The beloved Bird Cage Theatre that has been housed inside a temporary tent for more than 70 years is undergoing the first complete overhaul in the storied history of the Knott’s Berry Farm institution.
The largest refurbishment in the history of the Bird Cage Theatre will be unveiled on Friday, March 13 when the Knott’s Boysenberry Festival kicks off at the Buena Park theme park.
“The Great Bank Robbery” – which debuted during last year’s Boysenberry Fest – will be the first show in the newly refurbished 270-seat Bird Cage Theatre.
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Knott’s Berry Farm Vice President of Entertainment Payden Adams gave me a construction tour of the Bird Cage Theatre as work was concluding on the eight-week project that had been under development since last summer.
“Welcome to one of the country’s oldest, longest running melodrama theaters,” Adams said.
Knott’s Berry Farm Vice President of Entertainment Payden Adams. (Courtesy of Knott’s)
Construction workers were painting the terraced theater floor and the theater crew was installing scenery backdrops during my visit. A collection of ladders sat on the stage. Caution tape hung from the ceiling where ornate bird cage chandeliers would be installed eventually.
The Bird Cage Theatre opened in 1954 as a replica of the original 1881 Bird Cage Theatre in Tombstone, Arizona.
The Ghost Town Theater Company made up of Whittier College students that served as the first Bird Cage Theatre cast in 1954 at Knott’s Berry Farm. (Courtesy of Knott’s)
The theater facade looks like many of the other Wild West buildings in Calico Ghost Town at Knott’s. The actual theater sits inside a temporary tent erected inside an old carriage barn.
“The original Bird Cage Theatre was built by a concessionaire and some actors,” Adams said. “It was basically a group of actors who came together and built the Bird Cage.”
A 1950s concept sketch of the Bird Cage Theatre planned for Knott’s Berry Farm. (Courtesy of Knott’s Berry Farm)
Minor improvements have been made to the Bird Cage Theatre throughout the years, but there has never been a comprehensive overhaul to address systemic issues.
“We need to do this right,” Adams said. “This is a part of our history.”
A worker slurries the terraced seating area of the Bird Cage Theatre at Knott’s Berry Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Most of the issues centered around the party tent that had been erected in 1954 inside a pre-engineered steel structure known as a Butler building.
The theater was known for being hot in the summer and cold in the winter. The newly insulated building should help with the chilly winter nights and the new A/C should handle any summer heat waves.
“It’s going to be a wonderful escape from the summer heat,” Adams said. “There’s five air conditioning units that will definitely make the space far more comfortable. I’m anticipating people complaining that it’s too cold and I’m looking forward to it.”
The cast of the “Great Bank Robbery” melodrama at the Bird Cage Theater in Knott’s Berry Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The sound and weather proofing will be appreciated by the audience and cast members alike.
“During the summer, it’s always been the biggest challenge to keep doing shows in here,” Adams said. “It was 90 degrees on stage with the lights and all the people in here.”
The adobe brick used to build the Bird Cage Theatre at Knott’s Berry Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The vinyl tent provided no sound proofing and was an audio nightmare for the sound crew. Sound reflecting off the tent ceiling and cement floor made it hard to hear or understand the actors.
The old tent has been removed and replaced by a sound stage enclosure. Fully insulated exterior walls should improve the sound quality while also regulating the indoor temperature. The sound system has been upgraded during the theater overhaul.
“We are very ecstatic that we’ll finally be able to control the sound in here,” Adams said.
Ladders sit on the stage during a construction tour of the Bird Cage Theatre at Knott’s Berry Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Swooping ceiling draperies will mimic the old tent atmosphere, hide the new lighting rigs, dampen the sound and add a bit of drama to the surroundings.
A new LED lighting system has been installed – replacing the old incandescent fixtures that got really hot and used more power.
