Up next in 10
Historic Bird Cage Theatre Grand Reopening Panel & Toast 4K
Mar 14, 2026
A panel about the Historic Bird Cage Theatre at its Grand Reopening event at Knott's Berry Farm on the opening day of Knott's Boysenberry Festival. This was followed by a Boysenberry champagne toast!
Don't miss Daps Magic's official weekly YouTube show Geeks Corner here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAF91C7183BAB676B
Visit Daps Magic: https://DapsMagic.com
Daps Magic HQ: https://DapsMagic.com/DapsHQ
Daps Magic was created by a very special group of Disney Fans who had a dream for a place on the internet where people, young and old, could share their love of Walt Disney and his legacy in a safe and fun atmosphere.
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:04
until this thing going. Um, hi everyone.
0:06
Welcome. Um, I I'm especially excited to
0:10
welcome this group here today. Uh,
0:12
because whether you know it or not, the
0:13
collection of all the people in here are
0:15
probably some of the most magical people
0:17
in the history of the Bird Cage Theater.
0:18
Um, either current or in the past. Um,
0:21
we're joined here by a myriad of
0:23
previous cast members. Uh, make some
0:25
noise if you're out there. People who
0:26
have been on the show online.
0:29
We just cast members. We've got um old
0:30
directors, writers, and producers. Mr.
0:32
Cam Parks, where you at? There you are.
0:37
>> We have a lot of old performers from
0:39
this space, which I already called them
0:40
out first.
0:42
>> Oh, and oh, and you were a performer,
0:44
too. Um, we have And what?
0:47
[laughter]
0:48
>> It's a state of mind, man.
0:50
>> Um, we're also happy to be joined by the
0:53
construction team who actually helped
0:55
make this a reality. So, let's give them
0:56
a round of applause.
1:01
Great. And then I'm a little biased, but
1:03
we're also joined by the tech and
1:04
production teams who help bring this
1:06
space to life
1:11
>> along with the designers and the
1:12
artisans who help create it. So, welcome
1:14
to everyone. We're so honored that
1:16
you're all here.
1:18
Um, so the Bird Cage Theater, 72 years
1:21
ago is when this place opened in 1954.
1:24
uh in case you don't know was uh founded
1:25
by Woody Wilson and George Stewart in
1:27
1954 and a lot of people don't realize
1:30
uh you know it was originally built u by
1:32
them and a collection of students and it
1:34
was like a a concession air theater
1:36
right did anybody know that did
1:38
everybody know that right
1:39
>> you know there's a nice revenue split
1:41
between Walter Cordelia and them I I
1:45
don't even know what tickets cost back
1:46
then does anyone know what it cost to
1:48
get into cage in 1954
1:50
>> 35 cents
1:52
>> five cents
1:54
What a steal that would have been. It's
1:56
a little bit more, but don't worry, it's
1:57
still much better bargain at this park.
2:00
Um
2:01
uh but you know what what's really cool
2:03
is that a lot of the original um
2:04
performers were actually just students
2:06
from Whittier College, right? So there's
2:07
a a very deep rich history in the space.
2:10
Um speaking of rich history, Dale, we're
2:13
joined up here by Dale. Everyone give it
2:15
a give.
2:19
So, Dale, you you weren't in those
2:21
original 1954 cast, but
2:23
>> it's like what people think. No,
2:26
[laughter]
2:27
>> but your first year was 1974.
2:29
>> 1974. Yeah.
2:30
>> All right. I know, right? 1974. Um, what
2:35
was the first show you were in?
2:37
>> Uh, let me see. I think it was the one
2:40
about anybody. No, no, none of you
2:42
people were at that time either.
2:44
>> Fortune Flames.
2:45
>> Fortune and Flames. You're right. It was
2:47
Fortune and Flames.
2:47
>> What was the premise? Do you remember?
2:49
>> It's actually an old melodrama. It's uh
2:51
I don't know the whole premise of the
2:53
whole thing. I remember but there's a
2:54
big fire that happens on the stage. So
2:56
we had a fire and stage fake fire.
2:59
>> It was fake.
3:01
>> Yes. We find out they had you had a
3:03
fireman that came in and saved the girl
3:05
and everything like that.
