In 1935, the theater was redecorated in an Art Deco style and transformed into a supper club called the Mayfair Casino.

The owners hoped to turn the establishment into an actual casino, but since gambling was not allowed in Ohio, the Mayfair closed in 1936.

The Playhouse Square Foundation responded by obtaining a long-term lease for the theaters, and the Loew's Building was purchased by Cuyahoga County.

Because of the extent of the building's fire damage, the Ohio was originally slated to be the last of the group to undergo renovation, but plans were accelerated so that the theater could become the home of the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival.

The $4 million restoration took less than nine months, and on July 9, 1982, the Ohio Theatre became the first Playhouse Square theater to reopen, with 1,000 seats, playing Shakespeare's As You Like It.