Tacoma Arts Live

Tacoma Arts Live is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in the historic Theater District (901 Broadway) of downtown Tacoma, Washington. Encompassing the Pantages, Rialto, and Theatre on the Square, Tacoma Arts Live manages the largest complex of theaters between Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon. Additionally, Tacoma Arts Live Conservatory and Education Department provide one of the largest performing arts education programs in Washington state.

Since 1918, Tacoma Arts Live has been host to many famous figures and world-class artists such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Babe Ruth, Ronald Reagan, Hal Holbrook, Debbie Reynolds, Martin Short, Queen Latifah, Joan Rivers, Wanda Sykes and Colleen Ballinger/Miranda Sings.

Theater history

Pantages Theater
The Pantages Theater
Main article: Pantages Theater (Tacoma, Washington)

The block now occupied by the Pantages Theater was once the site of a saloon, Tacoma's first library, and Tacoma's first department store. In 1908, William Jones of Walla Walla bought the block and razed the buildings. Soon after, Greek immigrant Alexander Pantages arrived in the northwest with dreams of owning a chain of beautiful vaudeville theaters across the country. Thanks to financial assistance from his mistress and business partner, "Klondike" Kate Rockwell, Pantages and Jones were able to raise the funds for the combination Jones Building and Pantages Theater, which cost $400,000.

Construction began in 1916, and the new Pantages Theater, the second of the Pantages chain, opened in January 1918. Often regarded as the most beautiful, the Tacoma Pantages was designed by Seattle architect B. Marcus Priteca after an ornate theater in the Palace of Versailles. The Tacoma Pantages served as a live theater for only eight years before being converted to a movie house and being sold to RKO, at which time the name was changed to the Orpheum. In 1932, the theater was purchased by Will Conner of Tacoma and was known as the Roxy until the 1980s when it was renamed the Pantages Theater.

A proposal to restore the Pantages as the cornerstone of a revitalized downtown area led to the restoration beginning in 1978 after the city bought the theater. On February 12, 1983, the Pantages Theater officially reopened, making 2005 its 22nd anniversary season, and its 87th birthday. Today it is the oldest of the Pantages Theaters still in operation.

Rialto Theater
The Rialto Theater
Main article: Rialto Theater (Tacoma, Washington)

Hailed as "the ultimate photoplay house," the Beaux-Arts style Rialto Theater opened September 7, 1918. Tacoma's Rialto was part of a national movie house chain and as such, the stage space, orchestra pit and dressing rooms were at a bare minimum. The lobby was also considerably smaller than what is present today.

These vaudeville-era theater architects concentrated on the auditorium, seeking acoustically successful theaters and concert halls as models for the ones they designed. The Rialto resembles Vienna's 1916 Redoutensaal, the first "shoe box" shaped orchestral hall. The original ornate plaster decorations include replicas of cupids and patriotic eagles, which remain in good shape today.

By the 1990s, when Tacoma and the Broadway Theater District took on the task of restoring the Rialto, it had become a run-down, second-run discount movie house. Today, it is once again an active player in the prosperity of downtown Tacoma.

Theatre on the Square

The third theater, Theatre on the Square, was designed by architects Broome, Oringdulph, O'Toole, Rudolf, Boles and Associates of Portland, Oregon, with Jones & Roberts Company of Lacey overseeing construction.

$11.8 million raised from private and public sectors provided the foundation for a revitalized theater district. Opened in October 1993, the 302-seat theater and a new rehearsal hall sit adjacent to the Pantages.

Theatre on the Square has full production capabilities including a rehearsal room, scene shop, costume shop, and storage areas.

Artists, performers and premieres

1920s

1930s

1940s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

References

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