Hershey Theatre

Theater in Hershey, Pennsylvania

Hershey Theatre

Hershey Theatre building in October 2008

Address| 15 E. Caracas Avenue
Hershey, Pennsylvania
United States
Owner| Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company
Capacity| 1,904
Construction
Opened| September 1933; 90 years ago (1933-09)
Architect| C. Emlen Urban

Hershey Theatre is a 1,904-seat theater in downtown Hershey, Pennsylvania. Touring Broadway musicals, concerts, community performances, and dance groups perform at the theater.[1]

The Hershey Theatre is also home to the Hershey Theatre Apollo Awards, which recognizes outstanding high school students in theater and awards scholarships.[2]

## History[edit]

C. Emlen Urban began planning the building of the Hershey Theatre as a community center in 1915 for chocolate magnate and philanthropist Milton S. Hershey.[3] Milton Hershey began construction of Hershey Theatre in 1929 during the Great Depression.[4] The construction of the theater and five other buildings in Hershey, Pennsylvania gave hundreds of workers jobs during the financial crisis.[4]

The Hershey Theatre was opened in September, 1933, as part of Hershey's Great Building Campaign of the Depression.[3] At its opening, the theater was also used as a movie theater, and the original projectors are still used for classic screenings.[4]

## Design[edit]

The lobby of the theater is inspired by St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice.[1] Its "canopy of gold" and pin-point mosaic took German artisans two years to complete.[5]

The theater itself is inspired by Byzantine and Venetian themes. The wooden sides of the auditorium are inspired by Byzantine castle architecture, while the proscenium arch and winged lion statues are inspired by Venetian culture.[3] Behind the fire curtain, there is a water color painting of the Grand Canal and Doge's Palace in Venice.[3] Eighty-eight small light bulbs hang from the ceiling, giving the appearance of stars in the night sky.[3]

The stage is seventy-five feet by forty-four feet and has five elevators.[3] The theater has forty-four lines for sets and lights and a house sound system.[3] It also features five floors of dressing rooms for performers.[3]

The theater features a four-manual, seventy-eight-rank concert organ, made by Aeolian-Skinner.[1] It was commissioned by Milton S. Hershey[3] and has over four thousand pipes, the largest more than thirty feet tall.[5]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c "Hershey Theatre in Hershey, PA - Cinema Treasures". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
2. ^ "Apollo Awards". www.hersheyentertainment.com. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "History of the Hershey Theatre". www.hersheyentertainment.com. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
4. ^ a b c "How the Hershey Theatre saved Derry Township during the Depression: Cool Spaces". pennlive. 2016-02-24. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
5. ^ a b "Hershey Theatre". Hershey Theatre. Retrieved 2020-07-19.

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hershey Theatre (Hershey, Pennsylvania).

* Official website (archived, 19 Dec 2014)
* Hershey Theatre on Facebook

* v
* t
* e

Hershey Trust Company

Hershey Company|

| Products|

* Complete list (past and present)

|

Chocolate-based
brands and products|

* 5th Avenue
* Almond Joy
* Cadbury Creme Egg3
* Cadbury Dairy Milk3
* Cadbury Mini Eggs3
* Cherry Blossom
* Cookies 'n' Creme
* Cookies 'n' Mint
* Dagoba
* D-ration
* Glosette
* Heath bar
* Hershey bar
* Hershey's Drops
* Hershey's Kisses
* Hershey's Kissables
* Hershey's Miniatures
* Hershey's Special Dark
* Kit Kat2
* Krackel
* Milk Duds
* Mounds
* Mr. Goodbar
* NutRageous
* Oh Henry!1
* Rally
* Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
* Reese's Take 5
* Rolo2
* Scharffen Berger
* Skor
* Snack Barz
* Swoops
* Symphony
* Military chocolate (US)
* Whatchamacallit
* Whoppers
* York Peppermint Pattie
* Zero

Other products|

* Breath Savers
* Bubble Yum
* Good & Plenty
* Good & Fruity
* Ice Breakers
* Jolly Rancher
* Koolerz
* Lancaster Soft Crèmes
* PayDay
* Reese's Pieces
* SkinnyPop
* Twizzlers
* Zagnut

People|

* Milton S. Hershey (founder)
* Michele Buck
* John H. Dowd
* Paul Logan

Related topics|

* Pennsylvania chocolate workers' strike, 1937
* H. B. Reese

Hershey Entertainment
and Resorts Company|

| Entertainment
Group|

* Hersheypark
* ZooAmerica
* Giant Center
* Hersheypark Stadium
* Hershey Bears
* Hersheypark Arena
* Hershey Theatre

|

Resorts Group|

* The Hotel Hershey
* Hershey Lodge
* Hershey Country Club

Milton Hershey Foundation|

* Hershey Cemetery
* Hershey Gardens
* Hershey Story
* Hershey Theatre
* Milton Hershey School
* Penn State Medical Center

* Italic indicates discontinued products
* 1 In Canada only (elsewhere, Ferrara)
* 2 In the United States only (elsewhere, Nestlé)
* 3 In the United States only (elsewhere, Cadbury)

* * *

*   * Commons

Authority control databases: Geographic |

* MusicBrainz place

|

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