The Broadway Theater opened in 1927 as a vaudeville/movie palace designed by the famed New York City architect Douglas P. Hall. With 1500 seats it’s still the largest theater between Manhattan and Albany. In 1947, the theater was purchased by the Walter Reade Organization and became a first run movie house. In 1953, the theater’s glorious marquee is replaced by a classical portico, the chandelier is removed and the Broadway Theater is renamed the Community Theater. In 1977, Walter Reade closed up shop. A group of concerned citizens saved the theater from demolition when they purchased the theater as the nonprofit Ulster Performing Arts Center. In 1979 the Broadway Theater was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as one of the last great show palaces in New York State. After years of decline, UPAC began a revitalization in 1995 that produced a $1.7 million interior renovation ready in time for its 75th year in 2002. Today the Ulster Performing Arts Center’s Historic Broadway Theater has re-emerged as one of the Mid-Hudson Valley’s premier performing arts centers open year-round with diverse programming of professional quality productions including national and international headliners in music, dance and theater.
