Harkness Theatre

The story

The theater where the Charleston became an international dance craze opened in 1905 as the Colonial Music Hall, built by Frederic Thompson and Elmer "Skip" Dundy and designed by George Keister with 1,293 seats in the San Juan Hill neighborhood. Thompson and Dundy sold it within weeks. By the early 1920s it was hosting African-American musical revues, and on October 29, 1923, James P. Johnson's Runnin' Wild premiered here — the production credited with spreading the Charleston worldwide. The building has worn many names since, arriving finally at Harkness Theatre.