Feel the Art Deco warmth of the Taft Theatre, dedicated in 1928 within the Masonic Temple Building at Fifth and Sycamore. Built with an Art Deco interior and completed in 1928 after construction that began in 1925, this room was dedicated with the Cincinnati symphony in 1928 and named for Charles Phelps Taft, William Howard Taft’s older brother. Step closer and imagine the designers’ intent: the house blends Art Deco and neoclassical styles, and inside a warm red‑green color scheme wraps the auditorium.
Every seat was planned with sightlines in mind — all seats are unobstructed, giving every audience member a clear view of the stage. The building’s story is not without drama: in the 1960s the Scottish Rite twice applied for demolition permits, believing the theater too expensive to renovate and hoping for a parking garage, but those efforts were unsuccessful. More recently, in 2010 Music & Event Management Inc., a subsidiary of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, took over operation of the theater and leased the space from Scottish Rite of Freemasonry; that same year the theatre underwent $3.2 million.
Today it welcomes Broadway shows, concerts, comedy and other special events. Every seat here gives you a clear, unobstructed view of the stage that survived two demolition attempts in the 1960s.