Otis Skinner, Mildred Natwick, and Joe Flynn. Thereafter the facility was used intermittantly for showing films, as a summer stock workshop, and for special events. During April and May 1976 there was an attempt to revive legitimate drama with a production of Sleuth, but there was no follow-up. Summer 1976 saw the theater leased out to an art house business which showed second-run and classic films. As with many US art house cinemas at that time, it largely survived off midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Richard Charlton, who owned both the theater and the adjacent restaurant, tangled with the art house leasees during 1978 over access to a dirt parking lot on the premises and what Charlton characterised as "x-rated films". A Maricopa Superior Court judge ruled the ten-year lease was valid and the art house could continue showing films, but its patrons would have to park elsewhere. Charlton filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 1980, and the theater and restaurant were purchased by AJ Properties in July 1981. The two buildings were to be demolished in favor of a multi-structure office complex. The Sombrero Theatre was torn down in 1982, with the property remaining an empty lot into 1983. Furnishings, antiques, paintings, and other artwork from the Sombrero Theatre were sold at a bankruptcy auction in November 1983. Productions 1949-1958 1959-1968, 1976 Notes References Theatres in Arizona 1949 establishments in Arizona Buildings and structures in Phoenix, Arizona 1980s disestablishments in Arizona