3:06
>> Oh, okay. What um what was the theater
3:08
like then?
3:10
>> Well,
3:11
[laughter]
3:12
the only thing that was the same is the
3:14
new the old wallpaper that you brought
3:16
back, which is my favorite thing. I
3:17
mean, anybody there's not anybody here
3:19
back there that knew that back then cuz
3:22
I think it was pretty soon after that
3:23
that they we covered it up. But it was
3:25
that's the original that's a copy of the
3:27
original wallpaper that was up there.
3:31
>> Yeah. Um first of all, there was no air
3:34
conditioning.
3:36
>> Uh there was a swamp cooler right over
3:38
there.
3:39
>> It was the noisiest thing you ever heard
3:41
in your whole life. So we'd work on
3:43
summertime all our full costumes out in
3:45
the heat and the audience would sit
3:46
there. I don't know how they ever did
3:47
that. They'd sit there through those
3:49
shows out in the heat. We come backstage
3:51
and take our costumes and really
3:53
>> wrap them around there to get all that
3:56
>> moisture out of them. Yes.
3:57
>> Yeah. I hate to say it. I think it was
3:58
like that last summer, too.
4:01
>> Yeah. But see, then I was in my 20s.
4:04
>> Um, all right. Well, well, help us
4:06
understand what was it like to come into
4:08
the theater just two weeks ago after we
4:10
had finished kind of most of the reverb
4:12
for you to come back to the space. Uh,
4:14
this is this is more the kind of stuff
4:16
that they always wanted it to be that
4:18
they never stopped or put the money in
4:20
to do it, I think. Does anybody else
4:22
agree with me?
4:23
>> Yes.
4:24
>> Yeah, cuz they they never would pour
4:27
enough money into. Everything was sort
4:28
of like half done and everything because
4:30
there wasn't any money
4:32
>> for it. So, yeah. But this is this is
4:34
great. And we have real LED lights here
4:37
so it's not hot, guys like it used to be
4:39
here.
4:40
>> Makes a big difference and everything.
4:42
Yeah.
4:43
Well, I'm glad that we're kind of
4:45
segueing into scenic a little bit. Um,
4:48
you know, the if you look around,
4:49
obviously there's a lot of original
4:51
details that we brought back. Um, you
4:53
know, the you might look up and just
4:54
think, oh, it's like, you know, an
4:56
immense amount of drapery, but it's
4:57
really meant to kind of emulate, you
4:59
know, classic Victorian draperies that
5:00
they used to use to cover bird cages,
5:02
right? Um, so Daniel, if you pass Daniel
5:05
the mic, um, you know, we began work on
5:09
this, uh, gosh, spring of last year,
5:12
right, for the most part. And, um, we we
5:16
had wanted to solve a lot of the
5:17
problems of the space, right? Sound was
5:19
not great. You had the reflective vinyl
5:21
tent and and the cement, which was just
5:23
just awful. Um, the sound was just
5:27
horrible. Um, you know, the outside
5:30
sounds are also horrible. Uh we've got
5:33
much better tempular you know
5:34
temperature regulation we needed to
5:36
solve. The smell needed to be solved. I
5:39
mean anybody who's come to a show here
5:42
since the beautiful uh invention of a
5:45
trash compactor um which serves a great
5:48
purpose just not for theater. Um uh and
5:51
then a lot of the design capabilities
5:53
like Dale had kind of alluded to with
5:55
the lighting. So, um, Daniel, um, when
5:59
we, uh, first talked about this project,
6:02
what were some of the main
6:03
considerations that you wanted to solve
6:05
since you've designed a lot of shows in
6:06
here before?
6:07
>> Yeah, I've designed a number of shows,
6:09
probably like over five or so throughout
6:11
the years. Um, both for Halloween and
6:14
for the melodrama. Um, yeah, I think all
6:18
those things we had to really take into
6:21
account because there were like roaming
6:23
cats that would live in in in the house
6:26
and
6:27
>> we still have those. Well, not the same
6:28
cats, but we still have cats. That's not
6:31
allowed in the house anymore.
