After the final curtain

After the Final Curtain

America's Abandoned Theaters

In the early 20th century, the streets of small towns and cities across America were filled with the lights and sounds of movie theaters. The most opulent - known as « movie palaces » - were designed to make their patrons feel like royalty ; people would dress up to visit. But as time went on, it became harder and harder to fill the 2,000+ seat theaters and many were forced to close.

Today, these palaces are illuminated only by the flicker of dying lights. The sound of water dripping from holes in the ceiling echoes through the auditoriums. In After the Final Curtain : America's Abandoned Theaters, internationally-renowned photographer Matt Lambros continues his travels across the United States, documenting these once elegant buildings. From the supposedly haunted Pacific Warner Theatre in Los Angeles to the Orpheum Theatre in New Bedford, MA - which opened the same day the Titanic sank - Lambros pulls back the curtain to reveal what is left, giving these palaces a chance to shine again.