Inside an Abandoned Movie Theater with Power! - Showcase Cinemas
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- In this episode we explore the abandoned Showcase Cinemas in Lawrence Masschusetts!
We hope you all enjoy this exploration and please be sure to give us a like and subscribe if you haven't already! We really appreciate your support! We also appreciate patience with the advertisements as part of the RUclips Partner Program. The more we make, the farther we can go explore and show you all these amazing abandoned places!!
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Abandoned Massachusetts
I worked there for 13 years, it was my home away from home. The friendships that were built, along with working at a place you loved, was pure magic. When you first walked into the lobby, the box office was there. That little room was actually the arcade room. I worked at the concession stand. Thank you for doing this. It brought back so many memories. It’s shameful that there are so many people who take their anger out on others property and destroy it. Poor Lawrence MA.
Thank you for the appreciation and personal history!
@jenn42405r I use to come to this theater all the time as well 😉
😢😢😢😢😢😭😭😭😭😭noooooooo
I used to work at the Eric Three Movie Theater in the late 1986 and 1988! I was a high school student! We had a lot of fun!
Lawrence, MA is actually doing really good right now, IMO. Go down 28 passed Salem... it's vibrant, lots of awesome food, people out spending money, hanging with friends and family.
This place is just in a shitty location near Andover. All the rich kids come over from Andover and do this shit. Rich people destroy.... poor people survive.
I don't know why.... but I swear there were two theatres on each side of the road wasn't there? Or am I thinking of somewhere else.
I saw soooo many movies here. There were more screens across the street, but those were torn down a few years ago. Back in the late 80s-early 90s this was my go-to theater. We'd go see a movie then Dennys after. Thank you for documenting it before it's gone.
That’s cool! Thank you for the personal history!!
I'm trying hard to remember what that stand in the lobby was for. I think it was just ads. Looking at those front doors, I can picture my college friends and I walking in.
That stand was used for a movie scene, but it is in place of the old ticket booth!
I went to this theater as well as the one across the street for so many movies during my childhood. Madagascar, Monster House, The Simpsons Movie, Transformers, Eagle Eye, Cars, Bee Movie, Mr Bean's Holiday, Meet The Robinsons, Enchanted, I could go on. Seeing it demolished the other day really broke my heart. I admit I gasped when I saw what area you investigating.
Thank you for documenting this!
That’s cool! Thank you for watching :)
I worked at the original Showcase Cinema when it was just cinema #1 and #2. That was in 1968 - 1971. One theater had 1000 seats and the other was 700 +/- a couple. The 1000 seat theater was Cinerama with the wrap around "U" shaped screen. Seeing "2001 A Space Odyssey" and a few others in Cinerama was great. I saw sooo many movies. The managers were a bit skittish about some movies, it was still the 1960s, so they would have the projectionist come in and they would preview the movie. I always joined them. There I was 16-17 viewing "Midnight Cowboy" , rated X at the time, with only 2 or 3 of us in the theater. I got to see "Easy Rider" and "Woodstock" by myself. They didn't like the music and left. There I was by myself. I'd call up to the projection booth and ask him to turn up the sound. I would have stayed there forever if my draft number didn't come up. It was a great place and great people, most of us teenagers.
Cool!
@@urbaxvibes hi
My brother was a supervisor at both Showcase cinemas. This was the side we were mainly on. It’s sad to some posters still up and how destroyed everything was. Brought me down memory lane as I felt the posters are the ones I last seen if I remember correctly. Great job!! Thank you Showcase for giving me many years of memories.
They should reopen this place
Sure, if you have a couple million laying around.
They have already knocked this down completely. It’s just an empty parking lot.
The four smaller narrow auditoriums back by the main concession stand are the original ones that were there when the theater first opened as a 4-plex. The 2 mid-size square auditoriums on either side of the front doors were added a few years after the building opened (early 80s I think). The two big ones on the ends, along with the front hallways were added when the theater was renovated around 1999. They re-did the whole place, lobby, concession stand, added stadium seating, etc. The box office used to be facing you right when you walk in. That side room with the black walls was the arcade. There was a wall of candy on the other side of the box office, facing the concession stand. That platform was added when they filmed the movie Daddy's Home 2 there a few years ago. Thanks for the video, it's a trip down memory lane!