6:33
>> We wanted to up the aesthetic of it and
6:35
we wanted to keep it vintage to that
6:37
Victorian feel. Um, I knew about the um
6:42
wallpaper. There's one panel that was
6:44
still kind of remaining and in the back
6:46
of my mind I always wanted to actually
6:49
during COVID times we actually did a
6:51
attempt at designing our dream version
6:54
of this. We had a lot of time during co
6:56
so uh we designed our dream version of
6:59
that and some of those elements came uh
7:01
back into this new project. So
7:04
definitely I had something in my mind to
7:06
um bring into and to make it to bring it
7:10
to fruition. Um all the elements like
7:12
the front lighting and we really wanted
7:15
to concentrate on lighting too. Ann
7:17
McMills, she's our lighting designer. Um
7:20
she brought in so much Yeah.
7:24
>> Well, yeah. Shout out to Ann for this
7:26
incredible uh new lighting design. Also
7:28
want to shout out Carrie Noel. Where you
7:30
at? Carrie was also one of the senior
7:32
designers who partnered with Daniel
7:34
outside
7:36
there would be nothing. I mean she did
7:38
all the calculations of each of these
7:40
drapes to make sure that they hide and
7:42
mask all the lighting. So
7:45
>> um talk about the challenges while you
7:47
were designing.
7:48
>> Um well definitely uh all spaces are not
7:54
exactly what you think they are. So once
7:57
we kind of pull away the um what's here,
8:00
you always discover new things and and
8:04
it it there were weird things in the
8:07
corners that we had never really even
8:09
looked at or seen. So
8:11
>> and maybe like 40 we may have hidden
8:14
some weird things in the walls for when
8:15
the next reverb happens 40 years from
8:18
now.
8:19
Um, yeah. I mean, watching the way you
8:22
and Carrie navigated, not only uh
8:25
dealing with this old uh structure,
8:27
right, of the building, but also backing
8:29
in these drapery solutions. Um, truly
8:32
incredible, right? And part of that
8:34
process was partnering with Calpro, uh,
8:37
and big shout out also to our
8:38
maintenance friends here at Knots. um
8:42
just people understand the scale of not
8:45
just the aesthetic approaches to this
8:47
but the the actual structural uh
8:49
updates. If you remember that back wall
8:51
used to lean in kind of a very strange
8:55
ominous way. Um uh so they they plumbed
8:59
everything up. Tom plum. Uh they
9:02
everything is now fully insulated. Uh
9:05
which is incredible. We basically turned
9:06
this whole thing into a sound stage. Um,
9:08
so we're we're deeply grateful that not
9:11
only not only did we get some
9:12
aesthetically beautiful space, but we
9:14
also got a sound structural space that
9:16
will last us 72 more years. So, thank
9:19
you. Thank you so much.
9:21
Um,
9:24
uh, Laura, now
9:27
[laughter]
9:28
that's my cue to tell the team to start
9:30
pouring champagne. Um,
9:33
hey Jeff. Mr. Tucker.
9:36
>> Hello.
9:36
>> How's it going? It's going great.
9:39
>> Hey everyone, Jeff Tucker, director of
9:41
The Great Big Rob. And also you you
9:43
direct pretty much most of the shows
9:44
that we have in this space. Uh about for
9:47
how long have you been the director in
9:48
here?
9:48
>> Uh on and off like 10 or 12 years
9:51
because I started way back doing a Dr.
9:53
Cleaver show in here and it just sort of
9:55
blossomed into the Christmas shows and
9:56
now the spring show.
9:58
>> Okay.
9:58
>> Did anybody catch Daniel as the bank uh
10:01
portrait?
10:05
Um, so this show we we premiered last
10:07
year, but we went through a bit of a
10:09
rewrite, kind of trimmed some of the fat
10:11
and remounting it this year. What was
10:12
that process like? Kind of remounting a
10:14
show in here, especially the the
10:15
different atmosphere of the space now.
10:17
>> Well, you get the advantage of of of
10:19
putting it in front of an audience and
10:20
seeing what works and what doesn't. So,
10:22
I just shut my door for about three days
10:25
and I tear the script apart and I put it
10:27
back together. And I know that coming
10:29
into this kind of brand new space, we're
10:31
going to have all these new options. We
10:32
can talk about the wanted poster and
10:34
then flash a light to it. We can open
10:37
the box of gold and flash gold. That's
10:39
all Ann's doing. We can do all these
10:41
sound effects things and things we could
10:43
never do before in such a limited space.
