Atmospheric cinema

An atmospheric theatre is a type of movie palace design which was popular in the late 1920s. "Rather than seating the theatre patrons in a boxlike, formal setting as passive observers of stage entertainment, the atmospheric design transported them to an exotic European courtyard or garden. A cerulean sky, often intricately dotted with accurately depicted starry skies with wispy floating clouds produced by a projector replaced the ornate domes of traditional theatre design. Rather than crystal chandeliers and gilt ornamentation there were arches, trellises, balconies and statuary to evoke a sense of the outdoors. Other ornamentation included trees, palms and vines and even taxidermy birds. As the stars twinkled above, creating in the audience a sense of infinite space, when the entertainment was about to begin the lighting effects created an illusion of the setting sun, as colors changed from yellow to red to mauve. The atmospheric theatre design made the patron an active, comfortable resident of an imaginary time and place, not a passive, aloof occupant of an oppressive formal space."

The extravagantly designed theaters of the early twentieth century were expensive to build. These classically designed theaters required an elaborate auditorium ceiling, usually with one or more grand chandeliers. An atmospheric theater only required a simple, smooth dome with low-wattage lights to simulate twinkling stars. This is not to say atmospheric theaters were always simple in design. The side walls of the theaters often featured very complex elements that created a fantasy outdoor setting like being in a village, garden, or on the grounds of a grand palace.

The most successful promoter of the style was John Eberson. He credited the Hoblitzelle Majestic Theatre (Houston, 1923) as the first. Before the end of the 1920s he designed around 100 atmospheric theatres in the U.S. and a few other countries, personally selecting the furnishings and art objects.

John Eberson was the most successful promoter and designer of the atmospheric style. Sixteen of his atmospheric theatres in the United States are still in operation:

Moorish Revival

The theater was built in 1929 by Marcus Loew and designed by theater architect John Eberson. It opened as Loew's (Akron) Theatre and seats 5,000 people. The auditorium is designed to resemble a night in a Moorish garden. Twinkling stars and drifting clouds travel across the domed ceiling. Located on Akron’s South Main Street, the theater’s entrance lobby extends over the Ohio and Erie Canal. The theater has a small multicolored terra cotta façade dominated by a large marquee. The interior of the entrance and lobby is designed to resemble a Moorish castle with Mediterranean decor, complete with medieval style carvings, authentic European antiques and Italian alabaster sculptures. A grand full-sized Wurlitzer organ hidden beneath the stage rises to the stage level on a special elevator. In June 2001, the Akron Civic Theatre closed its doors for the most expensive and extensive renovation in its history in order to bringing the theater up to modern performance and patron standards, and to restoring its failing 75-year old infrastructure. The renovation cost just over $19 million, which included additional restroom facilities, new concession stands and expansion of the lobbies. The renovation allowed for the Civic to better serve customers with special needs by adding more handicapped seating and a new elevator. To bring the theatre up to new standards the dressing rooms were all redone and the stage was expanded from twenty-six feet to forty feet. Also added to the Civic was a freight elevator, a new loading dock and a cross-over space behind the stage's back wall. Other improvements included updating the sound system, HVAC, roof exterior, electrical service and modernizing the plumbing. The newly renovated Civic Theate re-opened in November 2002.

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