Emery Theatre

The building was constructed in 1911 as the home for a trade school (the Ohio Mechanics Institute), but its large auditorium was intended for public use.

The design of the Emery Theatre is based on the "isacoustic curve" principles that were first proposed by John Scott Russell.

[3][4] Many world-renowned performing artists and Broadway stars have appeared at the Emery, including George Gershwin, John Philip Sousa, Bette Davis, Arturo Toscanini, Fritz Reiner, Katharine Cornell, and Russian ballet dancers Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova.

[3][5] Gershwin performed Rhapsody in Blue there with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra shortly after premiering it in New York City.

[3] The Emery Theatre fell into disuse around the turn of the 21st century, but historic restoration began early 2024 by The Children's Theater of Cincinnati.

The restoration of the theatre will allow seating for approximately 1,600 guests including combining the segregated levels and making the theater ADA accessible for artist and viewer alike.

This brochure showed a four-story building with a small stage, limited backstage facilities, and seating capacity of 1,280, which would have precluded its use by any large-scale theatrical or concert productions.

A second balcony was added, and the final design helped to make the Emery the first concert hall in the United States to have no obstructed seats.

Adler used the principle of the "isacoustic curve" first described by John Scott Russell in 1836 not only to calculate the best placement of the Auditorium's main floor and its three balconies, but also to design a series of terraced ellipses that form the ceiling in the front part of the hall.

They serve the added function of lessening the overall volume so sound in this large hall is not boomy or cavernous but still resonant, especially for the audience in the second and third balconies.

Their "secret" lies in two I-beams of structural steel, one for each balcony, over eighty-nine feet long and weighing thirty-three tons each, running the width of the hall.

This method of balcony construction was relatively new in 1910 and had, to the author's knowledge, never been used in a concert hall in the United States prior to the Emery Auditorium.

In regard to acoustics, Leopold Stokowski commented on the hall's excellent combination of clarity and blend, and the effective increase in the orchestra's power.