Field Notes: The Lincoln Theatre on U Street NW

First Impressions:

• ticket office right out front/ lists of shows
• very old times awning
• lights under it
• vintage
• almost out of place between chili bowl restaurant and phone fix business, h&r block across the street
• construction right off the corner
• mixes of people just walking by it
• doesn’t see action until show time
• can imagine crowds lined up around the block
• feels like a theater in NYC
• busy streets
• clearly advertised social media/website
• old times carvings on top
• metro stop and subway right across

Artifacts:

• ‘LINCOLN’ sign – always been a part of the building (reference old photos)
• awning w/lights
• stone carvings (compared to original building in 1921 – same carvings) – look into their significance? why they kept them after all this time?

Basic Layout:

• box office out front, double doors on either side
• awning/overhang with lampposts on either side (lights underneath)
• big schedule of events in windows as you walk by
• stone carvings/brick face (almost roman looking)
• big sidewalks, metro stop right across the street
• easy access, mildly busy neighborhood
• tan, red, and white (common color theme with buildings in that area)

Feelings:

• really reminds me of a vintage theatre, something out of the 1920s
• seems like it would be found in NYC, broadway, lit up marquee
• brings me back to waiting in line outside of all the concert venues I’ve been to
• super weird to see it during the day, all calm, instead of the night of an event where it’s super populated and loud
• people just walk aimlessly by it, it’s just another part of the community
• thinking about how it must look at night, all lit up with a crowd wrapped around the corner
• it must be weird for some of the neighbors to have such a lively event space so close to them
• feels like the last building of its time in the area, everything else is evolving and being built into some new

Notable:

• spray painted on the side walk: “this is not a sold out crowd”
• right next to it, a sticker that says: “this is not new york”