons to the theatre. Admission was 50 cents at this point, down 10 cents from opening night.
By 1936, the theater had been sold to the Evergreen chain, in conjunction with John Hamrick
, and between them, they owned eight movie theatres in Portland.
In 1965, the exterior and interior of the building were in a decline, and in September of that year, part of the cast iron balcony which faces Park Avenue (a 150 lb (68 kg) piece of gingerbread), gave way and fell to the pavement below. The break was along an old fracture line caused by a previous earthquake. The iron had rusted over time without proper maintenance. In August 1970, chunks of the masonry on the corner of Main and Broadway gave way. Two huge blocks, 350 lb (158.8 kg) each, fell from the facade, one of them crashing into the main marquee below. The masonry blocks were said to have fallen due to the age of the building. The owners did not seem to be putting any money into maintenance. The theatre was offered for sale in December 1970 and was purchased by John Haviland in 1971, who owned the Park-Haviland Hotel. The theatre was leased to Tom Moyer, owner of a chain of movie theaters.
with Vincent Price
).
In 1972, a Seattle-based partnership was formed, Paramount Northwest. They leased the theatre for three years, with an option for six more, and promoted live concerts. Heart
played there as part of the "Catch a Rising Star" series (which included Tom Petty
and Elvis Costello
, among others), for the admission price of 92 cents (promoted by local radio station KGON, 92 FM). John Haviland still owned it and claimed that the rent was "1/10 of what it should be for such a theatre": $4000 per month. In December 1972, Haviland proposed a state-run gambling casino on the property, claiming he was losing more than he could afford on the Paramount.
In March 1975, Haviland conducted an auction during which he sold off all the statuary, pipe organ, antique furniture, 16th century suit of armor, mirrors, China, Oriental rugs, original oil paintings, lighted gold-leaf music stands, and pianos (there were 3 grand pianos); basically everything that was not attached to the walls or floors. Haviland was trying to drive out the rock-concert promoting tenants and went into a legal dispute with Paramount Northwest over the lease. He felt that the young people targeted by the concerts were not spending enough money and were destroying the theatre. Haviland won a court case preventing Paramount Northwest from renewing their lease option. Haviland intended to renovate the theatre and offer a higher-class type of entertainment, including dinner theatre.
In August 1976, the Paramount Theatre was sold to Seattle-based West Coast Theatres company. The owner offered to sell the property to the city for 4 million dollars in 1980, but the city council had to decide whether to renovate the Paramount Theatre or build a performing arts center from the ground up.
The City of Portland attempted to buy out the owner in 1982, but talks broke down. The city council finally voted to condemn the building. A condemnation hearing jury determined that the city would have to pay the owner $4.1 million dollars as compensation for the building.
The theater cost $500,000 to build in 1928. As of October 2006, "The Schnitz" was assessed by Multnomah County
at more than $32,000,000.00.
In 1972, the Portland City Council voted to give the building Landmark Status, over the objections of John Haviland, the owner. The landmark status applied only to the exterior of the building. Many people felt that the interior of the building was more valuable architecturally. The building (as the Paramount Theatre) was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1976.
A major renovation began in September 1983 to the designs of Boora Architects
, restoring the building to much of its original opulence. The interior of the auditorium, however, was painted one neutral color, rather than restoring the murals that had decorated it. Portland residents Arlene and Harold Schnitzer
contributed generously to the completion of the initial phase of the Portland Center for the Performing Arts. The one-year, $10 million renovation involved repairing, recasting or replacing much of the theatre's ornate interior as well as making it comfortable and safe for today's audiences and performers.
The landmark 65-foot-tall "Paramount" sign was removed on March 18, 1984, to be used by Ballard Sign Company of Salem as a model for a new replica which would restore the wording used originally (from 1928–1930): "Portland", appropriate for the building's change in use as well as being historically fitting. The new replica sign, with neon letters five feet tall, was attached to the building on September 4, 1984. The theatre re-opened later the same month.
The concert hall now plays host to a variety of presentations including classical, jazz, pop, rock, folk and gospel music, dance, theatre, travel films, conferences, and weddings.
