Providence Performing Arts Center

Weybosset Street was alive with excitement as nearly 14,000 people attended the opening of Loew’s State Movie Palace to see the movie “Excess Baggage” in 1928. The venue prospered for decades but encountered declining attendance and fell into disrepair. The aging structure faced demolition, but was saved in 1978 by seven local corporations and became a private, nonprofit organization, known as the Ocean State Theatre. In 1982, it became the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC). Hundreds of thousands of people visit each year to experience the magic of live performance at “the jewel of Weybosset Street.”