The Plaza Theatre is a historic

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

located at 128 South Palm Canyon Drive in

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. It is an anchor of

La Plaza La Plaza is one of thirteen Parish (administrative division), parishes (administrative divisions) in Teverga, a Municipalities of Spain, municipality within the province and autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Asturias, in no ...

(a.k.a. Palm Springs Plaza), a streetside collection of shops, one of the first planned shopping centers in Southern California, opened in 1936. From 1990 through 2014 the theatre housed

The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies ''The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies'' was a Ziegfeld Follies style dance and musical review show that played at the historic Plaza Theatre in Palm Springs, California, United States, seasonally from November to mid-May. The Follies was founded i ...

which was featured on ABC's '' 20/20'', ''

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'', the ''

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'',

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

and other media since its founding. There is currently a fundraising campaign to raise money to restore the historic building to its former glory and make it a theater that meets theatrical needs for today and tomorrow.

History

It was December 12, 1936 that the historic Plaza Theatre opened with the

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragic ch ...

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''),https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0548737/ , Retrieved on 2008-11-03 decided to renovate the cinema and create a "Broadway-caliber celebration of the music, dance, and comedy of the 30s, 40s, and 50s with a cast old enough to have lived it!".

Follies era

ran late October through May from 1990 to 2014. The Managing Director and MC of the show, Riff Markowitz, is known for his cult classic television series ''

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'' and the HBO TV series ''The Hitchhiker''. Among the theatre's stars were Dorothy Kloss, "the World's Oldest

Showgirl A showgirl is a female dancer or performer in a stage entertainment show intended to showcase the performer's physical attributes, typically by way of revealing clothing, toplessness, or nudity. History Showgirls date back to the late 180 ...

Leonard Crofoot Leonard John Crofoot (born September 20, 1948 in Utica, New York) is an actor, singer, dancer, writer and choreographer. Crofoot has performed extensively on Broadway. His appearances include his Drama-League Critics Award-winning role of "Tom ...

, often remembered for his roles on ''Star Trek The Next Generation'' and ''Star Trek Voyager'', and Markowitz himself. The Plaza Theatre was the subject of a documentary, through the Follies, entitled '' Still Kicking: The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies'', directed by

Mel Damski Melvin Damski (born July 21, 1946 in New York, New York) is an American director and producer of film and television. Life and career Mel Damski (born in New York, New York) is an American film director and film producer. Damski has Northern Eu ...

, which was nominated for an Oscar in 1998. The Follies held their last show in May 2014.

Restoration project

Plans have been in the works to restore and reopen the Plaza Theater for several years. An official campaign, Save The Plaza Theatre, was launched in 2019 but was paused during the initial impacts of the

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pandemic. In October 2021, former ''

Frasier ''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons. It premiered on September 16, 1993, and ended on May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee (as Grub ...

'' producer David Lee announced a $5 million donation to the fund drive. An anonymous donor also contributed an additional $2 million to the project. The Plaza Theatre is owned by the City of Palm Springs and the restoration project is managed by the Palm Springs Plaza Theatre Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization headed by JR Roberts. Restoration of the iconic building will begin when the Foundation achieves its fundraising goal.

References

{{coord, 33.8226, -116.5465, type:landmark, display=title Theatres in California Event venues established in 1936 Buildings and structures in Palm Springs, California Tourist attractions in Palm Springs, California