Saved from demolition and listed as a historic monument in the mid-1970s, the Paramount Theater dates back to 1928 and was restored to its Jazz Age finery in 1995. It has operated ever since as an esteemed multi-performance venue (rock, comedy, theater), though its forte is touring Broadway shows.
The theater was originally conceived as a movie house with back-up from the popular vaudeville acts of the day. It continued as a cinema until 1971 (Bruce Lee was briefly an usher), whereupon it became a rock venue, lost money and degenerated into a tatty shadow of its former self.
