It has an arched tile ceiling visitors describe as a canopy of gold. Its 78-rank Aeolian-Skinner concert organ has over 4,000 pipes, some of which are 30 feet tall. The floor is made from polished Italian lava rock, the walls and arches from four types of marble.

 

One of the great cathedrals of Europe? Guess again. You’re in the Hershey Theatre.

 

Along with the Hersheypark Arena, the Hotel Hershey, and the Hershey Stadium, the Hershey Theatre is one of the Hershey landmarks created during Milton Hershey’s Depression-era “Great Building Campaign,” during which the world-famous confectioner and entrepreneur made great strides in providing local employment, developing the town of Hershey and increasing local pride.

 

The Hershey Theatre is one of Hershey’s great attractions, combining as it does the grandeur of old-time Hershey with the modern appeal of popular culture. It has been a cross-section of the arts, both classical and populist.

 

Consider: Over the years, the Hershey Theatre has played host to a variety of traveling Broadway shows, popular musicians and stand-up comedians. But international orchestras and ballet companies have also graced its stage. What’s more, the Hershey Theatre is more than a theatre; it’s also a classic cinema, regularly showing such immortal films as “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “From Here to Eternity” and “Chocolat.” Before the films, the Hershey Theatre’s house organist treats viewers to half an hour or more of music.

 

Milton Hershey conceived of the Hershey Theatre in the late 1920s as a way to bring the great performers and performances of the world to Hershey. By 1933, following the work of nearly 600 craftsmen, artisans and other skilled workers, the Hershey Theatre was complete (giving the young city another claim to legitimacy, along with the newly-minted Hershey Bears). With 1.904 seats and a 75-by-44-foot stage, the Hershey Theatre was truly a world-class facility.

 

As a work of architecture, the Hershey Theatre is something to behold. Much of its construction mimics or otherwise pays homage to St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice, from its arched tile ceiling, which was patterned after St. Mark’s, to the main level of the auditorium, whose walls resemble those of a Byzantine-era castle, to the stage curtain, which bears a watercolor likeness of Venice itself.

 

Because it was dedicated when the city was only 30 years old, the Hershey Theatre is as important and integral a part of Hershey as its namesake chocolate. Throughout the 20th Century, the Hershey Theatre has been an emblem of its hometown, bringing Hershey to the world and the world to Hershey.