This Just In...

...the Royal Poinciana Playhouse is still closed.

From the Palm Beach Daily News:

The Preserve Palm Beach Political Action Committee, led by Patrick Flynn, submitted more than 975 signatures, with 822 being from registered town voters, according to the certification from Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher.

If approved by voters, the measure would amend the charter to require the Playhouse be used only as a theater and for lectures or other special events. It also would prohibit construction of new buildings in the plaza.

If this group and the Palm Beach Drama Guild can sway voters into voting for this law, it means the owners will have no choice but to find someone to run this decrepit white elephant, or unload it at a steep loss. Local zoning laws basically doom any attempt to run it as a business due to Palm Beach's excessively restrictive Town Serving Zone. Perhaps the only party that would buy it is the Drama Guild itself.

That's not to say that it can't become the most elegant community theatre auditorium in South Florida. And if the Palm Beach Drama Guild turns it into that, I won't shed a tear. I might even applaud: why not? But it will never again be the crown jewel of South Florida professional theaters; too many real theaters surround it.