User:MrManiac3/sandbox/State Theatre (Oroville, California)

The State Theatre is a civic theater located at 1498 Myers Street in the Historic Downtown of Oroville, California. As a civic theater, it hosts performances from local symphonies, theatre companies, and occasionally presents its own events, including dinners, live music performances, and silent film showings. It was first opened on April 7, 1928 as a single screen movie theater. Though the stage is relatively small, as with many silent film era theaters, the theater is capable of hosting small plays and live performances.

History
The State Theatre was opened on April 7, 1928 and was originally operated by the Turner & Dahnken Circuit. The theater had a small Wurlitzer theatre organ that occupied one of two chambers. It was rarely used at the State Theatre and was later removed. After the early 1940s, the theater was renovated, and the auditorium was divided by a wall, resulting in a two screen movie theater. This change was likely influenced by the rise in popularity of large suburban multiplex movie theaters.

In 2014, the Oroville City Council voted unanimously to turn operations and management of the theater over to the State Theatre Arts Guild (STAGE).

The theater held a "90th Anniversary Celebration" on April 7, 2018, presenting the silent films Two Tars, starring Laurel and Hardy, and Peter Pan, distributed by Paramount Pictures. The house organist played the musical accompaniment on the theater's new Wurlitzer organ.

Original Design
The State Theatre was designed by California architect Timothy L. Pflueger in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. The layout is identical to the Senator Theatre (opened 1928) in the neighboring city, Chico, California, which Pflueger also designed. The main entrance is on the left side of the auditorium, facing Myers Street along with a row of shops which line the building. The two-level auditorium originally seated 1,585 people between the orchestra level and the balcony. The seating was originally arranged in a fan shape intended to give every audience member a straight view towards the center of the stage, eliminating the need for the audience to turn their heads. This is a standard design feature in most movie theaters from the early 20th century. There are two chambers, one on either side of the proscenium, which are designed to house a theater organ. The console of the organ was intended to be stored in the orchestra pit below the stage. A console lift would allow it to be elevated to stage level.

Renovations and Alterations

 * The marquee and blade sign were removed sometime in the second half of the 20th century, and street lamps were appended to the Myers Street front of the building.
 * The box office and second set of front doors were removed and replaced with a new box office.
 * The auditorium seating was replaced with newer seats for the two screen arrangement. The newer balcony seating was removed at some point and stored in the offices above the shops, where they remain today.
 * The original interior murals were painted over several times during a mid-century modernization effort.

Pipe Organ
The theater features a 3 manual 17 rank Wurlitzer pipe organ. The organ is comprised of parts from various instruments, many of which originated from the Wurlitzer organ that was owned by American Filmmaker Cecil B. Demille. Demille owned and housed the organ in his Hollywood Hills home.