Plaza Theatre

Plaza Theatre or Plaza Theater may refer to:

Plaza Theatre (Palm Springs)

The Plaza Theatre is a historic theater located at 128 South Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs, California. From 1990 through 2014 the theatre housed The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies which was featured on ABC's 20/20, The Today Show, the New York Times, NPR and other media since its founding.

History

It was December 12, 1936 that the historic Plaza Theatre opened with the Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor premiere Camille. The theatre's owner at the time, Earle C. Strebe, sold the very first ticket to Annette Freeman.

In the early days of Palm Springs began the "Desert Circus" for which an annual show was staged by Melba Bennett called the "Village Insanities". Originally performed on the grounds of the Desert Inn, the "Insanities" would later perform at the Plaza Theatre under the name of the Village Vanities during the 1940s.

The Plaza Theatre remained active for many years, finally becoming dormant in 1989. It was at this time that television producer Riff Markowitz (The Hitchhiker), decided to renovate the cinema and create a "Broadway-caliber celebration of the music, dance, and comedy of the 30's, 40's, and 50's with a cast old enough to have lived it!".

Plaza Theater (Tucson)

The Plaza Theater was the crowning jewel of 1920s development on West Congress Street in Tucson and the only indoor Spanish language theater in Southern Arizona. The theater was designed by renowned local Tucson architect Roy Place in 1930 for A. Kaufman a local commercial developer and pioneer merchant and leased to Los Angeles theater operator Joe Gross. Kaufman declared the night before opening that he;

Built on the corner of West Congress and Plaza Streets (later Court Street) the exterior was constructed in a Spanish Revival style with cast ornamental details framing the upper windows and red clay barrel roof tiles. The ground floor included two commercial storefronts. By the 1940s the original marquee had been enlarged and the lower level window and door configuration changed. The decorative cast terracotta Spanish revival details and original neon sign remained intact.

The interior decorations were described at the time of opening as "being typical of the old southwest motif. The auditorium will have seating capacity of 650 and will be modern in every respect with ample heating, ventilating and cooling systems. Acoustic plastering will be used throughout and is designed along the most modern methods for the projection of sound pictures." When constructed the building had a state-of-the-art RCA projector and sound equipment, "the walls lined with a highly absorbent material to insure perfect acoustics."