Princess Theatre

The Princess Theatre may refer to:

See also

Princess Theatre, New York City

The Princess Theatre was a joint venture between the Shubert Brothers (Lee Shubert, Samuel S. Shubert, and Jacob J. Shubert), producer Ray Comstock, theatrical agent Elisabeth Marbury and actor-director Holbrook Blinn. Built on a narrow slice of land located at 104-106 West 39th Street, just off Sixth Avenue in New York City, and seating just 299 people, it was one of the smallest Broadway theatres when it opened in early 1913. The architect was William A. Swasey, who designed the Winter Garden Theatre two years earlier.

Though small, the theatre had a profound effect on the development of American musical theatre. After producing a series of plays, the theatre hosted a famous series of sophisticated musicals by the team of Jerome Kern, Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, between 1915 and 1918 that were believable and humorous, musically innovative, and integrated their songs with their stories. These were considered an artistic step forward for American musical theatre, inspiring the next generation of writers and composers. Afterwards, the theatre hosted more plays and later served as a movie theatre and a recreation center. It was torn down in 1955.

Princess Theatre (Edmonton)

The Princess Theatre is a two-screen art-house cinema located at 10337 Whyte Avenue in Edmonton’s historic Old Strathcona neighbourhood. The building was designed by prominent Edmonton architects Wilson and Herrald, a firm responsible for the design of many other Edmonton heritage sites. It became Edmonton's oldest surviving theatre after the demolition of the Gem Theatre in 2006. The building currently houses the main 400-seat theatre as well as the 100-seat Princess II, located in the basement.

It was originally known as the McKernan Block, after John W. McKernan, the building's original financier, owner, and manager. McKernan was already a recognized theatre operator having previously run two other south side theatres before the Princess: the south side Gem and the South Side Bijou. Only the Princess was to survive the collapse of Strathcona’s building boom in 1913.

The building and the theatre within has changed ownership several times, and its fortunes have largely depended on the current state of the Canadian theatre industry. It spent a dozen years as a retail space from 1958–1970, and six years from 1970-1976 mainly exhibiting mainstream pornographic films. The Princess was operated successfully as a repertory theatre from 1978 to late 1996, after which it became a first run theatre. Until 2016, the Princess was operated as a first run theatre by Edmonton’s native Magic Lantern Theatres. From January of 2016 the Cinema is being operated by Plaza Entertainment.