Annie Russell Theatre, Orlando

Built on the campus of Rollins College in 1932, “The Annie,” as it's called, was a gift from philanthropist Mary Curtis Bok Zimbalist in honor of her friend Annie Russell. The theater is named on the National Register of Historic Places and is the longest continuously operating theater in Florida.

Shows include musicals and plays featuring student performers. Their productions have garnered praise from the Orlando Sentinel, and Rollins' undergraduate theater department is considered one of the best in the nation. Students produce and perform four plays or musicals every year. The 360-seat proscenium theater is said to still host the "friendly ghost" of Annie Russell, who claims her seat for every show wearing her trademark lavender dress.

Annie Russell was a British-American stage actress who began performing at the tender age of eight. She worked with several theater companies over her long and varied career in New York and Philadelphia. Together with her friend Mary Curtis Bok Zimbalist, she helped found the dramatic arts program at Rollins. Russell opened the theater in 1932 with a performance of In a Balcony and continued to teach at the school until her death in 1936.