Quote Originally Posted by Bham1982 View Post
I think this is really a highly debatable point. There are about 50 legitimate theatres in the traditional Broadway theater district, of which about 40 are Broadway houses. The remaining 10 are major off-Broadway houses. There are also a couple dozen smaller theatres in the neighborhood [[places like Dodger Studios and Theater Row on far West 42).

As to style, they run the gamut. There are 120-year-old-theatres, and one completed just a few months ago [[the newly reconstructed Cort, in the Bank of America HQ tower). There are modernist theatres, like the 80's-era Marquis, and opulent theaters, like the 20's-era Martin Beck.

In contrast, the only opulent major downtown Detroit theater is the Fox, though it's incredibly opulent. So you're comparing one theater to 50 theaters, and assuming that the Fox is more beautiful because it's more opulent.

Many prefer the understated elegance of, say, Detroit's Orchestra Hall to what many consider the rather garish Fox. I wouldn't necessarily say the Fox is more beautiful.

Also, in New York, the theater district is hardly the only place for theatre performance. There's Lincoln Center, the Carnegie Hall complex, the Public, City Center, Radio City, Beacon, Joyce, Hammerstein, Aaron Davis, Armory, etc., and this is only Manhattan. IMO, it's very hard to generalize re. style or relative beauty.
The movie palace debate happened 80 years ago... many architects hated them [[some still do), while the majority of patrons loved them... they were after all "the architecture of fantasy". Legitimate playhouses had no such pretentions.

Movie palaces were almost always larger and fancier than legitimate theatres. Beyond 75-100 ft. the intimacy between audience and entertainer is lost in a Playhouse.

The Detroit Fox is not the only opulent theatre in Detroit. Theatre Historical Society of Elmhurst Illinois [[been around for 40 years)... says that of the 3 major movie theatre styles [[Temple, Palace, Atmospheric)... that Detroit has one of the masterpieces of opulence in the Temple style in the Detroit Fox... other great theatres in that style are the Detroit United Artists Theatre [[needing restoration), which was called the "The Jewel Box" due to its' intimate opulence, and the former [[pre-1960) Fisher Theatre, which was labeled "an impossibly wonderful Mayanesque Theatre".

In the Atmospheric Style the great Oriental Theatre [[just west of Park Ave. was pounded to rubble in the 1950s, and it was the most opulent theatre of that style in Detroit... now we only have the Redford Theatre [[in a tame Japanese atmospheric style).

In the Palace Style, we have the opulent 1922 Capitol [[now Detroit Opera House), with its golden Corinthian columns, its' magnificent lobby stained glass ceiling, its' 3 story grand foyer with huge ornate chandeliers, gold, blue and green stenciling large mirrors and a grand mezzanine bridge, as well as gilded procenium, blue and gold ceiling dome, and a coffered gilded blue sounding board.

Also in the Palace Style we have the Fillmore/State, built in 1925 with a magnificent rotunda lobby with chandeliers, mirrors/draperies and large sweeping marble grand stairs, a 3 story grand foyer with gold and marbled Corinthian columns with a coffered ceiling, and an auditorium with a golden procenium arch, black marbled side columns and a great coffered ceiling dome 8 stories up.

The former Michigan Theatre was considered the finest of Detroit's Palace Style theatres, but was sadly disemboweled in 1977.

Also according to the Theatre Historical Society most people prefer an opulent movie palace style theatre hands down. It provides for a place of escape... a reason to dress up... and a place to impress a date.

Ironically New Yorks greatest theatres are far away from Broadway. With the demise of the Broadway movie palaces... the Loew's 5 "Wonder Theatres" all still survive, and are considered the finest in the New York area. They range from the Spanish atmospheric Loew's Valencia in Queens, the French Baroque palace style Loew's Kings in Brooklyn, the Oriental atmospheric Loew's 175th St. in Manhattan, the French Rococco palace Loew's Jersey in Jersey City, and the Italian Renaissance atmospheric Loew's Paradise in the Bronx.

The going joke at the Bronx's Loew's Paradise [[originally it was going to be called the Venetian)... is with all of the statuary and architecture to look at, it's a wonder anyone had time to watch the movie?