"In 1936, the dusty desert town's Plaza Theatre staged its grand opening with the premiere of George Cukor's romantic tragedy "Camille," starring Greta Garbo at the height of her powers. Spotlights beamed into the night sky, a red carpet lined the entrance to the 800-seat Spanish Colonial Revival theater and flashbulbs burst on famous faces, including Frank Capra, Robert Taylor, Barbara Stanwyck, Tyrone Power and Shirley Temple."
"The splashy affair helped cement the reputation of the burgeoning community of about 1,000 full-time residents as a vacation retreat for Hollywood's movers and shakers. Over the next 90 years, Palm Springs grew to become a world-famous resort town, with a population of around 45,000 that can swell to nearly twice that number with seasonal visitors, especially during its mild winters."
""This is not a remodel," said J.R. Roberts, president of the Palm Springs Plaza Theatre Foundation, which spearheaded the effort. "If we walked in here in 1936, this is exactly what it looked like, down to every color, every detail, every light." The only two aesthetic exceptions are an LED screen behind the stage and the theater seats, which were white leather and are now plush red."
The Plaza Theatre opened in 1936 with a glamorous premiere that established Palm Springs as a Hollywood vacation retreat. Over nine decades the town expanded from about 1,000 to roughly 45,000 year-round residents, swelling with seasonal visitors during mild winters. The theater served as an entertainment hub but was shuttered in 2014 and remained vacant until a revitalization campaign began in 2019. After a $34-million renovation the venue reopened on Dec. 1 with a concert by Cynthia Erivo and the Palm Springs Pops Orchestra. The restoration faithfully recreated 1936 aesthetics, with only an LED screen and new plush red seats as exceptions.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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