10:45
So, we have so many more options and
10:48
that helps when you're putting the
10:49
script together of like I get to open up
10:51
a whole new uh toolbox of things that we
10:53
can put in here and it really just makes
10:55
the show so much more robust and fun and
10:58
it I just think it just pops. It's
11:00
there's never a lag in the show. It just
11:01
keeps popping.
11:02
>> Yeah. Um when you rewrote the show um
11:06
and I would imagine as we continue to
11:08
rewrite shows, you um you love to put in
11:11
some really great knots lore and
11:13
nuggets. So, and I don't know if you
11:14
know this, but this guy can uh coin a
11:17
phrase quicker than anyone I've ever
11:19
known. He's quicker with his words than
11:21
anyone. I can make a joke and he'll
11:23
he'll like top it four times over. I'm
11:25
sorry.
11:28
So, um, so as you went through the kind
11:30
of the adjustments to the show, um, talk
11:33
to me about the the lore of Knots that
11:35
you like to speak to in your writing.
11:37
>> Yeah. Well, I like to have the shows
11:39
take place at Knottbury Farm because so
11:41
many of the melodramas we've done
11:43
before, the idea is that there's a
11:45
traveling troop and they come in and
11:46
they're presenting, you know, this story
11:48
from the great Mississippi River. And as
11:50
fun as that was a riverbolt revenge is
11:52
fun with the chase at the end, I always
11:54
like to ground it. And it started with
11:56
gift to the magi and carried in a
11:58
Christmas carol where we just say,
12:00
"Look, it takes place at Knoxberry Farm.
12:02
So, it's in Calico. We can reference all
12:05
the Calico buildings and the lore. We
12:07
can I love this show specifically
12:10
because in act two we're presenting this
12:13
bad guy and there's a puppet on stage
12:16
but the moment that the log goes through
12:19
the audience goes oh this is crazy
12:23
and that's topped by all of us who've
12:26
written the log ride and done the sit
12:27
down sit down sit down. So we get to do
12:30
that and it is the actual recording from
12:32
the ride. So I love all that stuff.
12:35
>> Well thanks Jeff. Uh, speaking of Jeff,
12:37
Jeff Jeff shadic here. Would you mind
12:38
passing on the the mic down? Um, so we
12:43
we went into this project with a full
12:46
plan. Actually, originally all this
12:47
drapery was supposed to come all the way
12:49
into the ground. There were sound panels
12:52
hidden behind them. We were focused on
12:54
heat and sound. That's what we were
12:55
trying to fix. And as we got into the
12:57
project, as as you would with any
12:59
building here on Knotsberry Farm, you
13:01
start opening up the walls and you make
13:02
discoveries for good or for bad. So, um,
13:05
why don't you talk about some of the
13:06
happy accidents, Jeff?
13:08
>> Well, one of the happy accidents was I
13:11
was I was hesitant to have the drapery
13:13
come all the way down and I brought up
13:14
the concern because the chairs are all
13:16
right up against the wall. And I was
13:18
like, "Hey, that's got a huge cost for
13:20
all this drapery. Let's explore." And
13:23
then at about the same day, some of the
13:26
paneling came down. I'm like, "Oh my
13:28
god, that amazing wallpaper. It's on
13:30
this wall." And I'm like, "Payton, give
13:32
me a second." I went over to there.
13:34
starting walls out like, "Oh, it's over
13:37
here, too."
13:37
>> And I had no idea. I've been at Knots
13:40
for 28 years, and I had no idea that
13:43
that wallpaper went all the way around.
13:44
And I said, "Hey, we need to bring it
13:46
all back.
13:46
>> We should have just asked Dale.
13:50
>> That would have been a lot easier."
