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Through the years: State Theatre Center for the Arts

By Diana Lasko dlasko@heraldstandard.Com 2 min read

For 92 years, 27 E. Main St. in Uniontown has been the site of Fayette County’s main entertainment venue.

Early in the 20th century, the Penn Amusement Company commissioned Thomas Lamb, the preeminent theater architect of his day, to come up with plans for a “picture palace” in Uniontown.

Lamb designed theaters all across the eastern United States into Canada, which included the original Madison Square Garden in New York and the Pantages Theatre in Toronto.

Hailed as “the largest, finest and most beautiful playhouse in Western Pennsylvania,” the State Theatre opened to many accolades on Oct. 30, 1922.

The stately historic structure brought to area residents everything from silent films and vaudeville acts to some of the greatest names of the big band era.

Then came the age of the silver screen and films like “Gone With the Wind” that drew packed houses to the “picture house” in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Movie interest dwindled and television popularity soared in the late 60s and by 1973 the theater closed its doors.

Several years later, the theater would re-emerge as the State Music Hall, featuring country music legends Johnny Cash, Slim Whitman and the Statler Brothers, though popular for a time the theater was once again forced to close its doors.

Then in 1989, the Greater Uniontown Heritage Consortium purchased the vacated downtown theater building with the intention of establishing a non-profit, performing arts venue. After many upgrades, the Consortium reopened the State in time for the 1990-91 season with the staging of “Dracula: The Ballet,” performed by the Pennsylvania Ballet Theater.

In the last 25 years, the State Theatre Center for the Arts has brought comedians, concerts, the best of Broadway and dance performances to the stage as well as serve as a showcase for classic films and civic performing arts groups.

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