Seeing the total disregard for the film prints they left behind which were strewn everywhere is disgusting. Seeing the projector equipment still in there waiting to be destroyed by the demolition is just utterly horrible. I can't believe when Showcase vacated that they left things like that there. There are art house cinemas that would kill to own that equipment!
You are so correct! I worked in the movie theater industry! Eric Three movie theaters! They went bankrupt in the 1990s!
First room you went in was actually a mini arcade, The box office was in the main lobby. Sucks to see the film on the floor, It's a very valuable collectible.
It's interesting that the audio amplifiers are still humming after 7 years, through the speakers. Those Siemens Transformers are for three phase 480 volts. Those JBL speakers that were still mounted up behind the screens are worth quite a bit of money. Those projectors looked like carbon arc lighting. They actually had chimneys on them. Cool stuff.
Very cool indeed, could be worth hundreds if not thousands!
Wow! This brings back memories! I was a manager at this theater back in the 90s. Even though I worked there before it's upgrade, I recognize all the equipment in the projection booth (I may have even typed up that booth maintenance schedule!). The large bench you put the film on is a rewind bench, used for prepping the filming. The smaller Autowind 3 table is a makeup table, used to load/unload film onto the platter decks (the platter decks were all missing, but the tall thin green things are what they sat on). The large round cardboard looking things on the floor were called donuts, which we used to move entire films between theaters without taking them apart. The large blue containers next to the projection windows were coolers for projectors that had higher wattage bulbs (typically 4000 watts).
Not sure if you saw it or not, but behind the main concession stand on the right side (near the double popcorn machine) was the manager's office where we counted the money after each shift & where the safe was. It may have been relocated during the renovation, but based on everything else I saw here, it likely was still there.
Cool!
Wow very interesting
They must of either just upgraded from film or had a mix - as I saw the digital naming schemes OF and VF - these are for digital films and were stored on hard drives. Same naming sequence is used in England but with BBFC ratings in the naming sequence
At 45:26 is a rewind bench; used for editing and sticking film reels together to make one long continuous reel. The thing at 50:20 is a platter system; enormous horizontal reels of film would be placed on there and threaded through the projector. The platter would wind it up in such a way that it could be instantly played again - no need to waste time rewinding.
29:39, the screens are indeed painted silver so they work with Reald 3D movies. The holes in the screen is so the sound can travel from the back speakers past the screen to the audience
The holes in the screen did two things, (1) allowed the sound from the speakers to come thru, the spk are at a height of 3/4 up to make the voices appear to come from their mouths, (2) the holes also help take out the graininess of the 35mm film. Today's digital movies do not have that.... I know this due to 48-yrs as a cinemas projection & sound engineer... you mention silver screen...yes indeed for 3D, BUT sit in the middle seating, off to the L/R side will make the opposite appear dark, sit in the center seating...Best seats are 3~4 rows from the top in a center for stadium seating, on a sloop seating, always in the middle... in stadium seating the sound is directed for the 4th to 6th row seating...in a sloop seating, the sound is directed for the middle....
Silver is used also as it makes blacks look even darker and keeps the white looking white
All the empty candy binds used to be in the front center on the stage area. I remember filling bags up.
me too😭
There are many reasons why movie screens are perforated. For light refraction so the screen can absorb some light so that you don't have double vision or ghosting image-wise. For better sound distribution, speakers are placed directly behind the screen. For heat dissipation as well, where the equipment needed for sound can be cooled and for air to pass through.
Great video. Power is typically left on to prevent people from stealing copper wires. Sad to see the Era of movie theaters die out, 95% off the time they represent good times. Again, great video. I look forward to watching more!
Thank you so much!
Sorry if I am a bit late for the Q&A, but I worked as a Projectionist, Manager, and eventual Regional Engineer for a Global Theater Company! First, the perforated holes in the screen are there to allow the sound to come through. Every auditorium has between 4-12 speakers behind the vinyl screen, depending on its size. Without those perforations, the sound would be muffled. Second, If the screen is silver in color, that was for the 3D features; if it was white, than just the regular movies!
