Varsity Theater

The Varsity Theater opened as a vaudeville showplace in 1915. The rise of movies and vaudeville’s decline saw the theater’s conversion to a movie house after an extensive redesign by local architecture and design firm Liebenberg & Kaplan, who had already made a name for themselves with the Uptown and Suburban World, both built in 1928. Performing its function admirably until well into the Eighties, the Art Deco landmark’s marquee went dark after a failed attempt to convert it into a nightclub in the early Nineties. Thoroughly refurbished less than ten years ago, the Varsity served as an extremely well-appointed photo studio until recently, when it was returned to public use as an exciting and strategically located venue for theater, music, film, dance, festivals, and as a special occasion event facility operated by Jason McLean, owner of the Loring Pasta Bar and manager of Annie’s Kitty Cat Klub.