Rose Theatre

About the Rose:

The Rose opened as a vaudeville house in 1907. We've experienced the transition from live theatre to silent film, to talkies, to Technicolor, and now to digital projection across three unique screens. We endeavor to bring the people of the Olympic Peninsula not only world-class film, but also high-definition ballet, opera, classical music and theatre from across the globe. We invite you to experience a film at the Rose or the Starlight Room, where the popcorn is fresh, the butter is real, the sound is superb, and every show is personally introduced by our host. If you arrive early, you might even find a seat in our cozy Rose balcony! (Now featuring tapped local brews).

History:

Port Townsend enjoyed a lively theater scene before the dawn of the twentieth century.  The Palace Theatre, The Standard, and the Learned Opera House showcased local talent and traveling vaudeville troupes "of the highest caliber."  The Rose, which opened around the corner on Water Street in 1907, continued this tradition but added a recent invention to its repertoire: moving pictures.  In December 1908 the Rose moved to its current location in Taylor Street. 

Tom Mix, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Lillian Gish, and countless other Hollywood stars graced the Rose Theatre's silver screen for more than fifty years before it closed its doors November 8, 1958 with the potboiler High School Confidential.  The raked auditorium floor was soon lifted, and the building became home to a succession of businesses, including a bakery, pet shop and novelty store.  When Rocky Friedman and Phil Johnson began carefully restoring the theatre in 1992 they came upon a trove of artifacts in the attic--tickets, movie posters and projectors.  

Three original murals were found on the walls of the theatre, buried under decades of wallpaper and paint.  Half of the pressed tin tiles on the ceiling of the main auditiorium are original.  The Rose reopened July 11, 1992, and with the addition of the Rosebud Cinema three years later, has become one of the most treasured features of Port Townsend's National Historic District.