The "Auto-wind machine" you saw, is known as a "Make-up table", and that is used for building movies. (Movies in 35 mm used to come in 'cans' where there would be about 6-7 reels, each about 20 minutes of movie. You would use those makeup tables to assemble, and splice them into one continuous reel which would then lay horizontal on a platter, (which you found at 50:31) and be threaded through the projector, which you discovered on the floor 52:52!
At 45:32, that is called a "Rewind Bench", where the reels would be broken back down into the 6-7 reels it came in, to be sent back to Hollywood! Lastly, at 1:03:27, that is called the 'Lamp-house' which is the powerhouse of the Xenon bulb to project the image onto the screen!
I loved that industry. It breaks my heart that they've all gone digital, but I get it. Awesome video, and an awesome exploration!!!!
You provided a lot of valuable info. Thanks
I remember always passing this theater on interstate 495 whenever I was in Massachusetts visiting family. Sad that it ended up closing and is now being demolished.
The holes in the screen was for the sound to come through for any speaker that was behind the screen. The big thing in most of the projection room was the platter that the film wears put on the show the movie it went from them to the projector back to the platter. Each 2000 foot reel had be spliced together to make the movie after had to take each reel apart and pack them up and send them back to the movie company. Thanks for the video
Autowind 3 is a way to build a movie onto a platter system. The Projector actually have the ability to read the sound track off the film which goes to the audio system. It's amazing how the projection system works
I'm surprised how much film there was in there. This theater closed in 2016, I thought theaters like this went to digital projection several years before that.
There was a second Showcase Cinemas theatre location across the street from this one on Rte. 114. That one they tore down LONG before this one. An animal hospital now stands in that location.
such a cool place! I really hate how people cannot leave the abandoned places alone. Itchy fingers destroying! Great job giving us an inside look to Showcase cinemas!
Thank you! And we agree! People just love to destroy places.
They always do that
oh man, I remember this theater back when I was still in school. Family and I went here because it was closer to our old place and cheaper.
kinda sad to see it gone (I saw it being demolished last week)
also I think the center stage thing at the entrance WAS the box office/ticket booth and at where the box office sign was placed and loads of film was the arcade.
I really dig the little "reflection" segments you do in each area before moving to the next in your presentations.
I'm familiar with this theater, had a friend in Methuen and we'd meet for a flick and lunch, sad to see it this way.
Keep up the good work, and stay safe.
Thank you so much! 🙏😊
@@urbaxvibes And thank you both for doing this for the rest of us that can't make the visit ourselves.
See y'all on the next one 👋
The power might still be on because of the
Lawrence gas explosions that happened. The theater was used as a staging area for police and EMS
Ah... finally caught a glimpse of one of the Christie projection units at the very end. Cool!
I remember going to Showcase Cinemas in the 80’s, in CT! Brings back memories, thanks so much for sharing! Love your videos
Many memories going there and still live 5 min away
I have memories there. I also remember getting a tour of the theater back in 06 or 07.
Maybe whoever is paying the electric bill can send me a check as well? In all seriousness, there may be some reason we are unaware of or can't see that requires them to keep the power on, or something of value could get destroyed perhaps? Good job guys! 🤟
Thank you!!
I’m guessing it’s due to security reasons although the property is vacant slash abandoned.
Spent a lot of time here as a kid. They didn't keep up with the times which led to ppl going elsewhere and eventually one half closed and the other barely hung on. It was a great theatre sad to see it go out like this
We used to have Showcase Cinemas right here in Bridgeport, CT. It shut down right before COVID, in Jan 2020. Demolished and turn into high-rise apartments.
They always turn good places into apartments!
I don't know if anyone has told you but the thing that said "Lockout" is to hold padlocks that are used to put on broken equipment power sources like a braker or switch so that someone dosent accidentally turn it on before it gets repaired this safety Presider is called Lockout Tagout
Worked in an industrial setting for several decades. As you cite, energy sources _had_ to be locked-out prior to and while someone was working on machinery. Myriad safety talks were dedicated to just this. We had tagged locks assigned to us and we generally treated those as gold. Journals for individual pieces of equipment were kept. In my time I saw some instances where safety procedures were circumvented with disastrous results. Better safe than sorry. I still use a lot of the procedures which the corporation drummed-into our consciousnesses.
