Rapaport Center

The Desilu Playhouse is the permanent home of the “I Love Lucy” 50th Anniversary Tour that traveled the country in 2001-2002 to celebrate the most popular show ever on television. Exhibited at convention centers, state fairs, music festivals, casinos, and more, it featured exact reproductions of the original sets. Following the tour, the exhibit was stored in Houston, Texas.

In the summer of 2005, five 53’ tractor trailers moved the “I Love Lucy” 50th Anniversary Tour to Lucille Ball’s hometown, where it was installed in the Desilu Playhouse of the Rapaport Center. Named after the studio at 847 Lillian Way in Hollywood where “I Love Lucy” was actually filmed, the Desilu Playhouse was made possible by the generosity of Bill and Mary Rapaport of Buffalo, New York. We hope your visit will make you feel like you were part of the studio action!

Your experience starts when you’re buzzed into the Desilu Playhouse Studios from the admissions counter. Once inside, you’ll first learn about Lucy’s radio series, My Favorite Husband. Then you’ll see larger-than-life photographs, biographies of the four stars of “I Love Lucy”, the famous kitchen set (where Lucy and Ethel concocted countless schemes) and the most famous living room in TV history! Turn the corner and you’re in Hollywood! Yes, the set of the Beverly Palms Hotel (where Lucy set her nose on fire when meeting William Holden and pantomimed with Harpo Marx) has been painstakingly recreated.

Also on display is the custom-made editing machine known as the “three headed monster” that film editor Dann Cahn used to edit the most popular show ever on television. A life-sized wall image shows the studio audience at a toping of “I Love Lucy”; Desi can be seen with his back to the cameras, “warming up” the audience, and both Lucy’s and Desi’s mothers are in the picture. And that’s not all: showcases of memorabilia, video clips, and much more await you. Currently, the necklaces Lucy wore in 1952 when she played Camille, Queen of the Gypsies, are showcased here. And don’t miss your chance to step on the “Vitameatavegamin” set and perform your own version of that famous TV commercial!

The Gift Shop features a great assortment of “I Love Lucy” merchandise, sales from which help to maintain the operation of the Desilu Playhouse.