State Theatre

Vaudeville shared the opening bill with a silent film in 1921, when Walter Reade's State Theatre — one of more than three hundred houses designed by Thomas W. Lamb — began business in New Brunswick. An Art Deco remodelling followed in 1933; the cinema years ran on into the 1960s. Rescue came from the New Brunswick Cultural Center, whose three-million-dollar restoration reopened the 1,850-seat auditorium on 24 April 1988, with further interior work in 2003–04 and a new marquee in 2021. It presents orchestras, dance and touring Broadway, and sustains a substantial education programme. Opera has figured too, including Puccini's La bohème and Verdi's Aida.