Weybosset Street was alive with excitement as nearly 14,000 people attended the opening of the new 3,100 seat Loew’s State Movie Palace on October 6, 1928 to see the movie “Excess Baggage” on the big screen. Those lucky enough to have seats to the show were led by their usher, past talking parrots, into the opulent theater. People in Providence enjoyed the last days of the fabulous Roaring Twenties with no idea that in a little over a year the Jazz Decade would end, and the city built on industry would succumb to the Great Depression.

Since 1978, the Theatre has been on the National Register of Historic Places and has undergone extensive (historically accurate) renovations, becoming a world-class venue. Launching 14 national tours since 2008, the PPAC presents a major roster of Broadway touring theatricals annually. A broad range of concerts, dance, comedy, family shows and much more bring hundreds of thousands of people into Providence each year to experience the magic of live performance in what has been called “the jewel of Weybosset Street.”

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No organization embodies Providence’s moniker, “The Creative Capital”, more than AS220. Founded in 1985, this organization supports artists by providing housing, studio, exhibit, and performance space in downtown Providence. AS220 began in one room above the Providence Performing Arts Center at 220 Weybosset Street, when Umberto Crenca and friends decided Providence needed a space dedicated to supporting artists and artistic expression. “AS” stands for artists space or alternative space and 220 honors the room at PPAC where it all began.

Today, AS220 houses four rotating gallery spaces, a performance stage, a black box theater, a print shop, a darkroom and media arts lab, a fabrication and electronics lab, a dance studio, a youth program, 47 affordable live/work studios for artists, a bar and restaurant, and is a destination for over 51,000 people each year.

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Few theaters can say they’ve housed the evolution of American entertainment like this one. Now home to the Tony Award-winning Trinity Repertory Company, this space has vaudeville roots, showed blockbuster hits, and now wows audiences with live theatrical productions. The former Emery Majestic Theater was opened by local vaudevillians, the Emery Brothers, in 1917. Seating around 3,000 people, it was the largest theater in Providence at the time. When vaudeville was replaced by movies as America's favorite form of entertainment, the Majestic became downtown Providence’s premiere movie theater, showing first runs of Warner Brothers and 21st Century Fox films. However, the growth of movie theaters in the suburbs with ample parking slowed business for the Majestic, and it closed its doors in the mid-20th century.

Fortunately, the doors were not closed for long. The Majestic’s history of live performance meant the building was a natural fit to house Providence’s newly formed Trinity Repertory Company. Founded in 1963 in Upper South Providence, Trinity Rep was, and remains, a major part of Providence’s flourishing art scene. Considered “one of the most respected regional theatres in the country,” Trinity Rep is notable for having one of the last resident acting companies in the United States. The Company produces a variety of contemporary and classical plays and musicals, including an annual production of A Christmas Carol, a Rhode Island holiday tradition.

When you visit, be sure to examine the building's facade! With the exception of the iconic “Majestic” marquee, the facade retains its original elegance.

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At its opening in 1926, the Columbus Theater was touted as “a testimonial to the Italian people.” The late Beaux-Arts theater was built, designed and decorated by Italians: owner Domenic Annotti, architect Oresto DiSaia, and muralist George DeFelice (whose work can also bee seen at Holy Ghost Church and the Rhode Island Statehouse). The theater, of course, is named for the famous Italian explorer and has 1,492 seats inside, where elaborate plasterwork and DeFelice’s murals (“The Music Sensation”, “The Echo of Music”) make this a rare and virtually intact showplace. The theater was equipped for movies and vaudeville at its opening, but followed a twisted path like the neighborhood. Arthouse after World War II became pornography by the 70s. The theater was the focal point of lawsuits, complaints, and multiple revitalization efforts until in 2009 it was closed for fire code violations. In 2012, a group of local musicians worked with owner Jon Berberian to re-open the space as a music co-operative that has become one of the hottest live-music venues in town.

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