Knott’s Berry Farm’s “Calico Christmas Carol” at the Bird Cage Theater in Buena Park on Friday, November 17, 2023. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)
Theatergoers never saw one of the biggest recurring issues at the Bird Cage Theatre – even if they occasionally heard or smelled it.
A 25-foot-long industrial trash compactor has been parked behind the theater for decades – and will continue to remain there after the extensive renovation.
A 1956 production of “The Flying Scud” in the Bird Cage Theatre at Knott’s Berry Farm. (Courtesy of Knott’s Berry Farm)
The sound of the trash compactor occasionally interrupted rehearsals and shows. You could occasionally smell the putrid trash in the theater, depending on the direction of the wind and your choice of seats.
Knott’s installed a scent machine that pumped in boysenberry or pine smells depending on the season to try to mask the rank odor. The scent machine was removed during the theater overhaul – now that it’s no longer needed.
The cast of the “Great Bank Robbery” melodrama at the Bird Cage Theater in Knott’s Berry Farm. (Brady MacDonald/SCNG/Orange County Register)
Removing the tent will also make the theater more aesthetically pleasing. Long lost design features intended to make the theater look like it was built inside a giant bird cage will be restored.
“We’ve finally returned it to a place where it’s back to the soul of what it was meant to be – an intimate space that honors a lot of our fun, kitschy history,” Adams said. “We’ve embraced a lot of the really great themes of the Bird Cage.”
The Bird Cage Theatre backstage dressing room at Knott’s Berry Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Demolition work revealed faded bird cage-themed wallpaper long hidden behind wood paneling for 50 years.
“We took the original wallpaper and had it recreated exactly as it was,” Adams said.
The new wallpaper (top) was designed to match the original (bottom) in the Bird Cage Theatre at Knott’s Berry Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The theater redesign will keep the footlight festoons at the front of the stage. The four opera box facades on either side of the stage will be restored. The stage right live pianist will be back after the remodel.
The three-foot-deep backstage area will remain extremely tight. The cramped overhead fly space will feature 12 tracks for rolling scenery backdrops. The revolving dry cleaning rack used to create the effect of a moving background will be maintained and restored.
The narrow backstage area of the Bird Cage Theatre at Knott’s Berry Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register/SCNG)
“We just want to create the true feeling of attending a melodrama in the late 1800s,” Adams said.
The ticket booth and the little calliope in the lobby will remain after the extensive makeover. Theatergoers will sit in new black mahogany resin folding chairs.
A Bird Cage Theatre pianist performs on the calliope wagon at Knott’s Berry Farm in an undated photo. (Courtesy of Knott’s Berry Farm)
The larger calliope wagon that sat just outside the theater has been undergoing its own restoration for the past six months. The working steam powered calliope organ that has been played before shows and served as a backdrop for post-show photo ops with the theater cast will return in the summer.
For decades, the Bird Cage has been famous for interactive, campy melodramas where the audience cheers the hero and boos the villain.
The cast of “Our American Cousin” in the mid-1960s outside the Bird Cage Theatre at Knott’s Berry Farm. (Courtesy of Knott’s Berry Farm)
Bird Cage productions have included “Our American Cousin,” “The Drunkard,” “Tombstone Alive,” “A Christmas Carol,” “The Wreck of the Bluebell Express” and “The Streets of New York.”
The list of notable actors who have performed at the Bird Cage have included Steve Martin (“Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” “Parenthood,” “Father of the Bride” and “Only Murders in the Building”), Dean Jones (“The Love Bug”), Lauren Tewes (“Love Boat”), Skip Young (“Ozzie and Harriet”) and Donna Mills (“Knots Landing”).
Autographs by past Bird Cage Theatre cast and crew dot a backstage doorframe at Knott’s Berry Farm. (Photo by Brady MacDonald, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The “Miss Cameo Kate’s Western Burle-Q Revue” musical will return this summer to the Bird Cage after the run of “The Great Bank Robbery” during the Knott’s Boysenberry Festival.