Even after 90 years, the show goes on for the Landmark Theatre.
The Syracuse performing arts venue celebrated the milestone anniversary with a community celebration that included a screening of a silent movie and tours of the historic building, the last and grandest of the opulent downtown movie palaces of the early 1900s.
One tour guide was local architect Jamie Williams, a member of the theater’s Board of Directors. With time on staff dating back to the 1970s, he provided visitors with the rich history of the building. Ornately designed and opulently furnished in a rich Indo-Persian style, he explained ownership’s desire to create a fantastical atmosphere from the moment patrons walked in the door.
“…In order to set you up for the fantasy of a movie, you were immediately surrounded by a physical fantasy.”
“Many people walked in the door here and saw a movie for the first time. There was a beautiful orchestra or our beautiful Whirlitzer organ with 4 ranks, 1400 pipes. You saw a silent movie and you read subtitles.”
Originally known as the Loew’s State Theater, Executive Director Mike Intaglietta explained that the Great Depression that followed their 1928 opening day was a banner period for the theater. Offering vaudeville acts and first-run films, the affordable escape from reality thrived in the pre-war era of popular entertainment.
“Especially during the Great Depression, people had lots of very real troubles that they wanted to get away from, to escape their reality for a little bit and enjoy some affordable entertainment.”
Originally a distribution center for MGM, the theater screened the studio’s first all-talking picture to Syracuse moviegoers. The film, entitled The Broadway Melody, was the first talkie to win an Academy Award for Best Picture.
But the advent of television ushered in a period of extended decline, and by the 1970s it looked like it might be curtains for the gilded movie house. But a concerted effort by a community group named the Syracuse Area Landmark Theatre, or SALT, saved the theater.
“It’s wonderful to reflect back on all the volunteers, staff, donors that helped get us here and it’s nice to reflect back on all the things they did to get us to this point…”
Along with its dedicated band of volunteers, they redoubled efforts to keep the venue afloat through live performances instead of movies. And following a recent multi-million-dollar renovation, the theater can now handle the production needs of even the grandest Broadway roadshows.
“The decision was made by our organization to put faith in the Broadway road show to survive the onslaught but in order to do that you have to have a stage of a certain size.”
But despite the momentous anniversary and a strong spring lineup, Intaglietta notes that to keep this from becoming the theater’s final act, the Landmark must continue to innovate to meet the changing entertainment demands of the 21st century.