Folly Theater
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Standard Theatre (Folly Theater)
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The Folly Theater in 1973 as a burlesque house
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| Location | 300 W. 12th St., Kansas City, Missouri |
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| Coordinates | 39°6′7″N 94°35′13″W / 39.10194°N 94.58694°WCoordinates: 39°6′7″N 94°35′13″W / 39.10194°N 94.58694°W |
| Built | 1900 |
| Architect | Louis S. Curtiss |
| NRHP Reference # | 74001074 |
| Added to NRHP | June 05, 1974 |
The Standard Theatre, now known as the Folly Theater and also known as the Century Theater and Shubert's Missouri, is a former vaudeville hall in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Built in 1900, it was designed by Kansas City architect Louis S. Curtiss. The theater was associated with the adjoining Edward Hotel (known later as the Hotel Missouri), which was also designed by Curtiss; the hotel was demolished in 1965.
The Standard Theatre opened with 2,400 seats on September 23, 1900, featuring burlesque and vaudeville. It was built by Colonel Edward Butler of St. Louis, Missouri, at a cost of $250,000, for his son to present shows on the Empire vaudeville circuit. In 1901, a fire at the nearby Coates Opera House caused opera and comic opera performances to be moved to the Standard, featuring such performers as Sarah Bernhardt, Richard Mansfield, and Maude Adams. The theater's name changed to the "Century" in 1902. The Century featured acts from the Empire burlesque circuit, including Al Jolson, Fannie Brice, and Eddie Foy. In addition to theater acts, the Century featured prizefighting and wrestling, with appearances by Jack Johnson and Jack Dempsey. Johnson stayed in the manager's apartment, as hotels refused to rent him a room.
The Shubert brothers bought the Century in 1923 and renamed it "Shubert's Missouri" after extensive renovations by Shubert architect Herbert J. Krapp. The Shuberts booked dramatic productions including Shakespeare and O'Neill plays. The Marx Brothers performed I'll Say She Is for three weeks in 1923-24, the long run convincing the Shuberts to continue operating the theater. After 1928, business began falling off and the theater was used for touring shows on an intermittent basis until it closed in 1932. After a tax sale it eventually reopened in 1941 as "The Folly", featuring striptease. Performers included Gypsy Rose Lee and Tempest Storm, and before the Folly closed in January 1974, Chesty Gabor. The theater began showing "adult" movies in 1969, apparently prompting an unknown person to plant a dynamite stick in a drainpipe on December 29, 1969.
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