From the end of the 1800s through the early 1900s, most theatre and opera house managers in the United States and Canada had to book their entertainment through Syndicates which controlled the touring schedules of most traveling shows and entertainers. One of the most prominent Syndicates was run by Marc Klaw and Abraham Lincoln Erlanger in New York City. This lot is a letter written from Tom W. Roberts, manager of the Kentucky Theatre in Paducah, Kentucky, to Klaw and Erlanger indicating he was holding a December date in 1907 for a performance by well-known musician and minstrel producer, Al G. Fields. The typed letter is signed by Roberts.
The Kentucky Theatre launched on September 24, 1901. It transitioned from a live venue to motion pictures. On February 27, 1922, it became the Orpheum Theatre under new operators. It closed in 1940. It got a new facade in 1942 but appears to have been closed through much of World War II.
On September 27, 1945 it reopened and was changed back to the Kentucky Theatre.The Kentucky Theatre completed its film exhibition on July 30, 1958. It then was a short-lived live venue for plays in 1958 and 1959. Its last performance was the Charity League Follies ending on April 5, 1959. After the Cleveland Wrecking Company offered the theatre seats for sale in April and May of 1959, it was razed along with the historic Palmer House Hotel for a parking lot and J.C. Penney’s department store.