I remember watching the movie Daddy's home 2 and in some of the scenes was the movie theater entrance where you guys were just at earlier
Cool!
I think that movie reel that's rolled up is a final destination movie!
Just found your channel, through reccomended from watching The Proper People. Never really watched any urbex videos....but from your channel and the proper people....IM OBSESSED! I immediately subscribed after 1 video and am binge watching your channel! I love how thorough and respectful you are at these locations. Sharing places frozen in time, soon to be lost forever...its jusf so cool and addicting! Thank you, i love your channel so much!!!❤❤
Thank you so much we appreciate it tons!!
I lived in Lawrence for 17 years. I went to Lawrence high school the school right next to it and when you show the beginning I got so many flashbacks of when I went there and I’ve only been there once I remember where I sat and what I was watching I was little the last time I was there it was in 2010 and me and my family were watching Alice in wonderland I was young and I ran off and explored the whole cinema so much memories
i just wanted to comment and say how much i love yalls videos! i love the exploration type videos but now adays people destory things or go places that are completely trashed and its like 15-20 minute videos, to me those are lame and you dont learn anything. Your guys videos get very in depth and i dont feel like i have to be constantly staring at the screen to understand whats going on. I love the way you guys talk about everything and like point little things out like how someone was living there, those things people get freeked out and wimp out. I love watching your guys’ videos when i do my makeup/get ready for work because its just such a calm thing to watch while getting ready in the morning. I came across you guys on my recommended and i don’t regret binge watching all of your guys’ videos! Keep up the great work and i wish you guys luck in the future ❤️
Thank you so much for the kind words!! We love hearing that! We promise to keep awesome explore videos coming!!
I live in Massachusetts. Driven by this location many times. The location I used to go to all the time as a kid is now a warehouse
Awesome video
Watched so many movies here through my whole life with Friends and my Pops🙏
Great memories
Saw it today demo in progress...
Thank you!!
Room with the box office sign was the arcade room before they closed it and the middle section I think was where we bought tickets unless it was added for daddy’s home?
The perforations in the screens are to let sound through from the speakers behind the screen, which are usually left, right, and centre channels. You need a silver-coloured screen for 3D, so that auditorium was 3D capable.
Ahh good times! Always pass this theater on 495 when I go up north to visit family… I’ve been waiting for someone to do a video on it!
That was pretty awesome. We had a showcase cinema In East Hartford Connecticut. It was Built-in the late seventies. I video take them chairing it down Back in 2019. But your Adventure was pretty awesome. I enjoyed watching . thank you for sharing that.
🎉🎉🎉
Thank yo so much!
Wow! look at these huge JBL Speakers, i would literally do anything to own one, and it would be really cool to play something through all of the movie theater sound system.
Looks like place where Daddy's Home 2 scene was filmed.
It was
It was still opened?
I used to go there growing up sad to see it gone also tickets were all the way at the back as far as I remember. That small room with the sign was the arcade
My childhood spot wow
Worked for this company for 6 years in MA and RI. Lots of fun times and great people. The $50 card was from a mystery shopper. If you follow all the service steps you get an extra $50 in your check.
