She’s a Kansas City legend — and the bawdiest of them all. For 125 years, the Folly Theater has stood at 12th and Central, a mirror reflecting the city’s changing times.
Designed by renowned architect Louis S. Curtiss and originally opened as the Standard Theater in 1900, the venue attracted stage and vaudeville stars, such as Fanny Brice and Eva Tanguay, featured exhibition boxing matches, and became a notorious burlesque house during World War II, seeing soldiers off with a bump and grind. In the decades to follow, the Folly fell into disrepair before being saved from the wrecking ball in the 1970s.
Kate Egan, the Folly’s director of theater operations from 1998 to 2004, reflects on the venue’s evolution — from a popular entertainment hub to a seedy X-rated movie house — and its 1981 restoration, which helped fuel the historic preservation movement and downtown’s revitalization. She also shares stories of legendary performers past and present, like the strip-teasing Gypsy Rose Lee in 1929 and a recent visit by country music icon Dolly Parton.
Egan earned a master’s in Historic Preservation from Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland, and lives in New York City where she manages the Tony Award-winning show MJ The Musical.
To celebrate the Folly’s 125th anniversary, artifacts from the Library’s Folly Theater Collection are on display during the program, and attendees are invited to take a short walk to the theater at 300 W. 12th Street for a free guided tour.
