Loew's State Theatre (New York City)

Designed by Thomas Lamb in the Adam style,[1] it opened on August 29, 1921, as part of a 16-story office building for the Loew's Theatres company, with a seating capacity of 3,200[2] and featuring both vaudeville and films.

[4] For several years it was a second-run theater featuring live acts and a feature (most often an MGM film that would have premiered at the Astor Theatre before having its initial run at the Capitol, both Loew's movie houses located just a few blocks from the State), although it also had frequent personal appearances and short subjects.

[5] In March 1959 the theater completed an $850,000 remodeling that reduced the number of seats from 3,316 to 1,885 but made them wider and increased the space between rows.

The proscenium arch also was eliminated and a wide-screen projector was installed to permit the showing of CinemaScope and VistaVision (but not Cinerama) motion pictures.

[6] The theater held several world premieres including The Three Musketeers (1948), Annie Get Your Gun (1950), Ben-Hur (1959), Becket (1964), and Doctor Dolittle (1967).