State Theatre - NJ Seating chart

State Theatre Nj
The State Theatre is a historic structure. It is a renovated 1921 vaudeville and silent film palace, which has today become a premier center for the performing arts. The State Theatre holds events for everyone, which includes: world-class dance, stand-up comedy, international orchestras, soulful jazz, Broadway musicals, nostalgic big bands, glorious opera, children's events, educational programs, world music and a lot more. The root of all that this theater has to offer is the 1920s from where it all emerged. "On Monday afternoon at two-thirty I will have both the honor and pleasure of presenting to the citizens of the City of New Brunswick and surrounding territory what I consider the finest theatre in the State."

The opening matinee audience, who willingly paid the twenty-, thirty-, and fifty-cent admission, was treated to a live orchestra concert and a tenor rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner." The first feature presentation was the silent film White Oak, a western melodrama starring stone-faced cowboy hero William S. Hart. Also on the bill were five vaudeville acts, a newsreel and a nature film.

The State was the "class act in town," with its opulent decor, splendid acoustics, and delightful mix of cinematic and live attractions. A few years into its operation, the theater's management was transferred to the B.F. Keith theater chain. Benjamin Franklin Keith and his partner, Edward Franklin Albee, operated the largest string of vaudeville theaters and the largest booking agency for vaudeville acts in the east.

Eventually, the business merged with the largest western booking agency, Orpheum, to form Keith-Albee-Orpheum (KAO). The Radio Corporation of America (RCA), which entered the motion picture business after the advent of sound, acquired KAO in 1928. RCA renamed its new subsidiary Radio-Keith-Orpheum, RKO.