The concert hall features:
Design highlights: wool carpeting designed in Portland and loomed in New Zealand; original chandeliers renovated and fitted with new crystal in rococo-style lobby; original ornate interior re-paneled, recast and replaced; classic colors of warm neutrals and teal replaced the original dark and heavy gold, green and rose.
When the performing arts center was opened in 1984, it was decided to name the Portland Theatre building after Arlene Schnitzer.
The original theater organ and statuary were sold off in an auction on March 26, 1975. During the auction, there was a general outcry from the audience to keep a particular marble statue, called "Surprise" (a nude girl with her hands thrown across her face) in the theater. A hat was passed among the 1200 member audience to take up a collection, and $5,233.97 was raised to purchase the statue and keep it in the theater lobby. The statue has a finger missing from a bullet from a box-office robbery in the 1950s.
Performing arts center
Performing arts center, often abbreviated PAC, is used to refer to* A multi-use performance space that is intended for use by various types of the performing arts, including dance, music and theatre....
in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Part of the Portland Center for the Performing Arts
Portland Center for the Performing Arts
The Portland Center for the Performing Arts is an organization within Metro that runs venues for live theatre, concerts, cinema, small conferences, and similar events in Portland, Oregon, United States....
, it is home to the Oregon Symphony
Oregon Symphony
The Oregon Symphony is an American orchestra based in Portland, Oregon. Founded as the Portland Symphony Society in 1896, it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and oldest in the Western United States...
, Portland Youth Philharmonic
Portland Youth Philharmonic
The Portland Youth Philharmonic is the oldest youth orchestra in the United States, established in 1924 as the Portland Junior Symphony . Now based in Portland, Oregon, the orchestra's origin dates back to 1910 when music teacher Mary V. Dodge began playing music for local children in Burns...
, Metropolitan Youth Symphony, White Bird Dance Company, and Portland Arts & Lectures. It is also a concert and film venue. Originally (and sometimes still referred to as) the Paramount Theatre, it is also locally nicknamed "The Schnitz".
It is the last surviving theater building on Broadway
Broadway (Portland, Oregon)
Broadway is a street in Portland, Oregon that runs from the Southwest Hills into the Rose City Park area of Portland. It is north-south in Downtown Portland, crosses the Willamette over the Broadway Bridge, and is east-west on the east side of the Willamette River. The Portland Memorial Coliseum...
, which was once lined with large theater houses.
Theater specifics
- Seating for 2,776 (includes lower orchestra level and upper balcony seats)
- Dressing rooms for 90
- Portable acoustic shell
- Entries on Broadway, Main Street and Park Avenue.
Movie house
The architectural firm Rapp and RappRapp and Rapp
The architectural firm Rapp and Rapp was active in Chicago, Illinois during the early 20th century. The brothers Cornelius W. Rapp and George Leslie Rapp of Carbondale, Illinois were the named partners and 1899 alumnus of the University of Illinois School of Architecture...
, famous for its theater buildings, designed the Italian Renaissance-style building. The building was variously described by the newspapers as being of the French Renaissance or Northern Italianate style. The Paramount was considered, at its opening, to be the largest and most lavish theater for a city the size of Portland. Originally opened as the Portland Publix
Publix (disambiguation)
Publix may refer to:*Publix, a supermarket chain based in Lakeland, Florida*Publix, the name of the movie theater chain once owned by Paramount Pictures prior to the banning of vertical integration...
Theatre, a 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...
venue in March 1928, the name changed to the Paramount Theater in 1930, as the owners had a contract to run Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
films locally. The building continued to show films until 1972, after which it hosted concerts.
Visitors were greeted by a 65 feet (19.8 m) high "Portland" sign above the Broadway Marquee, which contained approximately 6,000 theatrical lights. The sign read "Paramount" from 1930-1984. The theatre was designed with many foyers and lobbies. The main entrance to the auditorium boasted huge French-paned windows facing east and south, covered with velvet drapes. The walls were covered with mirrors and marble, and the floors were covered with expensive carpets. The furnishings had been purchased from a French museum and private collections. The concessions stand was made of marble and stretched nearly half the length of the main lobby. It was described as the "longest candy counter in the West."
