The Plaza Live

The Plaza Live

The Plaza Theater
The Plaza Live located in Orlando, Florida
Address	425 North Bumby Avenue Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Owner	Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra
Type	Live Music Venue
Capacity	Large Room: 937 Seated, 1355 Standing
Opened	1963
Years active	54 years
Website
http://www.plazaliveorlando.com/

The Plaza Live is one of Orlando, Florida's oldest theaters. It was transformed from a cinema, to a theatre space, and finally a music venue. Having established a strong grass-roots following by doing many lower profile, local shows and events, the theater eventually started bringing in larger, national acts. The Plaza Live is home to two music halls: the main hall, and a second room for smaller shows.

Dubbed the Rocking Chair Theatre by locals, The Plaza Live was Orlando's first two screen movie theatre. From the 60's up until the early 90's, the theater, small by today's standards, stayed active in a competitive market with declining ticket sales by showing second-run movies and the long running cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In 1992, the theater became The Dove Family Entertainment Theatre and changed format, performing only Christian-themed shows. Clearwater-based Salthouse Group purchased the 39-year-old venue in September 2002 for $1.7 million. In 2012 The Plaza removed the old rocking chairs and became a flex seating venue in the summer of 2010 so it could accommodate for standing room or fully seated shows.

In August 2013, the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra purchased The Plaza Live building, contents and the business for $3.4 million. The Philharmonic is currently planning extensive renovations to the historic building to create office space, a rehearsal hall and a music library, and update the existing 1000-seat music hall to accommodate chamber music concerts, while maintaining a schedule of rock, jazz, comedy and contemporary music events. The Plaza Live will continue to operate as one of Florida’s premier concert venues during and after the renovations. This will give the Orlando Philharmonic a permanent home.

On June 10, 2016, singer Christina Grimmie, known from YouTube and as a contestant on NBC's The Voice, was shot four times inside the venue after her concert there while signing autographs, and died from her injuries and blood loss at the Orlando Regional Medical Center the following morning. Her killer, identified by the Orlando Police Department as 27-year-old Kevin James Loibl from St. Petersburg, Florida, traveled from his hometown bringing two handguns, two loaded magazines, and a large hunting knife into the venue. Loibl was later tackled by Christina's brother and shortly after, Loibl fatally shot himself. According to Orlando police, the bags of the attendees were checked, but there were no metal detectors at the venue, nor were the attendees frisked.