CLEVELAND -- Playhouse Square has been hosting audiences for more than 90 years, and now with the comprehensive capital improvement plan, they're looking ahead to 90 more.
The changes to the outside are hard to miss: Big bright signs and what's been dubbed as the world's largest outdoor chandelier.
Now it's time for the inside.
"It's not only just cosmetic things in the theatres, but things that are really going to enhance the customer experience," says Tom Einhouse, vice president of facilities and capital at Playhouse Square.
Playhouse Square is renovating everything from auditoriums to lobbies with hopes of bringing a blast from the past into their future. Crews have been working on bringing the State Theatre back to the picturesque roaring '20s.
They're working with Evergreen Studios out of New York, which has done 350 theatres, the Empire State Building and the nation's capital to provide a more comprehensive look from the moment you walk in until you take your seat. They did a color study and have gotten rid of the flat, muddy brown paint and are taking a lighter palette through the auditorium and lobbies.
They've also added all-new LED lighting, which will cut energy use by about 80 percent and increased light levels by about 50 percent.
"When you go back through history, it probably hasn't been since the '40s that we've had really a comprehensive touch on everything from Euclid Avenue all the way back to the proscenium," Einhouse says.
There's also plans on addressing the main concern audiences have given in feedback: the bathrooms. Playhouse Square plans to totally renovate the restrooms in December and January to create more space and update facilities.
The biggest nod back in time will be the new/old Ohio Theatre lobby. The original lobby, built in 1921, was destroyed by a fire in 1963. During the renovation of 1980, funding and time prevented them from fully restoring it. However, they've found the blueprints and are now totally replicating it, complete with hand-sculpted decoration, re-created murals and fireplaces.
Audiences will be able to get to performances through a walkway during the lobby renovation, which is set to open in May.
"Really, this Ohio Lobby piece pulls the whole Ohio together and it really is the last piece of true restoration that we need to do with the center," Einhouse says.
Future plans to improve some things at Connor Palace are being discussed.
