{"id":227437,"date":"2026-03-19T21:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T21:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/227437\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T21:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T21:02:08","slug":"newly-restored-knotts-bird-cage-theatre-is-back-in-the-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/227437\/","title":{"rendered":"Newly restored, Knott’s Bird Cage Theatre is back in the spotlight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Known for its long history of housing Knott\u2019s Berry Farm performers and shows, the Bird Cage Theatre has a new look \u2014 and feel.<\/p>\n

From improving air conditioning to replicating the finest details of the original wallpaper, the design and build teams have been working to revitalize a theater that has hosted performers noted on its walls, ranging from Lauren Tewes of \u201cThe Love Boat\u201d fame, to celebrity Steve Martin.<\/p>\n

\"Whittier <\/p>\n

Whittier College students were the opening cast members when Knott\u2019s Berry Farm opened the Bird Cage Theatre in 1954.<\/p>\n

(Courtesy of Knott\u2019s Berry Farm)<\/p>\n

Its grand reopening on March 13, coinciding with the return of Knott\u2019s Boysenberry Festival, offered a presentation of \u201cThe Great Bank Robbery,\u201d which will be on stage throughout the festival. A panel discussion featuring design and production team members who worked on the theater renovation was held before invited guests including media and former park employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis revitalization brings the heart and soul of the iconic venue back to life, celebrating its classic charm, playful character and nostalgic details \u2026 many lovingly restored after decades unseen,\u201d Vice President of Entertainment Payden Adams said about the Victorian-style, melodrama theater. \u201cFor over a year, our talented team immersed themselves in the theater\u2019s rich history, digging deep to rediscover its original personality. Every element, down to the smallest accent, was thoughtfully designed to honor its storied past while elevating the experience for today\u2019s guests.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adams said two of the biggest challenges for the theater, which originally opened in 1954, related to sound and temperature. To resolve these, air conditioning units were increased and insulation improved. There\u2019s drapery over the ceiling and sound proofing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we were going with the construction company and kind of navigating, reinforcing the walls and putting in insulation, you started to pull back paneling,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s when we discovered, \u2018Oh, there\u2019s wallpaper over here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The wallpaper beneath revealed rows of small, hand-painted, Victorian-style bird cages. The Knott\u2019s design team knew they had to preserve it. They did that by replicating the wallpaper in as much detail as possible.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The new Bird Cage Theatre wallpaper recreates the original that was discovered during the renovation.<\/p>\n

(Jessica Peralta)<\/p>\n

\u201cBy preserving, we just wanted to bring it back, you know?\u201d he said. \u201cI think one thing we love here is our history, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adams said to address the previous sound issues \u2014 outside noise spilling in from theme park activities, roller-coasters and a nearby trash compactor \u2014 the goal was to create a sound stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe completely insulated the roofs, all of the walls got triple insulated,\u201d he said. \u201cReally in an effort to pull down sound and hold out heat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lighting was another area of improvement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe old lighting rig that we had in there for years, it was exposed. You could kind of see the structure hanging like right in the purview, watching the stage,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we made an investment to upgrade the entire lighting system to be fully LED. Not only did that give us design capabilities, but it also mitigated some heat problems too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Bird Cage Theatre is now staging the Knott\u2019s melodrama, \u201cThe Great Bank Robbery.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Jessica Peralta)<\/p>\n

An underlying theme of the remodel was to bring back a bit of the original intent of Bird Cage Theatre.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we\u2019ve honored our history, and we will continue,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we\u2019re also not forgetting to keep it fresh and relevant for audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Known for its long history of housing Knott\u2019s Berry Farm performers and shows, the Bird Cage Theatre has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227438,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[83982,62229,163,165,164,102146,94079,6052,4080,73279,43648,10643,103472,103473,3239,1058,1290,72],"class_list":["post-227437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-adams","tag-air-conditioning","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-bird-cage-theatre","tag-boysenberry-festival","tag-design","tag-guest","tag-insulation","tag-knott","tag-long-history","tag-original-wallpaper","tag-sound-proofing","tag-stage","tag-theater","tag-wall","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}