The Fitzgerald
Theater is Saint Paul's oldest surviving theater space. It opened in 1910 and
was originally named the Sam S. Shubert Theater; it was one of four memorial
theaters erected by entertainment-industry leaders Lee and J. J. Shubert after
the death of their brother Sam. In 1933, it became a movie house screening
foreign films and was thus christened the World Theater.
Minnesota
Public Radio purchased the theater in 1980 and restored it in 1986 for their
live radio program, A Prairie Home Companion® with Garrison Keillor. The
theater was again renamed in 1994, this time for author F. Scott Fitzgerald, a
native of Saint Paul. Over the years, the Fitzgerald's stage has played host to
Broadway musicals, vaudeville shows, film festivals, and concerts of all sorts.
When the
Fitzgerald first opened, as the Sam S. Shubert Theater, it was hailed as one of
the most beautiful theaters of its day. It was constructed of concrete and
steel with a sandstone facade, complete with 16 dressing rooms, a stage that
could be raised or lowered by two feet, a built in vacuum-cleaning system and
nearly 2,000 electric lights.
The
Fitzgerald Theatre seats 996 and is one of those treasures of theater
construction known as a "two-balcony dramatic house," of which only a
few remain across the country. The physical arrangement of its interior affords
near-perfect acoustics and sight-lines. Audiences are provided a unique sense
of intimacy as no seat is farther than 87 feet from the stage.
The lobby
opens to a beautiful Beaux Arts interior with red plush seats that are of a hue
found only in elegant theaters of the same era. Eight opera boxes curve gently
toward the stage, each backed by a privacy curtain made from the same burgundy
velour used to make the stage curtain.
The
proscenium rises 30 feet and measures 36 feet from edge to edge - its arch,
like the opera boxes, is finished with ornate plasterwork and glittering gold
leaf. The stage floor, constructed with the resilience essential to dance
performances, measures 35 feet from proscenium arch to back wall. A fixed
orchestra pit is located 8 feet below stage level. In addition, an orchestra
pit filler is available which will increase seating to 1028.
From the
stage, an actor can see the pipes of the theater's own Mighty Wurlitzer, a
three-manual, 21-rank organ that was originally installed in 1926 in the Texas
Theater in San Antonio - it was brought to the Fitzgerald with the 1986
renovation.
Fitzgerald Theatre is one of the Twin Cities' nicest theaters,
with admirable acoustics and three tiers of seating plus a collection of opera
boxes, all relatively close to the stage. The theater's many assets make it
popular with touring acts that could probably sell out much larger venues.
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