I freaking love abandoned places! (Theatre entry)

At my old university, there was a small theatre-style auditorium in the upstairs of one of the oldest buildings. The staircases went from the well-circulated halls on the bottom floor to the increasingly quiet halls of old administration rooms and finally the silence of the old theatre. There was a main entrance at the top of the stairs, but the balcony entrance was higher, and I liked this space best. Some nights when I was roaming around campus, climbing to the rooftops to gaze at stars or just laying in the soft grass under great oaks (and partially pretending it was Narnia, in whole truth), I would wander on occasion up to the old theatre to see if it had been left unlocked. My breath would become slightly nervous and more controllably still as I climbed the creaky last steps to the balcony doors. Once inside, I would use the light of my cell phone and find a seat looking over the dark rows of chairs leading to the stage and further darker backstage. I wondered if there were any ghosts- it was a perfect place for them. I sat in silence examining the intricate trimming and odd ornamentation paired with the large, dark windows, chipped paint, and old smell, wondering if there were any others like me in years before that were content to sit in the creepy stillness of the empty theatre.

(New Orleans, Louisiana, source)

Thus I was pleased to find this link from Buzzfeed showing 75 beautiful photos of abandoned theaters throughout the U.S. The following theater is located in Norwich, Connecticut (picture by rustyjaw on Flickr-- and if you like abandoned buildings of all kinds, check out his photostream).

For more abandoned theaters, check out abandonedtheaters.com, a photography series by Julia Solis.

If you share an interest in abandoned spaces, also see abandoned theme parks, abandoned buildings, and ghost towns.