Heirloom Arts Theatre's photostream

The building that now houses the Heirloom Arts Theatre was built around 1850. It originally opened as a vaudeville venue called the Princess Theatre and its surviving flyers and advertisements portray a colorful history. When motion pictures arrived, the Princess was transformed and its name changed to the Empress Theatre in time to host a preview of D.W. Griffith's groundbreaking film "America" in 1924. The Palace and the Empress became side-by-side movie theatres owned by Warner Bros. and were a focal point of activity in downtown Danbury.

The Empress closed around 1969 and the area where seats once occupied was leveled out and converted into office space (the modern Heirloom Arts Theatre was built on the original vaudeville stage portion of the original building).

In the late '70s and early '80s, the space became a tire warehouse and soon after fell into disuse. In 2000 it was renovated and converted into the Empress Ballroom, the only premier all ages, no alcohol venue in the area playing to mostly hardcore, metal, indie, emo, etc., shows. This incarnation of the space paved the way for what the Heirloom Arts Theatre is today.

Building further on the renovations done by the Empress Ballroom staff, the Heirloom Arts Theatre continues the spaces long tradition of music and other performing arts as well as motion pictures and visual art showcases in a cafe lounge atmosphere. We are Danbury's artistic and cultural alternative continuing the legacy of the space, a space that is a true heirloom of the past.

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For those promoters, bands, and other assorted miscreants interested
in utilizing [using] our theatre facilities, allow me to walk you through!

Our address is 155 Main St. in Danbury, CT.
Ours is the building standing alongside the historic Palace Theater,
whose marquee is a blight on our fair city, I tell ya..just kidding.

At the back of 155 main street lies our domain, which was formerly
known as the Empress Ballroom. Sure sure, this was already covered
in your orientation. But what you might not have known is that our main
entrance is located at the last door on Palace Walk, a well lit walkway
leading from Main St. (this is now marked by bright red flags along the sidewalk),
or that our Load-in door is located in the back parking lot off of Keeler St.

The Room Dimensions are:
Main Floor, from front of stage to front of room: 42'
Main Floor width: 32'
Main Floor, from back of stage to front of room: 58'
The Stage measures 16' wide x 12' deep, and is under 4' in height
Our balcony, which houses our beer'n'wine catered bar and soundbooth
is 12' x 32'
We also have separate 'green room' facilities for 'that' kind of show,
you know who you rock stars are...

The Sound System:
24 channel AMEK TAC Bullet Board.
4800watts front of house
1600 watts onstage, in three monitor mixes
Crown/QSC power - JBL/Mackie/Yamaha enclosures
Shure/AKG/Sennheiser microphones
ProCo/Whirlwind Direct Boxes
Alesis Compressors

This equipment is subject to change, and we are always on the move
towards improvement.


Our staff is here to serve you. And their own stinking interests...dammit.
Many of us have performed live, like you, or produced shows, like you,
or even attended shows...no way! just like real people!
let's start with a role call:

Jay-owner/operator
Brian-bartender/allround nice guy
Mandee-bartendrette/in-house promoter/in-house photographer
Sean-barrista/in-house promoter
Dino-bartender/brewing enthusiast
Eric-web designer
Mike-sound engineer
Pat-sound engineer
and Chris, the master.


The future is always bright here at the heirloom, and uncertain, kinda like
an oncoming car on a dark and stormy night. But we have several
improvements for the coming months, including the return of the ART GALLERY.
Hold yer breath til then.


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For those bands or promoters who wish to utilize our in house photographer. Please contact her via her myspace account.
www.myspace.com/mandeepphotography