The Empire Theater is a 1950s-themed performance arts theater at Six Flags St. Louis, located in the Studio Backlot. It is located between Batman: The Ride and The Joker Inc., and is home to various productions during the summer season as well as Fright Fest and Holiday in the Park.
The Empire Theater has gone through many changes over the years. The building was one of the original performance theaters at what was then known as Six Flags over Mid-America. The theater was designed and built specifically for puppet shows by famed puppeteers Sid and Marty Krofft. The theater was Krofft's Puppet Theater in 1971, and was in what was then the USA section of the park.
Once the Krofft puppet shows were discontinued in the late 1970s, the building was renamed the Americana Play House, which was its name for several years. The Americana Playhouse continued to feature large scale puppet shows produced by companies such as Comart Aniforms, Paul Osborne Productions, and John Hardman Productions, until it became the Olympic Theater in 1984, the same year as the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. This only lasted one year as in 1985 the theater was renamed the Looney Tunes Theater, and later revised to the Bugs Bunny Theater in 1987. With the USA section's slight retheme to USA/Movietown in 1994, the theater was given its current name, the Empire Theater. This name change carried in a new 1950's theme, which carried through USA/Movietown's transformation into Time Warner Studios, which later became Warner Bros. Backot, and is now known as just Studio Backlot.
History[]
From the park's opening in 1971, the USA section included the Krofft's Puppet Theater, which included puppet shows produced by the legendary puppeteering team, Sid and Marty Krofft.
After the Krofft puppet shows were discontinued in the 1970's, the Krofft's Puppet Theater was rethemed ans also renamed Americana Playhouse. The theater continued to feature puppet shows through 1982. In 1983 or 1984 the building was renamed the Olympic Theater, tying it in more with the USA theme.
When USA/Movietown was reincorporated into Time Warner Studios, the Olympic Theater was given a new facade, becoming the Empire Theater.
Shows[]
Summer[]
- Razzmatazz (1974)
- Footlight Frolics (1975)
- Circus Big Top Revue (1977, Comart Aniforms)
- Showtime U.S.A. (???, Comart Aniforms)
- Star Gazers (1979, Paul Osborne Productions)
- Don't Touch That Dial (1980, Paul Osborne Productions)
- World on a String (1981–1982, John Hardman Productions)
- Spirit of the Olympics (1983–1984, FM Productions)
- The Bugs Bunny Story (1985–1986, GP Show Productions)
- Bugs Bunny, Goin' Hollywood (1987–1988, GP Show Productions)
- Police Academy Live Action Comedy (1994–1995)
- Hollywood Animal Action Show[1] (1999-2000)
- Bugs Bunny and Friends Goin' Hollywood[2] (2003)
- Looney Tunes: We Got the Beat! (2004–2005, 2015–2016)
- Bugs Bunny and Friends (2006)
- Daffy Duck Dance Off (2017)
- SoundFX (2019)
Fright Fest[]
- Main article: Six Flags St. Louis Fright Fest
- VooDoo Comedy Hypnosis Show (2015)
- Steve Daly's Dreamz Comedy Hypnosis Show (2016)
- Reality? (2017–2019)
- Reality? After Dark (2018)
Holiday in the Park[]
- Main article: Holiday in the Park
- The Tinseltones (2016–2019)
References[]
- ↑ Shows and Attractions at Six Flags St. Louis. Six Flags St. Louis (1999). Archived from the original on October 18, 1999.
- ↑ Shows. Six Flags St. Louis (2003). Archived from the original on April 4, 2003.
