State Theatre (Cleveland, Ohio)

State Theatre

Part of James Daugherty's The Spirit of Drama - Europe, one of four murals in the lobby of the State Theatre
Address	1519 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, Ohio  United States
Owner	Playhouse Square Center
Capacity	3.193
Current use	Performing arts center
Construction
Opened	1921
Rebuilt	1984
Architect	Thomas W. Lamb
Website
www.playhousesquare.org

The State Theatre is a theater located at 1519 Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the theaters that make up Playhouse Square. It was designed by the noted theater architect Thomas W. Lamb and was built in 1921 by Marcus Loew to be the flagship of the Ohio branch of the Loew's Theatres company.

Loew's State Theatre was built in an Italian Renaissance style and was intended to show vaudeville shows and movies. It opened on February 5, 1921, seating 3,400. Because of the desirability of having the theater's marquee on Euclid Avenue, the State Theatre was built at the back of the lot it shares with the Ohio Theatre, but with a 320-foot-long (98 m) series of three lobbies. This was the world's longest lobby serving a single theater, and it contained four huge murals by James Daugherty, entitled The Spirit of Pageantry—Africa, The Spirit of Drama—Europe, The Spirit of Cinema—America, and The Spirit of Fantasy—Asia. The theater was converted for the exhibition of Cinerama in 1967, but, due to financial trouble, closed in early February 1969, along with the rest of the Playhouse Square theaters.

The cover of the February 27, 1970 issue of Life was a two-page pull-out featuring The Spirit of Cinema America, which inspired the creation of the Playhouse Square Association. Two years later in 1972, and again in 1977, both the State and Ohio Theatres were threatened with razing in order to build a parking lot, but they were saved through public outcry.