It is one of the two major remaining self-producing outdoor theatres in the U.S. and Starlight's Cohen stagehouse also permits it to present many national Broadway touring shows.

Another possible location was just north of University of Missouri–Kansas City, although these plans were also shelved because officials feared the theatre would compete with the newly completed Municipal Auditorium.

On June 3rd, 1950, in a facility not yet fully complete, the historical revue, Thrills of a Century, opened at Starlight Theatre in celebration of Kansas City’s 100th birthday.

John A. Moore was elected as the association’s first president, and New York veteran Richard Berger was hired as Starlight’s first producing director, a position he would hold through 1971.

Starlight Theatre hosted Great Plains' musicians Melissa Etheridge (from Kansas) in 1994, Sheryl Crow (from southern Missouri) in 2008, 311 from Omaha in 2013, and The Fray from Denver in 2009.