Ulster Performing Arts Center facts for kids
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Broadway Theater, Community Theater
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Front portico of theater, viewed from west, 2008
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| Address | 601 Broadway Kingston, NY USA |
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| Owner | Bardavon/UPAC Theaters |
| Designation | NRHP #79001639 |
| Type | Movie palace/vaudeville |
| Capacity | 1,500 |
| Current use | Musical performances |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1927 |
| Reopened | 2002 |
| Architect | Douglas P. Hall |
| Tenants | |
| Hudson Valley Philharmonic | |
| Website | |
| www.bardavon.org/ | |
The Ulster Performing Arts Center (UPAC) is a famous theater in Kingston, New York. It was built in 1926 and was first called the Broadway Theater. Later, it was known as the Community Theatre. This building is special because it's the only theater in Kingston from before World War II that still looks the same. It's also the biggest theater of its kind between Manhattan and Albany.
UPAC was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. It closed for a while but reopened in 2002 after a big renovation. Today, the Bardavon Theater helps manage it. In the past, it mostly showed movies. Now, it's a popular place for live music and performances. The Hudson Valley Philharmonic orchestra performs there because the sound quality, called acoustics, is excellent. Many popular music artists also stop at UPAC during their concert tours.
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Exploring the UPAC Building
The theater is located on Broadway in the middle of Kingston. It sits on a half-acre piece of land. The area around Broadway is mostly for businesses. The neighborhoods behind the theater are where people live.
Outside the Theater
The front of the theater, facing the street, is two stories tall. It has 11 sections, called bays. The back part of the theater, where the stage and seating are, is much taller, rising three to four stories high. The entire building is made of brick. Along the front roofline, there's a stone border with cool Aztec designs.
The corners of the building have plain stone pillars, called pilasters. The main entrance has a large porch, or portico. This porch has four tall columns with fancy tops, known as Corinthian columns. There are also decorative stone bands and rectangles between the windows.
Inside the Theater
The inside of UPAC is designed around the main performance area, called the auditorium. This area is shaped like a half-circle. There's a special area below the stage called the orchestra pit, where musicians can play. The main floor and the balcony together have 1,500 seats for the audience. The stage itself is about 76 feet (23 meters) wide and 33 feet (10 meters) deep.
The arch above the stage, called the proscenium arch, is very decorative. It's about 40 feet (12 meters) high. It has designs like octagons, leafy patterns, and candle holders. The walls around it have fluted pillars and carvings. The top of the arch has detailed decorations, including lion heads and leaf patterns. The ceiling above the stage also has similar fancy designs. It has recessed panels and rosettes, which are flower-like patterns. The walls in the main seating area are simpler, with just rectangular designs.
The inner lobby, which is a waiting area, has decorations that mix the stage area's themes with the Aztec designs seen outside. The lounge on the second floor also has this mix, with a fireplace surrounded by carved stone. Other areas, like the outer lobby, restrooms, and dressing rooms, are simpler.
A Look at UPAC's History
The story of UPAC began in 1925. A couple from Kingston and a man from Albany started a company to build the theater. They bought the land the next year and sold bonds to raise money. They hired a famous architect from New York City, Douglas P. Hall. Construction started in October 1926.
Building the theater took all winter. A very large crane was used to put the steel frame in place for the auditorium and stage arch. When it opened in June 1927 as the Broadway Theatre, the local newspaper called it "one of the finest theatres in the Hudson River Valley." The first show had five live acts and a comedy movie. The ushers, who helped people find their seats, even wore Spanish costumes!
By 1947, the theater had changed owners a few times. The Walter Reade organization bought it that year and renamed it the Community Theatre. In 1953, the front porch was added. Inside, the original seats were replaced, and a special party box was added. This changed the seating capacity to 1,560.
The theater continued to be a very important part of Kingston's cultural life. Famous actors like Bette Davis and Lillian Gish performed on its stage. Great musicians, including Isaac Stern and Victor Borge, also played there. Victor Borge even praised the theater's amazing sound quality.
In the 1970s, Kingston's downtown area started to decline as more people moved to the suburbs. In 1977, the theater closed because it couldn't compete with new movie theaters in shopping malls. To save the building from being torn down, a group called the Ulster Performing Arts Center was formed. This nonprofit organization bought the theater.
In 1995, the nonprofit group raised $1.7 million for a big renovation. The work was finished just in time for the building's 75th anniversary in 2002. The Bardavon Theater started managing UPAC in 2006, and the two organizations officially joined together the next year.
See also
