Hand painted panel near the front of the theater depicts kingfishers in lake scenes.
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Orpheum Theater
"Orpheum" means an enchanting or mysterious place, or a place of melodious music. August 14, 1981 (OPL) -- Orpheum Theater Reopens Friday--Movies first came to Oxford in an "airdome theater' located on College Street near what was once Baird Hardware (now Farm State Insurance and the United Way offices). J. P. Harris Sr. and the E. G. Crews began the airdome enterprise as a partnership but lost so much money due to rain that they moved the theater inside the old Opera House, when the Oxford Fire Department was later located (now County offices for permits and the Board of Elections). In 1912, the men built the original Orpheum on Williamsboro Street. Harris sold his share of the partnership to Crews in 1927. The first building burned in 1941 and a remodeled Orpheum Theater was opened in 1943. Crews eventually bought the Carolina Theater, located on Main Street where Green's Jewelers once operated (now the site of Hugh Currin Memorial Park). That theater continued to operate until the early 1960's. George Duffy, who closed the Orpheum in January of 1980, came to Oxford after World War II. He managed both theaters for Crews beginning in 1945 and bought the Orpheum around 1961, when Crews died. A major ttribute of the theater which make it ideal for showing movies was the funnel shape of the building, a feature which amplified sound "like an amphitheater". The original acoustic panels lined the walls and back of the theater. Since the theater was used for live stage shows until the early 1960s, the 24-foot-deep stage had three sets of curtains, two of which were motorized, plus a small area at each wing and a basement area beneath the stage. The panels and a decoration high above the stage were the work of a man whose name has been forgotten. He hand painted a musical cleft, thespian mask and other art in the area high above the center of the stage and then hand painted two panels on each wall near the front of the theater. The panels depict kingfishers in lake scenes. Another feature many may have noticed but never taken too seriously while waiting for a movie to begin would be the two open woodwork panels high above each exit door. The panels covered the vents which were once used in connection with a water cooling tower on top of the theater. When central air conditioning was installed, the woodcarvings were used to cover the old vents. The lower floor seated 300 people, and four spaces were available for wheelchairs. The upper balcony had a 160 seat section. The original movie screen, installed in 1943, was replaced and moved more forward in the early 1960s when movies went to Cinemascope. Duffy said that the "weekend Westerns' were probably the biggest drawing power of the small-town theater for many years. The Orpheum showed Westerns on Fridays and continuously from 1:30 to 10:30 pm on Saturdays. Until the mid-1960s live stage shows were often held at the Orpheum. In the last few years that shows were held, they were often "musical groups and country and western singers". Duffy said some of the personalities who appeared at the Orpheum include Flatt and Scruggs and the Western comedian Fuzzy St. John, who played the sidekick of such Western heroes as Lash LaRue. Two murals were painted on the acoustical panels along each side of the front of the Orpheum Theater. They were hand painted when the building was renovated after a fire in 1941. It reopened in 1943. Several generations of Oxford Moviegoers have gazed upon the paintings, and the new owners (brothers, John D. and Danny D. Williford bought the building in 1980) kept the murals when they refurbished the theater. (Staff photo by Robin Minton) Although the Orpheum Theater building stills stands on Williamsboro Street, it is now being renovated for an event space. |