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Sombrero Playhouse
The Sombrero Playhouse was a regional theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. It was built in March 1949, the first legitimate professional theater in Phoenix, though the city did have a long tradition of Little Theater. Major Broadway and Hollywood stars of the time performed on stage at the Sombrero, including Katharine Cornell, Helen Hayes, Kirk Douglas, Milton Berle, Billie Burke, Burgess Meredith, Walter Pidgeon, Tom Drake, Vincent Price, and Mary Astor. Despite its limited capacity, it was one of the most widely-known regional theaters in the Western United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. It presented recent Broadway hits (sometimes while they were still playing there), revivals, and on several occasions original productions that then went on national tour.
After 20 seasons of presenting plays, the Sombrero "went dark" after the 1968 season, became an art film house in 1976, before being sold and demolished in 1982.
William W. Merrill and Richard Charlton formed a partnership in June 1948 to explore the possibility of a theater in Phoenix. Merrill owned the summer stock Will-o-Way Playhouse in Birmingham, Michigan, while Charlton operated the Music Hall in Detroit. Charlton met Ann Lee at Sardi's in October 1948, where they discussed the idea of "winter stock" theater in the Southwest. She was a Texas-born Broadway actress who had founded a summer stock venue in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Merrill purchased property at 3535 East MacDowell Road in Phoenix, which held a barn that could be converted to a rustic theater. The new venue would be called Sombrero Playhouse, since it would be a western version of a "straw hat" (summer stock) theater. However, Merill lacked the funds to proceed with development.
Charlton and Lee took a long-term lease for an empty two-acre lot on Seventh Street near Camelback Road, on which a new theater would be built. He and Ann Lee formed a corporation with local notables as officers to fund the project, while he and Lee would be co-producers. Charlton went to Hollywood to recruit name talent for the opening season, while Lee persuaded the Phoenix City Council to clear scrub vegetation from the lot at no charge using city jail inmates as labor. The property actually lay outside the then city limits, but as a reporter covering the council noted, when Lee smiled none of the councilmen said "No". Ground-breaking at 4747 North Seventh Street for the $100,000 building began February 22, 1949, with the building completed in late March.
Merrill filed an injunction with Maricopa Superior Court to stop the use of the name "Sombrero Playhouse", which he had registered with the state in February 1949. Charlton countered with his own suit asking to dissolve his partnership with Merrill and for an accounting of the remaining assets. The name stayed on the theatre, which had its opening on March 29, 1949, with a performance of Born Yesterday, starring William Bendix, Audrey Totter, and Whit Bissell.
The Sombrero's season ran from January through March. The first three seasons, plays opened on Tuesdays and closed Sundays, generally with Wednesday and Saturday afternoon matinees, for a one-week run of eight performances. Beginning with the fourth season (1953), opening night was switched to Mondays, with Saturday night the closer. This lasted two seasons then reverted to the original Tuesday thru Sunday scheme for the remainder of its performing seasons.
The first season, originally advertised as 12 weeks, was revised to five weeks due to the theater's construction, then cut to four weeks. For subsequent years, the Sombrero's season usually ran for ten weeks, with a limited engagement of one week per production. This was part of the appeal for Hollywood stars, who wanted the cachet of a stage credit but didn't want to commit to an open-ended run. Seasons in the 1950s would sometimes be extended with bonus programs.
Charlton formed American Productions Inc. to provide casts and plays for the Sombrero Playhouse Corporation. Ann Lee left the Sombrero before the 1957 season to resume acting full-time. Charlton then brought in associate producers to share production tasks. Directors, set designers and other technical crew were recruited seasonally, generally from outside Arizona since the state then had few opportunities for those crafts.
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Sombrero Playhouse
The Sombrero Playhouse was a regional theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. It was built in March 1949, the first legitimate professional theater in Phoenix, though the city did have a long tradition of Little Theater. Major Broadway and Hollywood stars of the time performed on stage at the Sombrero, including Katharine Cornell, Helen Hayes, Kirk Douglas, Milton Berle, Billie Burke, Burgess Meredith, Walter Pidgeon, Tom Drake, Vincent Price, and Mary Astor. Despite its limited capacity, it was one of the most widely-known regional theaters in the Western United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. It presented recent Broadway hits (sometimes while they were still playing there), revivals, and on several occasions original productions that then went on national tour.
After 20 seasons of presenting plays, the Sombrero "went dark" after the 1968 season, became an art film house in 1976, before being sold and demolished in 1982.
William W. Merrill and Richard Charlton formed a partnership in June 1948 to explore the possibility of a theater in Phoenix. Merrill owned the summer stock Will-o-Way Playhouse in Birmingham, Michigan, while Charlton operated the Music Hall in Detroit. Charlton met Ann Lee at Sardi's in October 1948, where they discussed the idea of "winter stock" theater in the Southwest. She was a Texas-born Broadway actress who had founded a summer stock venue in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Merrill purchased property at 3535 East MacDowell Road in Phoenix, which held a barn that could be converted to a rustic theater. The new venue would be called Sombrero Playhouse, since it would be a western version of a "straw hat" (summer stock) theater. However, Merill lacked the funds to proceed with development.
Charlton and Lee took a long-term lease for an empty two-acre lot on Seventh Street near Camelback Road, on which a new theater would be built. He and Ann Lee formed a corporation with local notables as officers to fund the project, while he and Lee would be co-producers. Charlton went to Hollywood to recruit name talent for the opening season, while Lee persuaded the Phoenix City Council to clear scrub vegetation from the lot at no charge using city jail inmates as labor. The property actually lay outside the then city limits, but as a reporter covering the council noted, when Lee smiled none of the councilmen said "No". Ground-breaking at 4747 North Seventh Street for the $100,000 building began February 22, 1949, with the building completed in late March.
Merrill filed an injunction with Maricopa Superior Court to stop the use of the name "Sombrero Playhouse", which he had registered with the state in February 1949. Charlton countered with his own suit asking to dissolve his partnership with Merrill and for an accounting of the remaining assets. The name stayed on the theatre, which had its opening on March 29, 1949, with a performance of Born Yesterday, starring William Bendix, Audrey Totter, and Whit Bissell.
The Sombrero's season ran from January through March. The first three seasons, plays opened on Tuesdays and closed Sundays, generally with Wednesday and Saturday afternoon matinees, for a one-week run of eight performances. Beginning with the fourth season (1953), opening night was switched to Mondays, with Saturday night the closer. This lasted two seasons then reverted to the original Tuesday thru Sunday scheme for the remainder of its performing seasons.
The first season, originally advertised as 12 weeks, was revised to five weeks due to the theater's construction, then cut to four weeks. For subsequent years, the Sombrero's season usually ran for ten weeks, with a limited engagement of one week per production. This was part of the appeal for Hollywood stars, who wanted the cachet of a stage credit but didn't want to commit to an open-ended run. Seasons in the 1950s would sometimes be extended with bonus programs.
Charlton formed American Productions Inc. to provide casts and plays for the Sombrero Playhouse Corporation. Ann Lee left the Sombrero before the 1957 season to resume acting full-time. Charlton then brought in associate producers to share production tasks. Directors, set designers and other technical crew were recruited seasonally, generally from outside Arizona since the state then had few opportunities for those crafts.