Those blue arms in the projection booth held large aluminum platters that the 35mm film layed on. A standard 2 hour film arrived at the theater in 3 reel film carrier containers. each reel of a 35mm print ran aproximately 20 minutes. so, three reels = 1 hour. The projectionist used a feeder machine to take the film off the reel and wind it onto the aluminum platter. The projectionist would cut the leader (it had those countdown numbers (8 - 7- 6- 5 - 4 - 3 -2 ) and tail off each reel and splice the movie togrther. After all 6 reels are assembled on the platter it looked like a gigantic 8 Track tape cartridge. There was an inner hub that the first number one reel was wrapped around. The projectionist carefully removied that hub and started pulling the film through a series of rollers over to the projector. If you look at that three armed, blue device you'll see the arms can be pulled forward. Those arms sent signals to a motor under the platter that would speed up the platter to feed the fim to the projector. There was also a gizmo under the platter that acted like a brake on a car. It could slow down, or stop the film. As the film was run through the projector it would be wound onto that removable hub that could be placed onto another empty platter on that three armed tree unit. You were right about those projection heads laying together on the floor. Christie Projection Systems inevented that contraption to do away with having to pay for a I.A.T.S.E. Union (The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees) Projectionist to run the film from two projectors in the booth. Back in the good old days there were two projectors with changeover devices to allow each 20 minute reel to be shown on the screen. Also, back then we used carbon arc projectors. By the 1970s many theaters switched to Xeon Lamps and eventually they switched to the automated platter systems. I joined the Detroit Motion Picture Projectionist Union Local 199 in February 1972. I was 21 at the time and I thought I'd be running movies until I had to retire. On January 1st, 1987 I received a certified letter from AMC Theater Corporation that they had purchased all of the Detroit area movie theaters and DID NOT RECOGNIZE LOCAL 199! When I called my Union the business agent told me not to be concerned, that AMC was working with us to resolve this situation. Later, we all discovered that our business agent had sold us out! When I went to work that night I discovered all my personal belongings were lying outside the door to the booth. When I knocked on the door a stranger told me my services were no longer needed. I looked into the booth and there was a Christie automated robot sitting where the other projector had been! There were also a group of candy girls, ushers, usherettes, managers and assitant managers crowded around the machine learing how to thread up the platter and projector! Luckily for me I'd gone back to school years before and had been working as a radio announcer for stations in Ohio and Michigan. I felt bad for the older union brothers who had nothing to fall back on. For years now film had been replaced with large video projectors. People don't go to the movies like they used to. They can see the film on TV or DVD. Those large movie theaters are now just things of the past.
I discovered your channel today and so far I love it!
Thank you so much! We appreciate you
35mm make up table for the commercials & coming attractions. Joined with a reel on to the released films for projection.
52:55 That piece you're looking at is where the scope or the flat projector lenses went.
I just discovered your channel - love the history of the places you investigate
Thank you!!
We need a movie theater back in Lawrence man.
Eerie to think this place hosted the big musical Christmas finale from Daddy's Home 2 with the FULL ensemble cast on hand and then went completely silent and left to rot.
The film on floor is most likely trailers.
And the weird structure with the roller she pointed at is the platters where the movie rests (except it's missing the platters themselves). Movie travels from platters to projector, is displayed and then returns to another platter that is winding it back up.
Im stunned they still ran film in 2016. Most theatres converted to ALL digital back in 2010 with very few exceptions
Remember coming here when I was young a lot of memories
Sad it's being demolished. But it did get to be memorialized in a movie! But it won't exist anymore😢
Cool video! Thanks for videoing it before it got demolished!. Ive passed this place driving on 495
Thank you for appreciating our video!!
So the reason why there's those little holes in the movie screen when you did the up close is for the speakers to make the sound come out right and it allows them to breathe just right. If there was no holes then it would sound muffled and the speakers could start on fire from over heating.
damn i miss this theater good memories with the family the arcade was fun while waiting for the movie to start
From the outside that looks EXACTLY like the cinemas at the Eastfield Mall here in Springfield Ma. Which is also closed and set to be demolished along with the mall soon.
They're demolishing Eastfield? That's a shame. I grew up in Westfield before moving to North Carolina in '95. Can't begin to imagine what else has changed.
Wow.... This was the spot back then... Then the loop came and... You know the rest
used to go there alot when i was a kid so many memories
Wow another briil video from you guys i love watching cinema explores imagine geting to work a free movie ha ha, i have not did a cinema yet and i cant wait for my first! i was out exploring sunday gone and did a school i did manage to get about 30 min of video but a security guy turned up lol but he was cool.
Thank you!
So many memories
Another job well done. Thank you so much for showing us that.
You two have a great week and see you next time
Thank you so much! We appreciate it a lot.
Love the Benji movie I watch it with my nephew on DVD all the time . I'll have a large combo with a hotdog and a box of swedish fish Lol😊
I grew up going to this theater thank you for posting!
We’re glad you enjoyed it! 😊🙏
I’m sure by now this theater was demolished but y’all did a great job filming this hopefully y’all kept something from this theater
Thank you!
Wow very interesting u guys are in Lawrence at the showcase cinema wow I remember that movie theater I used take my kids there when they were small
Interesting comment that the upstairs bottled water was two dollars cheaper than the downstairs concession stand…
Seems like most movie theaters, like mine locally (Marquee Showplace, opened in 1999), they had an upstairs and downstairs concession stand. Both open when the theater opened, but as years went on and things dropped off, the upstairs one with clothes first. Apparently this is a real trend with most of these hyper large theaters.
