Plaza Theater
4700-08 Wyandotte Street,
Kansas City,
MO
64112
4700-08 Wyandotte Street,
Kansas City,
MO
64112
11 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 43 of 43 comments
The manager from 1979 was arrested in a sting operation for re-selling tickets around 1981 and he had been there quite a long time. I won’t name names but I doubt it was any poster in here since that manager was quite old back then. The plaza theater was a Mann Theater before it became part of the Dickinson chain. Other interesting facts about this theater was that it had tunnels that ran underneath the theater and it also housed upstairs dressing rooms on the south side that were accessed by stairs behind the stage. The stage itself was quite large and remnants of the pulleys and stage props existed at least into the late 70s.
The flood that the entire Plaza experienced in 1977 also affected the theater to some degree. About 2 feet of water was in the lobby and the entire basement was flooded. Through the foyer were steps up to the second theater (the old balcony) but underneath the foyer were steps leading down to the restrooms so there were some areas that patrons used which were completely underwater but not destroyed by the flood.
The Plaza was one of the last theaters around to use carbon arcs in the projectors. I believe they still used those in the upstairs projectors until the early 80s.
Steve Martin visited this theater unannounced when the movie the Jerk was playing.
I seem to remember the downstairs as having around 960 seats. I believe the last sell out for the larger theater was the Goodbye Girl on opening week-end,
It was not only the multiplexes that buried this theater but the change in business model away from exclusive rights to a movie for just one theater in all of the kc area. Once you had movie openings in multiple locations, sell outs in the larger theaters like the Plaza or the Glenwood were gone.
That picture from 1979 was when I managed that place. I couldn’t say for certain, but I can’t imagine that theatre having 1950. Those seats seemed to have been there forever and i’m thinking it was like 1650 between the 2 auditoriums and when they built the downstairs projections booth, they only lost like 100 seats.
Saw “White Witch Doctor” here in the summer of 1953. A memorably beautiful theater. – Ed Blank
Here’s a picture from 1997. From the book The Plaza First And Always by William S. Worley.
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According to the 1936 Americal Film review annual, the Plaza had 1,950 seats.
There is a boring multi-plex on the Plaza now.
Restoration Hardware occupies the site. If you’re not familiar with it, they sell home decorating items, not screwdrivers or saws.
Here’s a picture of the marquee from 1979. From the book Great American Movie Theaters by David Naylor.
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Edward Tanner was employed by the Boller Brothers before he left to work for the J.C. Nichols Development Company, which built the Plaza Theater, and the Country Club Plaza District where the Plaza Theater is located. Tanner was working for J.C. Nichols as lead architect of the Plaza Theater, but the Boller Brothers were contributing designers.
I visited the theater recently and visited with Restoration Hardware employees. The only plaster damage that happend during renovation was the removal of the stairs to the balconey and removal of the fountain. However, if restoration is to happen at somepoint in the future, the stairs were nearly identical to the ones in the Granadas of both KC and Emporia. I could not gain access to the auditorium and had to take their word for it that they had not further altered the auditorium. From a visit previously when it was still a theater, I talked to the theater management. They said that when the balcony was partitioned that the plasterwork was preserved and just enclosed in the walls that were constructed and that restoratioin at a future date would be fairly easily done.
Restoration Hardware completely renovated the space. Nothing of the interior of the theater remains. But, Dickinson had butchered it in the ensuing years anyway. The Palace was not open at the same time as the Plaza, so it wasn’t directly responsible for its demise, by the way.
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That’s a great photo of the Plaza Theater Charles. Do any interior remnants remain of the theater auditorium? Did Restoration Hardware renovate/destroy the auditorium space, or does it only occupy what was the old Spanish courtyard portion and lobby space?
From the way I read it, the article is from the Kansas City PUBLIC Library. It is not the thetre web site. Paul Salley is a theatre historian. It might have been his article that is in the KC Public Library. It seems the only epidemic going on is your abuse of others postings. From the postings that I have read of yours we need not worry about your intellectual properties. I have not found one theatre that you have posted to this web site, just condemnatiuon of what others have posted.
Another plagiarist amongst us. The description above is word for word from the theatre website. There appears to be an epidemic going on here. Have you not heard of intellectual property.
New link for website mentioned above. View link
Yes, the Boller Brothers was the firm of record responsible for the design of the Plaza Theater.
Tour of Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas Theatres in 2004
From June 26 through July 1, 2004 the Theatre Historical Society of America will tour a number of theatres in Kansas City Missouri and surrounding areas, including theatres in Lamar, Joplin, Richmond, St. Joseph and Springfield, MO, as well as Miami, OK, and these cities in Kansas: Leavenworth, Kansas City, Emporia, El Dorado, Augusta, Wichita, Hutchinson, McPherson, Salina, Concordia, and Topeka. More information is contained on their web site: http://www.HistoricTheatres.org and special photos and information concerning the Kansas City theatres: UPTOWN and the MIDLAND is available on this temporary page of their site at: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~angell/thsa/fromarch.html A glossy brochure about this “Heart of America” Conclave is available from the Society’s headquarters listed on their homepage, via E-mail to the Ex. Director, or via snail mail. Membership in the Society is not required to attend the Conclave and tour the theatres, but fees do apply as detailed on their site. Bring your camera and lots of film, for it is usually difficult or impossible to enter these theatres for photos, and some of them will surely not be with us in the years to come.