The lobby was lit with huge crystal chandeliers. Nearly $35,000 had been spent on them. The largest had a span of nearly 8 feet (2.4 m), weighing over 1700 pounds and containing 181 lights. Currently, the largest chandelier has 137 candle bulbs, and the smaller ones each have 124 bulbs.
The top row of the balcony seats was six stories above the stage. Small staircases from the main lobby led to the balcony area which contained men's and ladies' lounges. The men's lounge was equipped with fireplaces, telephones, radios, phonographs and attendants. The women's lounge was furnished with dressing tables, mirrors, maids and hairdressers. There was also a Louis XV Ampico-Knabe grand piano in ivory and gold available to the women.
The walls of the auditorium were elaborately decorated with murals and near the front of the stage, small balconies were hung with drapes which hid the pipes from the $46,500 Wurlitzer organ. This organ was stored under the stage and was mounted on a platform that could be raised to the level of the stage at the touch of a button. Two organists could play simultaneously.
The seating capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
of the theater was boasted to have been 4000 seats by the newspaper ads of the day. Their ads promised "An acre of seats". Actually, the seating capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
was in the neighborhood of 3000.
The ceilings were of a special design. The ceiling panels were suspended from the roof of the building and jutted out toward the sides of the auditorium, leaving a small hollow next to the wall. A series of electric light bulbs were set in the hollow, not visible to the audience. Their glow fell on the patrons indirectly, giving the effect of space and freedom.
In July 1928, the theatre appeared on the front page of the newspaper, figuring in an unusual robbery. A young man, Robert Nolan, had lived in Southern California for a time. While living there, he appeared as an extra in the movie, "Wheel of Chance." He had moved back to Oregon and when he saw that the movie was showing at the Portland theatre, he decided to go see himself on the "silver screen." While he was in the lobby, he saw two people walking by carrying the day's receipts. As he was watching the movie, the idea formed that he should take a chance before he left Portland to acquire a little extra money. He went to the box office and held up the attendants for $1176. He was apprehended several days later, having spent all but $1.50 of the money on bootleggers
Rum-running
Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
and drinking parties.
During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, the theatre hired roving musicians and a "psychic" to entertain in the lobby before movies, in an effort to attract patrons to the theatre. Admission was 50 cents at this point, down 10 cents from opening night.
By 1936, the theater had been sold to the Evergreen chain, in conjunction with John Hamrick
John Hamrick
John Hamrick was an American entrepreneur in the theater business. He leased and owned a large number of vaudeville and movie theaters in the Northwest from at least the early 1920s until the late 1940s....
, and between them, they owned eight movie theatres in Portland.
In 1965, the exterior and interior of the building were in a decline, and in September of that year, part of the cast iron balcony which faces Park Avenue (a 150 lb (68 kg) piece of gingerbread), gave way and fell to the pavement below. The break was along an old fracture line caused by a previous earthquake. The iron had rusted over time without proper maintenance. In August 1970, chunks of the masonry on the corner of Main and Broadway gave way. Two huge blocks, 350 lb (158.8 kg) each, fell from the facade, one of them crashing into the main marquee below. The masonry blocks were said to have fallen due to the age of the building. The owners did not seem to be putting any money into maintenance. The theatre was offered for sale in December 1970 and was purchased by John Haviland in 1971, who owned the Park-Haviland Hotel. The theatre was leased to Tom Moyer, owner of a chain of movie theaters.
Concert venue
Haviland felt that it was uneconomical to operate a 3000 seat theater in the days of television. The last regular film showing was on August 15, 1972 (Dr. Phibes Rises AgainDr. Phibes Rises Again
Dr. Phibes Rises Again! is a sequel to The Abominable Dr. Phibes. It was directed by Robert Fuest, and stars Vincent Price as Dr. Anton Phibes.-Plot:...
with Vincent Price
Vincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
).
In 1972, a Seattle-based partnership was formed, Paramount Northwest. They leased the theatre for three years, with an option for six more, and promoted live concerts. Heart
Heart (band)
Heart is an American rock band who first found success in Canada. Throughout several lineup changes, the only two members remaining constant are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music...
played there as part of the "Catch a Rising Star" series (which included Tom Petty
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
and Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, among others), for the admission price of 92 cents (promoted by local radio station KGON, 92 FM). John Haviland still owned it and claimed that the rent was "1/10 of what it should be for such a theatre": $4000 per month. In December 1972, Haviland proposed a state-run gambling casino on the property, claiming he was losing more than he could afford on the Paramount.