The C02 tanks are indeed what carbonates the soda.
Really cool video I love old movie theaters like that those seats though are very uncomfortable. I like the newer seats but ticket prices are too expensive now. Wish you would've been able to go behind screen to show what it looks like behind a movie theater screen. Love to see more videos like this of abandoned theaters.
Co2 is for soda machine, popcorn makers, I worked at a couple movie theaters (Mann),later Harkins is AZ.
Both of my brothers, and bunch of friends worked here. Never paid to watch movies lol
The ticket spot was the random structure in the middle and the room where the box office sign was infront of was the Arcade room
At least it didn't sit abandoned for 15 years like the Showcase Cinemas in East Hartford, Connecticut. They finally tore it down in 2022 or 2021. East Hartford will put condos on the site...
It was amazing to still see that the electricity was working and the buzzing transformers. Someone somewhere is paying for this waste of power surely?
That could been a hell of a place for a homeless shelter or something...
Instead wasting energy on power in empty building
But then homeless tend to trash things. They would have to be monitored 24/7 for that to happen. And then who comes up with the funding and maintenance. It's never straightforward helping out the homelessness wherever they end up. Got homeless in hotels and b&bs in my town in the UK which is costing millions for them just to trash everything. They need help not just a roof on their heads. Fights break out in these places quite often.
@@greywebs1944 I totally agree with you. Some have drug problems and most have mental health issues 😮
Drove by there this morning. Demolition is almost complete.
Cinemas are one of the sites that the new reality has brought into the world of oblivion.
Yeah they built this place in 82 because the original Showcase across the street was too small--which was demolished and turned into a Starbucks. I saw many a film here in the '80s.
watched the whole thing and so many memories 🥺 i was waiting for y’all to find the candy !! i remember always by it in the lobby
43:51 RIP leader
At time clips 46:26 you are at a build table which allows the projectionist to make up the film at. it helps to rewind a reel from head to tail or tail to head just depends on how the projectionist wanted to make the up film and plus the build table allows the projectionist to inspect the film to see if any part of the film is damage or need fixing before putting movie together. Film comes in either 5 or 6 reels at time for one film and had to be put together. Sometimes film on reels come head first or tail first. obviously the movie goes through the projector Head first. so when the film is tail first on a reel they had to rewind the movie to be head first. or if the projectionist have a bigger reel that isn't being used they put 3 of the smaller reels onto the bigger one which help make up the film which I find is a quick way to build a movie. when the film is ready to get put together the use the Autowind to build the movie onto a platter system. Movie goes head first through the projector and eventually end onto another platter on the platter system. I say it easier to grasp when you have a visual of it vs me explaining it.
33:04 That looks to be a simplex 4100U fire alarm control panel, I wish they would've at least taken the whole thing rather than gutting it. Those things are really cool.
Wild to still see 35 mm film there. When the theatre I worked for switched to digital I took a few of the remaining 35 mm trailers
Very nicely put together video and very entertaining as well. Thanks for posting this.
Thank you so much!
I'm guessing that this is the newer of the 2 Showcase Cinemas in Lawrence, MA. The original was demolished in 2017 I believe and is now a veterinary clinic.
I install these screens the silver side keeps all the colors neutral and not bleeding together the white side prevents shadows ]ghosting] on the viewing side the holes in the screen allows the banks of speakers behind the screen to project the audio cleanly to the viewer
We had a Showcase Cinema here in Grand Rapids, Mi. However… I believe it closed in the 90’s. This one and the here have a totally different setup though.
Screen is perforated to allow sound pass through.
Theater speaker left, center, and right channels are mounted behind the screen.
My childhood theater 😢
You guys are so lucky to do what y'all do keep the videos coming
Really enjoyed your video ! Greetings all the way from Australia ❤
Thanks for watching!
Liked the vid, first time viewers to your channel
Thank you!
You are sweet and nice and kind and you are doing a great job with your videos keep up the good work you both
33:00 is the fire alarm system panel. Simplex 4100+. Sad to see it in such a state…