Brady Theater
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The Brady Theater is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.A. at the corner of W. Brady Street and N. Boulder Avenue. Built between 1912 and 1914, the Brady Theater was originally designed as a municipal auditorium and convention hall by the architectural firm of Rose and Peterson of Kansas City, Kansas. From 1914 to 1952, the building was known as "Convention Hall." When the facility officially opened, it was billed as the largest hall between Kansas City and Houston, Texas.
In 1930, world-renowned architect Bruce Goff was hired as designer of a major overhaul of the interior. He was given thirty days to plan the transformation of the barn-like space into an elegant showplace suitable for a city that was becoming known as "The Oil Capitol of the World." The Art Deco style remodeling included draperies and seats, vertical wall panels of white plaster decorated with thin gold dividers, gilded air conditioning grilles, and acoustic ceiling tiles painted green, blue, white, and gold. Five massive green and white pendant light fixtures were installed centrally in the auditorium. In 1952, additions were constructed at the front and rear of the original structure. Upper and lower lobbies were added and the building was renamed Tulsa Municipal Theater. The architectural design at the time was referred to as Western Classic Revival. In 1979, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building was supplanted in 1977 as the city's municipal auditorium by construction of the much larger Tulsa Performing Arts Center a few blocks southeast of the Brady's location. Renamed simply the Brady Theater, and affectionately known as "the Old Lady on Brady," it continues to operate as a venue for a wide variety of concerts and theatrical productions.
Notable entertainers of every type have graced its stage through the years - Al Jolson, Isadora Duncan, Ethel Barrymore, Helen Hayes, Benny Goodman, The Marx Brothers, Katharine Hepburn, Peter Frampton, Buddy Holly, Debbie Reynolds, Dave Brubeck, Van Cliburn, Stevie Ray Vaughan, U2, The Pretenders, Frank Zappa, Genesis, The Kinks, Mötley Crüe, and Robin Williams. The building is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of Enrico Caruso, who performed there in 1920, and reportedly caught the cold that led to his death of pleurisy in 1921.
[edit] References
www.bradytheater.com
