Inside Knott's Berry Farm, a tiny theater boasts rowdy shows and alums like Steve Martin
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The Bird Cage Theatre has stood inside Knott’s Berry Farm for 72 years — albeit not always soundly.Long framed by a tin roof and a tent, the theater had a reputation for discomfort, as it was a source of punishing heat and the occasional mouse sighting.
“It was hot, it stunk and it was dirty,” says Payden Adams, the park’s VP of entertainment.Still, though it has long felt like an endangered species, the Bird Cage Theatre is one of Southern California’s most historic revival houses, a place for vaudeville-style, fourth-wall-breaking shows that deviate from the expected theme park fare.
To quote the theater’s most recent production, its entertainment can be “flirtatious and a little bit saucy.” And now, against all odds, the Bird Cage is getting a second life.Knott’s Berry Farm recently completed a renovation designed to keep it thriving for another 72 years.
Gone is the tarpaulin roof: The Bird Cage is now a fully enclosed, soundstage-like structure.And blessedly, it has modern air conditioning.
The theater reopened this past weekend with “The Great Bank Robbery,” a 30-minute-plus show in which audiences are encouraged to boo, hiss and swoon over the characters, a Bird Cage tradition since 1954.Characters are caricatures, be it a villain that feels plucked from a cartoon western, complete with a purring raccoon for a sidekick, to a greedy wannabe politician of a bank manager.
Though set in Ghost Town with period garb, there are modern flourishes, such as tongue-in-cheek nods to the theme park’s attractions and a damsel in distress who ultimately proves to be anything but.Travel & Experiences Former Imagineer Nikkolas Smith, a self-described “artivist,” imbued his Legacy Tower in Downtown Disney with hidden meaning.
It’s a piece that nods to five Black architects.Though it once operated as a daily theater, the Bird Cage is today most acti...