Built in 1910 as a Shubert theater, the Fitzgerald Theater is Saint Paul's oldest surviving theater space. One of four special memorial theaters erected by entertainment-industry magnates Lee and J. J. Shubert after the death of their brother Sam, this was to be a particularly elegant building, patterned after the renowned Maxine Elliot Theater in New York.

When the Fitzgerald first opened, as the Sam S. Shubert Theater, it was hailed as one of the most beautiful theaters of its day. It was constructed of concrete and steel with a sandstone facade, complete with 16 dressing rooms, a stage that could be raised or lowered by two feet, a built in vacuum-cleaning system and nearly 2,000 electric lights.

In 1933, it became a movie house that showed foreign films and was thus christened the World Theater.

The theater eventually languished, and fell into disrepair. Minnesota Public Radio purchased the theater in 1980 and restored it in 1986 for the live radio program A Prairie Home Companion® with Garrison Keillor. The theater was again renamed in 1994, this time for author F. Scott Fitzgerald, a native of Saint Paul.

Over the years, the Fitzgerald's stage has been host to Broadway musicals, vaudeville shows, film festivals, corporate events, and concerts of all sorts.

Click on F. Scott for more information on F. Scott Fitzgerald's 100 birthday celebration back in September of 1996.