Severance Theatre

3600 Mayfield Road,
Severance Town Center,
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: National Theatre Corp., Regal Entertainment Group

Architects: Jack Alan Bialosky

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News About This Theater

Severance Center

The original Severance Theatre opened in the Severance Center Mall in Cleveland Heights in the mid-1960’s. The original theatre, which was in the center of the mall, was a single screen that was twinned on April 5, 1974. A six-screen annex was built in 1985 in a newly constructed food court annex at the mall. National Theatre Corporation, later Regal Cinemas, operated the Severance Theatre.

The original Severance Theatre closed on March 18. 1999 when the mall was closed for major reconstruction. The first two screens closed first, then later the adjacent five-plex closed, and was demolished.

In 2000, when Severance reopened as a big-box power center, a new 14-screen Regal Cinema opened behind the new Wal-Mart at the complex(it has its own page on Cinema Treasures). This entry is about the original Severance Theatres.

Contributed by Toby Radloff

Recent comments (view all 21 comments)

somguy
somguy on March 23, 2012 at 11:04 pm

I woorked at the original theater from 1968 to 1970. The theater had 999 seats, 20 of them were on the second floor behind glass. We called it the penthouse. The seats were like living room chairs that could swivel, but were fixed to the floor. I was also their duing the Woodstock run. Funny Girl played in 1968 for 46 weeks. Hello Dolly played in 1969 for 25 weeks.

rivest266
rivest266 on January 19, 2014 at 7:19 pm

series of grand opening ad uploaded in the photo section.

Scott Neff
Scott Neff on February 14, 2017 at 11:35 pm

I have information that suggests Regal closed this 4/21/1999. Was is possible that the 5-plex operated for another year after the original theatre closed?

MSC77
MSC77 on March 12, 2020 at 4:19 pm

Do any Clevelanders know if the original Severance could run 70mm prints? (I know the 1980s expansion could; I’m asking about the original screen during the 1960s.)

ChasSmith
ChasSmith on March 12, 2020 at 5:32 pm

I’m betting it did, since they had both “Funny Girl” and “Hello, Dolly” in extended runs in 1968 & 1969, and those were likely roadshow engagements. Someone else will have the definitive answer, but to my memory, this was a high profile theater in those first years, and it’s hard to imagine they weren’t 70mm.

steve0054
steve0054 on June 4, 2020 at 11:08 am

The last day of business for Severance Movies was March 18,1999. The final films shown were The Corruptor, The Rage: Carrie 2, Cruel Intentions, Analyze This, 8MM, and Payback.

rivest266
rivest266 on November 30, 2021 at 7:49 pm

Two screens on April 5th, 1974. Grand opening ad posted.

proj3593
proj3593 on September 21, 2022 at 2:22 am

When the Severance was a single theater it had Simplex XL 35mm projectors. The same projectors were used when it became a twin theater. Christie xenon lamps and platters were added at this time. They never had 70mm equipment. Also, the 5-plex theater described here actually was a 6-plex.

Hibi
Hibi on October 18, 2022 at 9:17 pm

Funny Girl played there in roadshow but it was not in 70mm in most engagements. Dolly was in Todd-AO, if it played at the Severance (I can’t remember) it must have been in that format as a roadshow, so they must have had that capability.

proj3593
proj3593 on October 18, 2022 at 10:54 pm

Todd-AO was a 70mm process. While a film may have been shot in 70mm, they made both 35mm and 70mm prints out of it.
So even if Hello Dolly played there, it wouldn’t have required 70mm equipment.

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