Qualla: Plaza Theatre (El Paso)

Plaza Theatre (El Paso): Introduction

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Susan Barnum, CC BY-SA 4.0. When theater impresario Louis L. Dent purchased a produce warehouse on Pioneer Plaza in 1927, he made a promise to El Paso: 'El Paso has been good to me, and I am going to put something everybody will be proud of.' Three years later, on September 12, 1930, the Plaza Theatre opened its ornate doors -- a Spanish Colonial Revival masterpiece that would earn the title 'The Showplace of the Southwest.' Nearly a century later, the theater still operates as one of Texas's most spectacular historic venues.

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Image: Susan Barnum | CC BY-SA 4.0

Plaza Theatre (El Paso): A Palace in the Desert

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jonathunder, Public domain. Dallas architect W. Scott Dunne, credited with designing more than 30 theaters across Texas and Oklahoma, created what would become his surviving masterpiece. The Plaza rises three tiers in a domed tower where its entrance wing meets the auditorium, its stepped and curved parapet...

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Image: Jonathunder | Public domain

Plaza Theatre (El Paso): The Mighty Wurlitzer

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Donitza Marie, CC BY-SA 3.0. The $60,000 Mighty Wurlitzer organ became the Plaza's most distinctive feature. Designed to rise dramatically from the orchestra pit, it accompanied vaudeville shows, sing-alongs, and entertained audiences before and after films. Its 'toy box' could replicate horses' hooves, ocea...

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Image: Donitza Marie | CC BY-SA 3.0

Plaza Theatre (El Paso): Legends on the Marquee

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Donitza Marie, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Plaza's stage hosted a who's who of Golden Age Hollywood and entertainment royalty. Roy Rogers and Dale Evans rode through, the Barrymore family performed, Sally Rand scandalized, and Tallulah Bankhead dazzled. Hopalong Cassidy, John Wayne, the Marx Brothers, Rita Moreno, Hen...

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Image: Donitza Marie | CC BY-SA 3.0

Plaza Theatre (El Paso): Revival and Restoration

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Donitza Marie, CC BY-SA 3.0. Like many grand movie palaces, the Plaza fell into decline with the rise of suburban multiplexes. But where other cities watched their theaters crumble, El Paso fought back. Today, the restored 2,050-seat Kendall Kidd Performance Hall anchors the facility, joined by the intimate ...

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Image: Donitza Marie | CC BY-SA 3.0