Even in decay, RKO Proctor’s Theatre was magnificent. The skeletal framework of the proscenium arch loomed over the stage, the two steep balcony levels seemed impossibly high, and scraps of gorgeously painted plaster still clung to the ceiling and walls. For as tall and impressive as this theater was, there was yet another, smaller 1,400-seat theater perched on top of it, empty and silent for half a century. When I had asked author, photographer, and theater historian Matt Lambros on a scale of one to ten, how hard it would…
