Stanley Theater (Jersey City, New Jersey) facts for kids
Stanley Theater in 2006
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| Address | 2932 John F. Kennedy Blvd |
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| Location | Jersey City, New Jersey |
| Coordinates | 40°44′00″N 74°03′44″W / 40.7332°N 74.0621°W |
| Public transit | Journal Square Transportation Center |
| Owner | Jehovah's Witnesses |
| Type | Movie palace / assembly hall |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 24 March 1928 |
| Renovated | 1983, 2012 |
| Architect | Fred Wesley Wentworth |
The Stanley Theater is a famous building in Jersey City, New Jersey. It is located near Journal Square at Kennedy Boulevard and Pavonia Avenue. This historic theater first opened its doors on March 24, 1928.
On its opening night, the mayor of Jersey City, Frank Hague, was there. The audience saw actress Norma Talmadge on the screen. The evening also featured live music, a stage show, a newsreel, and a performance on a Wurlitzer organ. After all this, the movie The Dove, starring Norma Talmadge, was shown.
The Stanley Theater was designed by architect Fred Wesley Wentworth. He was known for designing many buildings in Paterson after a big fire in 1902. When it first opened, the Stanley Theater had 4,300 seats. This made it the second largest theater on the East Coast. Only New York City's Radio City Music Hall was bigger.
The Stanley was a very popular place until the 1960s. Many famous entertainers performed there. These included The Three Stooges, Jimmy Durante, Tony Bennett, Janis Joplin, Dolly Parton, and the Grateful Dead.
However, in the 1970s, fewer people went to movies. The theater started to look old and worn out. The beautiful metalwork inside was painted dark blue. The Wurlitzer organ was also removed. The Stanley Theater closed as a movie theater on April 20, 1978.
In 1983, the building was bought by the Watch Tower Society. This organization uses it as a meeting place for Jehovah's Witnesses. Thousands of volunteers worked for nine months to fix up the theater. Starting in October 2012, more than 2,000 volunteers from all over the United States helped renovate the theater again.
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What Does the Stanley Theater Look Like?
The Stanley Theater is a very grand building. A shiny copper roof hangs over the main entrance. Below it are strong brass doors. Three large arched windows are above the copper roof. The building uses fancy materials like marble from Italy, Vermont, and Texas. It also has limestone from Indiana and granite from Maine. These materials cover the large Corinthian columns outside.
Inside the Theater
The inside of the theater has a huge lobby that is three stories tall. It has many columns and a wide main staircase. The handrails on the staircase look like they are made of alabaster, a special stone. The lobby also has lamps, velvet drapes, and stained glass windows. These windows are a beautiful "Chartre Blue" color.
A Hungarian artist named Willy Pogany painted pictures on the ceiling and walls. These paintings told stories.
One of the biggest crystal chandeliers hangs from the second floor. It came from the original Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City, built in the 1880s. This chandelier is 13 feet tall and 10 feet wide. It has 144 light bulbs that shine onto 4,500 hanging crystal teardrops.
The grand staircase is the most important part of the lobby. During the day, sunlight streams in and lights up the whole area. After the sun sets, the huge crystal chandelier shines brightly. On three sides of the lobby, there are marble columns with a balcony above them. The ceiling used to have special machines that made clouds and twinkling stars.
The Auditorium
The main auditorium, where people watched movies and shows, was designed by Movie palace architect John Eberson. He made it look like an evening in Venice, Italy. There was even a copy of the Rialto Bridge over the stage!
The ceiling above the seats is 85 feet high. It was designed to look like an open sky with stars and moving clouds. A special machine called a "Brenkert Brenograph" created these effects. The walls of the auditorium have lighted stained glass windows. They also have grottoes, arches, and columns that look like a fancy courtyard.
Famous Concerts at the Stanley
The Grateful Dead played three concerts at the Stanley Theater. These shows were on September 26, 27, and 28, 1972. Many fans think these were some of their best concerts. A recording of the show from September 27 was released in 1998. It was called Dick's Picks Volume 11.
See also
In Spanish: Teatro Stanley (Jersey City) para niños
- Stanley Theater (Newark, New Jersey) (Newark)
- Loew's Jersey Theatre (Jersey City)
- Park Performing Arts Center (Union City)
