The Folly, located at 300 West Twelfth Street is a well known theatre in Kansas City, Missouri  For well over 100 years, major artists of various entertainment genres have performed here.  The likes of Sarah Bernhardt, Richard Mansfield,  Jack Dempsey, the Marx Brothers,  Humphrey Bogart, Shirley Booth-Star, Gypsy Rose Lee, Tempest Storm, and  Chesty Gabor have graced the venerable stage. But did you know that The Folly wasn’t always “The Folly”?  That’s right, the beloved National Historic Landmark has been known by other names in her long and checkered past.  Read on for some things you may not know about The Folly.

• The building was designed by renowned Kansas City architect Louis S. Curtiss
• The Standard Theatre opened with 2,400 seats on September 23, 1900
• In 1923 it was bought and  renamed  “Shubert’s Missouri” by the Schubert family of Broadway fame
• After being sold for taxes in 1941, it was reopened  as “The Folly” and began it’s long run as a striptease venue,
•  In 1974 a “Strip the Folly” fundraiser was held to save the building from the wrecking ball.  The drive featured Sally Rand, who had performed at the Folly