Before we get to its shiny new incarnation, a look back: this was the stage and pit of the Century in its heyday.

That's the curtain, incidentally. Presumably one of those fireproof curtains - meaning, six thousand pounds of woven asbestos. The photo is undated, but it somehow looks too good and too recent to hail from the silent days.

From the look on the bandleader's face, the photographer was using a pistol to keep everyone sitting down while he set up the shot.