The
Pantages Theatre in downtown Minneapolis is named for the Greek immigrant
Alexander Pantages. The Minneapolis location, opened in October 27, 1916 was the
26th theatre of what would eventually be a total of 500 theatres opened
nationwide by Mr. Pantages.
The
Minneapolis Pantages, located at 710 Hennepin Avenue, was designed by Minneapolis architectural firm Kees & Colburn. It was originally conceived as a
twelve-story complex in Beaux Arts style, but was scaled back to a two-story
Art Moderne facade with a Beaux art interior that accommodated 1600 people.
The
building cost approximately $15,000 to construct and was credited as having the
first air-conditioning in Minneapolis. The innovative air-conditioning system involved
cooling the air with ice. Alexander Pantages also created the mezzanine, a
carpeted lobby on the balcony level with restrooms and telephones. The first
show at the Minneapolis Pantages Theatre was a variety lineup that included
singers, comedians, and even a banjo player.
In 1922,
a new glass dome was added high above the auditorium to add dramatic flair to
the theatre. In 1926, The Pantages Theatre's entryway was renovated with a new
facade of St. Cloud red granite.
In 1929, the
Minneapolis Pantages, which had largely been used as a variety show stage, was
sold to the Radio Keith Orpheum (RKO) Corporation. The Corporation discontinued
the theater's live acts in favor of showing talking pictures. In 1946, the
Pantages was purchased by a local promoter, Edmond Ruben, who renamed the
theatre the RKO Pan. Ruben made extensive changes to both the interior and
exterior, devastating much of the original architectural design in the process. His renovation
included decreasing the seating capacity to 1400 and adding bird's-eye maple
woodwork. The grand re-opening happened on April 14, 1946, with a screening of Gilda,
starring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford.
In 1961, Edmond Ruben sold the Pantages with the surrounding Stimson building
to Ted Mann. Mr. Mann owned a number of other theatres in Minneapolis including
the Orpheum, the Academy, the World, the Lyceum, and the Strand. Mann again
renovated the theatre, decreasing the seating capacity to 1100 with red padded
metal rocker seats, and removing Alexander Pantages' famous mezzanine. The Beaux-Arts interior, a
signature element of all Pantages theaters, was also eliminated. The theatre reopened under the
name Mann Theater on March 15, 1961 with the movie Spartacus.
The Mann Theater
remained in operation until 1984, then sat empty until the City of Minneapolis purchased it in 1998. After four years of careful restoration, the Pantages
Theater reopened on November 7, 2002 under the management of the Historic
Theater Group, who operates the Historic State Theater and the Orpheum Theatre,
also located on Hennepin Avenue's revitalized theater district.
In its
final state, the 999 seat Pantages Theater is designed for Off-Broadway shows
and concerts, and is the oldest surviving active example of a Pantages theater
in the United States. The great history of this theatre and its fantastic Hennepin Avenue location makes this venue a hot spot in Minneapolis.
The Pantages Theater serves as very functional little brother to the Orpheum Theater. Some lesser known musical artists prefer to play the Pantages over the Orpheum because of the smaller seating capacity. Pantages has the same majestic Hennepin Avenue theater atmosphere, but just on a smaller scale. Acts like Broken Social Scene contributor Feist, Martin Sexton and Colin Hay have all opted to play the Minneapolis at the Pantages. Pantages even hosted a lone showing of the off-Broadway production of the Lion King, which was mostly an Orpheum staged production. If you have the rare chance to get tickets for an otherwise exclusively Orpheum off-Broadway show at the Pantages, don?t hesitate to visit the star little brother of Hennepin Avenue theaters.
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