13:51
>> So, that was one of the fun, happy
13:54
accidents. And I think the other one was
13:57
uh there was always a gate in that back
13:59
corner over there that you couldn't see
14:03
because it was in a dark corner and then
14:04
at some point it got covered with a
14:06
bunch of fabric and Peyton ripped the
14:09
fabric off of it and we looked at it and
14:11
we're like, "Oh my god, it's a bird
14:13
cage." So that is actually what inspired
14:17
we got rid of the wooden walls that were
14:19
in the back and now when you enter the
14:21
theater you can see all the way through
14:23
and into the stage. And that's what
14:24
inspire inspired these um guardrails in
14:27
the back.
14:27
>> Yeah, we actually uh if there was ever
14:30
an opportunity to take the original
14:31
detail and recreate it, that is exactly
14:34
what we did. Uh and the teams, that's
14:35
why I want to give a shout out to our
14:37
tech and production teams here in
14:38
entertainment because they did all of
14:40
this work.
14:45
>> Well, I think right now is about high
14:47
time for us to have some champagne.
14:50
>> Yeah.
14:50
>> Okay. So, uh by all means, please let's
14:53
pass out champagne. Uh if you are under
14:55
40 or appear to be under 40, they may
14:58
ask to card you. Take it as like, you
15:00
know, be honored. Thank you for asking.
15:03
Here is my ID. Um and if they don't ask
15:05
you, just go they didn't ask me.
15:08
[laughter]
15:09
We're going to go ahead and pass out uh
15:11
some champagne. We'll we'll do a nice
15:13
little uh cheers. Uh and then afterward,
15:16
we'll we'll uh let you all loose to go.
15:19
>> Oh, it's boenberry champagne. We got to
15:21
do a little theme, of course.
15:23
Um, and then the the cakes that are in
15:25
the back, you'll notice there are three
15:26
cakes back there. We're going to cut up
15:28
the sheet cakes. Uh, Laura did and her
15:30
team, Priscilla and the bakery team did
15:32
an incredible job. They rebuilt the bird
15:35
cage theater completely in cakes. So,
15:36
the middle one is totally edible. And
15:38
then the two on the outside, uh, is a
15:40
recreation of all of the wallpaper, too.
15:42
Uh, and it's Boiseberry, and we ate it
15:44
the other day. It's delicious. So, if
15:46
you all aren't sick of Boiseberry,
15:48
sorry, today's day one of the festival.
15:51
[laughter]
15:51
Um, we also have um if you do not
15:54
consume alcohol or you'd prefer not to,
15:56
we also have a like a Martinelli's. Is
15:58
that correct, Laura? Yes, we do. So,
16:00
probably just raise your hand. Let Liz
16:02
or someone know and they'd be happy to
16:04
>> um get some. So, we'll give it just a
16:06
second so we can pass it out. Don't
16:07
drink it all because we got to save it
16:08
for a moment. So, if you can give us a
16:09
little BGM while they pass that out,
16:11
please Sarah.
16:16
>> Everybody got a glass? Who needs one?
16:19
Who does not yell loudly? It's why we're
16:23
here. Boenberry Champagne or
16:25
Martinelli's.
16:28
>> Thank you for sticking around everyone.
16:30
We really appreciate it.
16:55
>> [singing]
17:06
>> All right. Are we good?
17:08
>> So close. So close. We need just a
17:10
couple more. Just a couple more. We're
17:12
so close.
17:16
>> [laughter]
17:23
>> to the tender mountain.
17:29
>> My legs are so white. They're not even
17:32
They're not even white. They're like
17:33
wonder bag clear. [laughter]
17:37
>> The blue light doesn't I look dead. It's
17:40
fine.
17:42
That's
17:43
>> So, so I've been asked if that joke
17:45
could continue, but if it could not be
17:47
French. Alen, that's French. Is that
17:51
funny or is that not funny?
17:56
We're workshopping up here. These are
17:58
the jokes, folks. All righty. Begin. All
18:00
right, here we go. Everyone, please
18:01
raise a glass to 72 years of The
18:04
Incredible Bird Cage Theater and
18:07
>> to 72 more.
18:15
This land is your understanding. All
18:17
right. Thank you so much everybody.
18:18
Please get some cake, walk around, enjoy
18:20
the space. Please don't spill. Um, but
18:23
thank you so much for being here and
18:24
enjoy the rest of the festival. Okay.
18:25
Thank you.
#Events & Listings
#Acting & Theater