Posted by CC on September 1st, 2008 4:49 pm
A small army and $350,000 over five years brought life back to the historic Princess Theatre in Mount Ayr, which reopened August 21 with a locally written musical, “Farmer Song.” The building, originally built in 1887 as a department store, was converted to a theater in 1914. The theatre hosted vaudeville, silent movies, and talkies for over 70 years, finally closing in 1985. But Paul Ramsey, an L.A. real estate tycoon who happened to watch movies in the Princess as a boy, bought the property and donated it to the Princess Theater Troupe in 2003. Now that the renovation is finished, the theatre will be home to live plays, concerts, and weekly movies.
To find out more, go to: www.desmoinesregister.com
