State Theatre (New Brunswick, New Jersey)
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| Address | 15 Livingston Ave New Brunswick, New Jersey US |
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| Public transit | New Brunswick station |
| Owner | New Brunswick Cultural Center, Inc. |
| Operator | Thomas J. Carto |
| Capacity | 1827 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | December 26, 1921 |
| Architect | Thomas W. Lamb |
| Website | |
| www |
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State Theatre New Jersey is a nonprofit theater, located in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It has seating for 1,800 people.
The State Theatre was built in 1921 as Reade’s State Theatre by Thomas W. Lamb and managed by Walter Reade for both movies and live performances. It opened with five vaudeville acts and a single matinee screening of the silent western, White Oak, starring William S. Hart. Patrons, including first ticket buyer, nine-year-old Victor Levin, paid 20-30 cents per admission.
The theater was placed under the management of Benjamin Franklin Keith and Edward Franklin Albee II of B.F Keith Theatre chain, which then was the largest vaudeville theater chain in the early 1920s. After the death of Keith, Albee continued the operation and eventually merged with Orpheum, the largest western booking agency to form Keith-Albee-Orpheum (KAO).
In 1928, The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) acquired KAO as a subsidiary and KAO changed to Radio-Keith-Orpheum; also known as RKO. Within one year, the theater is equipped for sound.
In 1933 the RKO State Theatre underwent major renovations ending with a RKO Art-Deco renovation. With the advent of talking movies, the theater became a popular cinema for first-run movies beginning in 1939.
In the 1950s RKO State Theatre began to host rock ‘n’ roll shows featuring popular artists like The Satins, Chubby Checker, and more. This emerging genre led to yet another renovation with acoustic tiles, which helped produce a booming sound.
The State Theatre continued to operate into the 1960s until audiences switched to multiplex cinemas. RKO sold the building to a business that showed adult movies and the structure declined. In 1979, it was purchased by the New Brunswick Development Corporation (DevCo) for $455,000.
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