Ohio Theatre | Playhouse Square

The Ohio Theatre’s opening night, February 14, 1921, revealed one of Playhouse Square’s most elaborate lobbies with a breathtaking frescoed ceiling, stately Corinthian columns and three large murals, all of which would be lost to a devastating lobby fire in 1964 and then ambitiously re-created in 2016. In addition to legitimate theater productions, such musical greats as Sophie Tucker, Benny Goodman and Ozzie Nelson would play the Ohio. The venue also boasted a brief (1935-36) incarnation as the Mayfair Casino, an elegant supper club featuring both a circular lobby bar and a circular performance stage. Today, the intimate Ohio seats 1000.