Originally opened as Proctor’s Fourth Street Theatre in 1914 with 2,283 seats, designed by architect Arland W. Johnson for vaudeville impresario Frederick Freeman Proctor (1851–1929). It hosted performers such as Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, and Fred and Adele Astaire. Proctor started as a performer in variety shows before moving into theatrical management. He notably pioneered the method of continuous vaudeville by Emulating B. F. Keith’s concept, running shows from 10 o’clock in the morning until 11 o’clock at night. It proved to be hugely profitable, and by the 1890s Proctor had established a successful chain of theatres.

From 1929, it was successively taken over by the Radio-Keith-Orpheum and Fabian Theatres chains, renamed Proctor’s Troy Theatre, and progressively switched to movies. In the 1960s, it began playing second-run films and double features before closing in 1977. On its last day of operation, less than 40 people sat in the auditorium.

Since it closed, there has been frequent talk of reopening the theatre, as everything from a dinner theatre to a conference centre, but nothing has come to fruition. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. In the meantime, Proctor’s Theatre continues to slip further into disrepair, with its gilded plasterwork crumbling into dust and birds nesting in the old projection booth. In the mid-2010s, the office space of the building was renovated.

The theatre is currently vacant.


Editions Available:

95 x 120 cm, edition of 9 plus 2APs
#3/9 available

150 x 190 cm, edition of 6 plus 2 APs
#1/6 available