EASTON, Pa. – From Pets on Parade, to the Beach Boys, to the Freddies, The State Theatre Center for the Arts has been showcasing stars for now 100 years.
“If you drive by on Northampton Street in eastern Pennsylvania, you don’t expect this. This is modeled after the Davanzati Palace,” President and CEO Shelly Brown said.
The initial vaudeville and motion picture theatre building nearly went dark, but citizens saved it from demolition in the 1980s. The building was resurrected with Craig Thatcher, making it a performance ritual.
“I think it’s the most unique one, certainly on the East Coast,” Thatcher said.
The Lehigh Valley based Thatcher has played the venue at least 10 times, including last March.
“The electricity that we felt from that audience, you could it was palpable. You could cut it with a knife. It was so thick, and it inspired from the very first note. It inspired everybody on stage,” he explained.
While the show has remained consistent, the business has changed Brown said.
“When I came here, there were, you know, a couple of other places. Now there’s over 50, and we’re all fighting for the same talent. We’re non-profit. You know, casinos and arenas, they’re not non-profit. I mean, they’ve got way more money than we do. They can pay way more than we can. And so it’s a matter of relationships,” Brown said.
So, for Brown, now in her 34th year, her career motto could be, “All business is a stage, and the men and women are merely players.”
“The magic question is, what gets them here?” she asked.
For the State Theatre, what gets them here is a question answered night after night for a century.