In March 1975, Haviland conducted an auction during which he sold off all the statuary, pipe organ, antique furniture, 16th century suit of armor, mirrors, China, Oriental rugs, original oil paintings, lighted gold-leaf music stands, and pianos (there were 3 grand pianos); basically everything that was not attached to the walls or floors. Haviland was trying to drive out the rock-concert promoting tenants and went into a legal dispute with Paramount Northwest over the lease. He felt that the young people targeted by the concerts were not spending enough money and were destroying the theatre. Haviland won a court case preventing Paramount Northwest from renewing their lease option. Haviland intended to renovate the theatre and offer a higher-class type of entertainment, including dinner theatre.
In August 1976, the Paramount Theatre was sold to Seattle-based West Coast Theatres company. The owner offered to sell the property to the city for 4 million dollars in 1980, but the city council had to decide whether to renovate the Paramount Theatre or build a performing arts center from the ground up.
The City of Portland attempted to buy out the owner in 1982, but talks broke down. The city council finally voted to condemn the building. A condemnation hearing jury determined that the city would have to pay the owner $4.1 million dollars as compensation for the building.
The theater cost $500,000 to build in 1928. As of October 2006, "The Schnitz" was assessed by Multnomah County
Multnomah County, Oregon
Multnomah County is one of 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. Though smallest in area, it is the most populous as its county seat, Portland, is the state's largest city...
at more than $32,000,000.00.
Restoration
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...
in 1976.
A major renovation began in September 1983 to the designs of Boora Architects
Boora Architects
Boora Architects is an architectural firm based in Portland, Oregon, its name derived from the partners Broome, Oringdulph, Randolph, and Associates.Its projects include:* renovation of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Portland, 1983...
, restoring the building to much of its original opulence. The interior of the auditorium, however, was painted one neutral color, rather than restoring the murals that had decorated it. Portland residents Arlene and Harold Schnitzer
Harold Schnitzer
Harold J. Schnitzer was an American businessman, civic leader, and philanthropist. Schnitzer is best remembered for having made over $80 million in charitable gifts over the course of his lifetime, including the establishment of the Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies at Portland...
contributed generously to the completion of the initial phase of the Portland Center for the Performing Arts. The one-year, $10 million renovation involved repairing, recasting or replacing much of the theatre's ornate interior as well as making it comfortable and safe for today's audiences and performers.
The landmark 65-foot-tall "Paramount" sign was removed on March 18, 1984, to be used by Ballard Sign Company of Salem as a model for a new replica which would restore the wording used originally (from 1928–1930): "Portland", appropriate for the building's change in use as well as being historically fitting. The new replica sign, with neon letters five feet tall, was attached to the building on September 4, 1984. The theatre re-opened later the same month.
The concert hall now plays host to a variety of presentations including classical, jazz, pop, rock, folk and gospel music, dance, theatre, travel films, conferences, and weddings.
The concert hall features:
- Seating for 2,776 in orchestra level and balcony.
- 94 x 32 feet (9.8 m) stage with 54 x 32 feet (9.8 m) traditional proscenium.
- Orchestra pit for 15; a choir loft.
- Dressing rooms for 90.
- Portable, flexible acoustical shell.
Design highlights: wool carpeting designed in Portland and loomed in New Zealand; original chandeliers renovated and fitted with new crystal in rococo-style lobby; original ornate interior re-paneled, recast and replaced; classic colors of warm neutrals and teal replaced the original dark and heavy gold, green and rose.
When the performing arts center was opened in 1984, it was decided to name the Portland Theatre building after Arlene Schnitzer.
The original theater organ and statuary were sold off in an auction on March 26, 1975. During the auction, there was a general outcry from the audience to keep a particular marble statue, called "Surprise" (a nude girl with her hands thrown across her face) in the theater. A hat was passed among the 1200 member audience to take up a collection, and $5,233.97 was raised to purchase the statue and keep it in the theater lobby. The statue has a finger missing from a bullet from a box-office robbery in the 1950s.
External links
- Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall from the Portland Center for the Performing Arts website