Princess Theatre

Location: 10337 82 Avenue

The Princess Theatre, a gem of queer cultural history and treasured historic landmark, operated for over a century in Edmonton. From its 1915 inauguration, the Princess boasted itself as the largest cinema, vaudeville stage, and concert hall west of Winnipeg. By the time Edmonton's Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GALA) added the Princess to the bill of Pride events in the 1980s, the old theatre had lived numerous lives as a pool hall, pawnshop, and porn house. Over the 20th century and into the 21st, Strathcona's grand dame hosted countless queer audiences, screened and staged a plethora of queer films and performers, and created a safe space for queer Edmontonians to find community.

When the Princess Theatre opened in Old Strathcona on March 8, 1915, the 660-seat cinema and stage was a model of architectural elegance, featuring a solid marble façade, gold leaf embellishments, and brass furnishings. It was also a marvel of modern convenience, including a refrigerated drinking fountain, electronic ticketing, and air conditioning. As first-run movies became difficult to procure during the First World War and television started to eclipse the cinema as local entertainment, the Princess changed hands and operated as a billiards hall and retail space until the notorious Towne Cinema Ltd. bought and restored the building to its theatrical roots in 1970. After the destruction of the Gem Theatre in 2006, the Princess would remain Edmonton's oldest surviving theatre.

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