Background Information

Kaleidoscope Theatre is a non-profit corporation under the laws of the State of Florida. We have a board of directors and the usual officers, and committees to handle the administrative tasks of running a theatre.

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Kaleidoscope was founded in 1971 with an offer of a performance facility from the Panama City Beach Civic Center and an open invitation to anyone interested in live theatre. A handful of people responded to form the nucleus of a community theatre. Plays were produced randomly at first. There were thirteen people in the first audience, and eighteen actors in the production!

In 1973, the first full season was offered. All performances of the first three years were performed at the PCB Civic Center. With time, play offerings and attendance grew steadily. As the theatre developed, it became difficult to find room for rehearsals and storage space, and we began looking for another venue.

During a transition period, we spent time as a wandering band of wayward actors, performing in such locations as the Gulf Coast Community College Fine Arts Auditorium, the old Girls' Club, the Four Winds Restaurant and Rutherford High School.

In 1976, Kaleidoscope Theatre incorporated as a non-profit corporation. In 1978 we were able to purchase a small church building on an acre of land just south of Lynn Haven. The church was transformed into a theatre with a seating capacity of 200 (on metal folding chairs!).

In 1989, our audience had increased to the point we felt it was time for a larger facility. Construction was completed on our current building in 1990. This provides us with a larger lobby and better air conditioning and heating. The new building also offers raised seating, so everyone has a great view. The old building has been renovated to provide shop space for set construction, dressing rooms, make-up room, green room, storage space, and an office.

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In the early days of the theatre, one of the things we felt we should do was come up with a name for our little theatre group. Since we were a community theatre, we decided to have a contest to see what kind of names we might find. Several of the choices were The Panama City Players, The Afterglow Theater, and, of course, Kaleidoscope. There were many others, but that was a long time ago, and the collective memory only works so well.

Kaleidoscope Theatre was suggested by a very quiet lady on the Board of Directors. She almost never said a word. When the discussion of names began right before the vote was taken, many people were wondering how silly toys like kaleidoscopes had anything to do with theater. When she was asked about this, Pat stood up and described kaleidoscopes as ever changing patterns of light, color and shapes, just like the theatre. She actually went on quite eloquently for some time, as it is told now, but at the end, most people decided that that was very fitting. Afterglow had a strong showing also, losing to Kaleidoscope by only ONE vote!

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