Paramount Theatre - Newark, NJ

The Paramount Theatre opened on October 11, 1886, as H.C. Miner’s Newark Theatre. It was originally a vaudeville house managed by Hyde & Behman Amusement Co., a Brooklyn-based theater company. After H.C. Miner died in 1900, his surviving relatives retained ownership of the theater for several years before selling it in 1916 to Edward Spiegel, the owner of the nearby Strand Theatre. At the same time, Spiegel also purchased the building next to the theater to demolish it so he could use the space to expand the theater. On September 18, 1916, Spiegel announced that the auditorium would be enlarged for $125,000, which is $2,717,000, when adjusted for inflation. Sparing no expense, Spiegel hired famed theater architect Thomas W. Lamb to do the alterations. 

The original wood frame balconies were removed and replaced with a single steel and concrete balcony. In addition, lamb redesigned the interior of the auditorium in the Adamesque, or Adam style. Adamesque is an updated version of the Neo-Classical style of architecture, which is inspired by Greek and Roman ruins. The original seating capacity of the theater was 1,900; after the remodeling was completed, an additional 103 seats were added.

Spiegel sold the theater in late July of 1921 to the Adams Brothers, who ran the nearby Adams Theatre. The brothers closed the theater for a few weeks, and it reopened on August 6, 1921, with a showing of The Great Moment, a silent film starring Gloria Swanson. The reopening celebration also included a performance by the theater’s twenty-five-piece orchestra. In 1931, when silent movies and vaudeville’s popularity began to diminish, the owners struck a deal with Paramount-Publix (now known as Paramount Pictures) to start showing “talkies” or sound motion pictures. As a result, the theater underwent yet another remodel, adding updated sound equipment and doubling the size of the lobby. When it reopened on September 3, 1931, the theater was renamed the Paramount Theatre.

The Paramount Theatre closed on March 31, 1986, due to an increase in insurance rates. This increase also led to the closing of the nearby Adams Theatre. Since the 1986 closing, the lobby area has been reused as an Army/Navy surplus store and other similar pop-up retail stores. Due to the years of neglect, the auditorium ceiling collapsed during the winter of 2021. In September 2021, plans were announced to demolish the building to make way for a 14-story residential tower with retail space. The theater’s facade and marquee will be restored as part of the plan. No date for construction has been given.