From Queen Marie's Visit to Modern-Day Broadway Hits: Unraveling the Legacy of Starlight Theatre

Did you know that Starlight Theatre’s history dates all the way back to 1925, when Romania’s Queen Marie paid a visit to Kansas City? To celebrate her arrival, the Kansas City Federation of Music organized a showcase of local talent for the Queen that was also open to the public.

The profits from the showcase were put into the city trust, which led to proposals for the location of Kansas City’s outdoor theatre. After years of discussions, the need for a venue to house celebrations commemorating Kansas City’s 100th birthday sped up the process. A committee was quickly chosen, Swope Park was deemed the location, and construction began in December 1949.

On June 4, 1950, in a facility not yet fully complete, the historical revue, Thrills of a Century, opened at Starlight Theatre in celebration of Kansas City’s 100th birthday. Hundreds of local citizens participated in the pageant, and thousands turned out each night. Show highlights included the staging of the Battle of Westport, and the original locomotive that crossed the Hannibal Bridge 81 years before chugging across the stage on specially built rails.

Throughout the years, Starlight Theatre has seen many changes and upgrades, such as Jerry Lewis paying for a stage extension that covered the orchestra pit in 1958, and the building of the 10-story Jeannette and Jerome Cohen Community Stage in 2000, making it one of the largest roadhouses in the country.

To provide entertainment year-round to current patrons and new audiences, Starlight created a live indoor theatre series called Starlight Indoors that premiered in 2015. Featuring small comedies, musicals, parodies and other unconventional shows, Starlight Indoors is presented inside the heated performance space of Starlight’s Cohen Community Stage House.

With its rich history and impressive upgrades, it's no wonder that Starlight Theatre is one of two self-producing outdoor theatres in the U.S. and continues to bring more recent and contemporary Broadway musicals to Kansas City.

➡️ What are your favorite memories from Starlight? Who were you with and what did you see?