Midland Theatre

The original Midland Theatre opened on December 20, 1928 as a 1000-seat theater. The theater featured movies, Vaudeville acts and live music for 50 years. It once housed an organ that could raised and lowered for performances. This staple of Newark’s entertainment scene suffered severe damage in the blizzard of 1978; its boilers froze and cracked and the ceiling leaked, flooding the seating in the lower level. The once-elegant venue sat vacant until Dave Longaberger of Longaberger Basket fame purchased it in 1992 and began restoring it. He died in 1999, but his company continued to follow his wishes until it was restored and then donated to the Newark Midland Theatre Association. The second grand opening was on September 14, 2002.

Image 1: Photograph of the Midland in 1929 when The Man and the Iron Mask starring Douglas Fairbanks appeared on the screen.

Image 2: Photograph from around 1975 of the Midland and its neighbors.