The STAGE DOOR CANTEEN provided American servicemen stationed or passing through Cleveland during WORLD WAR II with refreshment, entertainment, and hospitality on PLAYHOUSE SQUARE. It was modeled on the original Stage Door Canteen, which opened on 2 March 1942 in New York under the auspices of the American Theatre Wing, Broadway’s effort to boost morale on the home front. Cleveland’s was one of eight others located in transportation centers from Boston to San Francisco. It was organized locally by Helen Burnett, a steward at the HOLLENDEN HOTEL, and her husband Nikki Burnett, a radio announcer at WHK. They found quarters on the second floor of the Loew’s Building in Playhouse Square, a space above the STATE THEATRE and OHIO THEATRE lobbies formerly occupied by a night club. They secured furnishings, kitchen fixtures, and a jukebox and piano from local diners and stocked the kitchen by sponsoring a Package Party with an admission charge of canned or packaged food. Junior hostesses to serve as greeters, conversationalists, and dancing partners were recruited from area colleges and theater groups. Women from service organizations such as the JUNIOR LEAGUE OF CLEVELAND volunteered to run the kitchen and serve as chaperones.
Cleveland’s canteen opened on 14 January 1943. Celebrity guests included Broadway producer Brock Pemberton on behalf of the American Theatre Wing and actress Dorothy McGuire, who was appearing that week at the HANNA THEATRE. Guests and performers during the following 33 months included Lena Horne, Count Basie, Guy Lombardo, Martha Raye, Perry Como, Stan Kenton, and Frank Sinatra. One of the canteen’s most memorable nights came with an appearance by its honorary chairman, former Clevelander Bob Hope. He brought the cast off his radio show with him, and a reported 2,000 servicemen stretched the confines of the Loew’s Building to see them. Local entertainers paid regular visits, notably from the neighboring PALACE THEATRE and the Alpine Village nightclub. An especially appropriate gig came from a dance band composed of employees of the Jack & Heintz (see LEAR SIEGLER, INC.) war plant.
Celebrities aside, the main attraction of the canteen was the chance to dance with the junior hostesses. There were strict rules against girls giving service guests their last names, addresses, or telephone numbers (though it was said that romances nonetheless managed to find their way). They were also cautioned to avoid talk of the war, evidently for fear of eliciting information that might reach enemy ears. Canteen hours generally ran from 6 to 12 P.M. While senior hostesses handled most of the cooking, businessmen and professionals dropped in after work to bus tables and handle the heavy lifting. Wounded and recovering veterans were bussed in from the Army’s CRILE HOSPITAL in PARMA. Additional funds were raised through special events such as a CLEVELAND BARONS benefit hockey game and a Bob Hope appearance at the Palace. Civilians were invited to sit in at an “Angels Table” for contributions of $25 apiece..
After serving 100 tons of food to 175,000 servicemen, Playhouse Square’s Stage Door Canteen closed its doors on 26 October 1945, two months after V-J Day. Its Loew’s Building space was later occupied by a dance studio and is now (2024) the RJF President’s Club, a retreat for Playhouse Square donors.
John Vacha
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Dorothy Renker, “Canteen was full of laughter, warmth, help,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, Oct. 26, 1995, 5-E.
John Vacha, Playhouse Square and the Cleveland Renaissance (Kent, Ohio: The Kent State University Press, 2024).