The Pantages Theater

901 Broadway
Tacoma, WA 98402
(253) 591-5890
www.broadwaycenter.org
map

Greek immigrant Alexander Pantages dreamt of owning beautiful and successful vaudeville theaters across the country. But it was Kate Rockwell (“Klondike Kate”, Pantages’ mistress) who put up the money to build Tacoma’s Pantages Theatre.

Being somewhat the cad, Pantages later married another lady and never paid Kate back her money. Kate sued him but never fully recovered her financial loss. She struggled for the rest of her life to make ends meet. As the song says, “He was her man, but he done her wrong.” They say a ghost (that could be Kate, the woman scorned) haunts Tacoma’s Pantages to this day… And it’s the oldest of all Pantages Theaters still in operation, designed after an ornate theatre in the Palace of Versailles. A truly awesome venue for the arts.