[ music ] >> MY NAME IS MARCI RICH, I WROTE THE ARTICLE ABOUT THE PLAYHOUSE SQUARE THEATERS DOWNTOWN CLEVELAND THAT APPEARS IN THE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER ISSUE OF ECHOS MAGAZINE.

THE FEELING THAT I GET WHEN I WALK INTO PLAYHOUSE SQUARE TO THE GRAND LOBBY, I SEE THE SHIMMERING CHANDELIERS AND THE ORNATE CEILINGS, IT'S MAGICAL.

IT'S A FEELING OF BEING TRANSPORTED AND LIFTED UP AND OUT OF MY ORDINARY LIFE INTO PLACE EXTRAORDINARY.

>> PLAYHOUSE SQUARE IS A COLLECTION OF 11 STAGES, FIVE HISTORIC THEATERS, FIVE NEW SPACES AND AN OUTDOOR SPACE.

WE SERVE ABOUT A MILLION GUESTS A YEAR AND WE HAVE ABOUT 1,100 PERFORMANCES EVERY YEAR.

>> THE FIVE THEATERS THAT ARE, SO TO SPEAK, THE JEWELS OF THE CROWN WERE ALL BUILT IN A SPAN OF 14 MONTHS BEGINNING IN FEBRUARY OF 1921 THROUGH NOVEMBER OF 1922.

>> SO HERE WE ARE ON EUCLID AVENUE STANDING OUT IN FRONT OF THE CONNER PALACE, THE KEY BANK STATE THEATER, THE MIMI OHIO, THE ALLEN THEATER AND THE FAMOUS GE CHANDELIER.

LET'S TAKE A WALK INSIDE.

THIS IS HOW THE ROOM LOOKED IN 1921 WHEN IT WAS BUILT AND IN 1964 THERE WAS A FIRE.

AFTER THE FIRE, IT HAD RED DRYWALL, WHITE LINOLEUM FLOOR AND A WHITE DROP CEILING AND WHEN I STARTED HERE THAT'S WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE.

AND I THOUGHT, WOW, IT MUST HAVE BEEN SO COOL SOMETIME AND THEN I SAW A PHOTOGRAPH, THIS PHOTOGRAPH HERE AND I THOUGHT, OH, THAT MUST HAVE BEEN SOMETHING.

I CAN'T IMAGINE HOW WONDERFUL IT MUST HAVE BEEN TO BE ABLE TO SEE THAT.

AND THEN IN ABOUT 2013 I WAS GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO RECREATE THE ROOM.

SO WHEN YOU LOOK AROUND AT THE ROOM AS IT IS TODAY, THIS IS A TOTAL RECREATION THAT WAS PUT IN PLACE IN 2014 OF SOMETHING THAT WAS TOTALLY GONE SINCE 1964, BUT TOTALLY RECREATED, HAND SCULPTED, IT'S JUST A WONDERFUL PROJECT.

>> THE PLAYHOUSE THEATERS ARE AND AREN'T A TIME CAPSULE OF THE PAST IN A WAY.

FENG OF WHEN THEY WERE BUILT IN 1921 AND 1922 WITH EXTRAORDINARY CRAFTSMANSHIP AND ARTISTRY, OVER TIME, OVER DECADES THINGS FALL APART.

THE AMAZING THING TO ME IN RESEARCHING THIS STORY WAS WHEN THE RENOVATION, THE REJUVENATION OF PLAYHOUSE SQUARE WAS HAPPENING, THERE WAS A TREMENDOUS EFFORT UNDER WAY TO PRESERVE THE PAST.

IT'S SORT OF A COMPRESSION OF THE PAST, IT'S AN ENERGY THAT'S PALPABLE.

YOU KNOW THAT YOU'RE PART OF SOMETHING THAT HAS GONE ON FOR DECADES, FOR A CENTURY, AND IT'S -- IT'S AN EXTRAORDINARY EXPERIENCE.

>> WHERE WE ARE TODAY IN 2022 IS REALLY A STRONG REFLECTION ON WHAT THESE PLACES WERE INTENDED TO BE.

YOU GO BACK TO MARCUS LONG, HE SAID I DON'T SELL TICKETS TO MOVIES, I SELL TICKETS TO THEATERS, SOME QUOTE LIKE THAT, IT'S A FAMOUS QUOTE, BUT THE ENVIRONMENT THAT WAS BUILT IN ALL OF THESE THEATERS WAS MAGIC.

IT WAS AN ESCAPE.

IT WAS GOING TO ANOTHER WORLD, ANOTHER TIME.

AND TODAY OUR GUESTS COME HERE IN DROVES, NOT ONLY TO SEE AMAZING THEATER AND CONCERTS AND DANCE AND MUSIC, BUT THEY COME FOR THE BEAUTY AND THE AUTHENTICITY OF WHAT WE HAVE HERE TODAY.