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Albemarle's First Opera House May be Harboring Spirits and Ghosts, Why? From The Albemarle Press May 9, 1929 How many Albemarle
citizens know that the upper room over Starnes Jewelry Store has a
history, and that it was once known as the Albemarle Opera House?
Some 20 years ago laughing, dancing, singing troupers passed across the
stage of the show house; but a few years later the singing and dancing troupers
left, and corpses rested where there had been life.
But a time came when all the corpses were buried.
Now all that is left is a storehouse and junk room for a furniture store,
with creepy memories of the past. Perhaps
in the recesses of those walls may lurk some phantom- some ghost of the opera,
who knows?
It was about 22
years ago in 1907 when the writer was first opening her eyes on the world; when
automobiles were gasoline buggies; or buggies without gasoline; when electric
lights were acetylene lamps, and feminine modesty was greatly in vogue, that
Albemarle had its first show house. F.E.
Starnes, Doc Frank Parker, and J.C. Parker constructed a building and
established what would now be termed a little theater in the upstairs building
over the present Starnes Jewelry Store.
Church
People Alarmed
The church people
pricked up their ears, say old timers, and tongues began to wag.
"What work of the devil is this?" asked a good sister.
"Is it fit for women folks to attend, shall it survive, or be
destroyed?"
The old Albemarle
Opera House was nothing to reflect discredit on the town.
It was well equipped with mahogany chairs, artistic scenery and good
stage devices for that period. The
seating capacity, including the balcony, ranged around 800.
Two entrances made the place accessible, one a front stairway leading up
from the main street, while a stairway from the back admitted the actors and
players to the stage and dressing rooms. The
stage is a very spacious affair measuring about 50x25 feet.
When
F.E. Starnes
was questioned as to how the people took the coming of a theater here, he
laughed and said, "There was plenty of objection."
According to P.J. Huneycutt and F.E. Starnes, who have numerous
recollections of the old place, the show house opened in 1907 with a series of
Redpath Chautauqua attractions. Mr.
Starnes insisted that the group of men owning the show place, of course, wanted
to bring clean entertainment to the town; but that some people misunderstood
their intentions, and were really stirred up about the moral future of
Albemarle. He stated that numerous
women eagerly approached the ticket window, just dying to get in the show, but
always the question arose, is it going to be anything a lily white lady would
have to hide behind her fan about? And
it took much perspiring effort on the part of the management and ticket seller
to convince their fluttering hearts that "twas" not sinful.
Humorous
Incidents
Mrs. Lila Shankle
stated to the reviewer, who was delving into the matter of the opera house, that
she wanted to go to the show one night, but her church definitely stated that it
was immoral, at least that was the theory that she had been brought up on; but
after much battling with her inner conscience, she half timidly resolved to face
the disgrace of being seen in a theater. She
arrived, took her seat with some misgivings, turned her head a little to the
right and left, hoping that she was seeing everybody and that nobody was
seeing her. Lo! And Behold!
What met her eyes, nothing more than an array of the town's leading
ministers who were getting a huge kick out of the evening's program.
Incidentally, Mr. Starnes corroborated this point when he told the
reporter that "yes, the preachers were our best patrons."
Traveling
Actors
In the same year
that the building was put up and operation was begun, a traveling troupe of
actors came from New York and staged Thomas Dixon's, "Sins of the
Father." A number of traveling
troupes came to the town, but this was one of the outstanding ones.
It appears from old records and reminiscences of various citizens, that
this dramatic group was quite a large affair, and that they came into
Albemarle by the trainloads from New York.
They had trained horses and animals, and gave shows which tended somewhat
on the circus order. It was
customary according to P.J. Huneycutt to take the horses on the stage and let
them perform, but it was impossible to carry out that part of the program in
Albemarle, because the theater auditorium was upstairs.
One of the other
outstanding companies that played in the old show house was that of Polk Miller,
of Richmond, Va., who traveled around with his bunch of native Virginia negroes.
Many dialect songs, skits and folk lore plays of the southern negro were
presented by these actors, which met with repeated favor.
The theater maintained a piano, but no organized band or orchestra was
employed. Polk Miller always
presented a specialty act of banjo numbers.
Dr.
Oscar Haywood
Many lecturers and
preachers used the theater auditorium to deliver addresses, as it was about the
only suitable place then in Albemarle for a public gathering.
Among the noted lecturers who appeared here was Dr. Oscar Haywood, now
of Mt. Gilead. Dr. Haywood is a
Baptist minister who formerly held quite a responsible charge in New York.
Another feather in
the cap of Dr. Haywood is the fact that he was the first man to drive an
automobile to Albemarle. He made
the trip down from New York, and Albemarle citizens got their first view of the
deus ex machina.
Drama
Succumbs to Movies F.E. Starnes operated the show largely, but was assisted by Mike Peeler, who is now living in Salisbury. He stated that the theater was well patronized during the first years of its life, but that several years later road shows began falling off in towns of this size. The building was then leased by the owners to L.O. Parker and J.C. Bost, who operated a motion picture theater for two years. This was the time when motion pictures were in their infancy, wild westerns held the first place in the heart of the public, and in the most exciting points of a picture where the hero or heroine was hanging over a cliff with death impending, the reel usually broke, and the screen went blank. The audience, with the patience of Griselda, waited between 30 minutes or an hour for the film, or machine, to be mended. At the same time that the place was used for moving pictures, local and home talent plays were also staged there, as the Albemarle school auditorium was not then built. The Albemarle Normal and Industrial Institute has also used the place for commencement programs. Funeral Morgue Ten years ago, in 1919 after the building of other picture show houses in Albemarle, the old opera house was taken over by Huneycutt and Ewing for a funeral morgue. "It was in 1919," said Mr. Huneycutt, "when the flu epidemic was so bad that we found it necessary to move our funeral home here over our place of business. But last fall we moved things to the Stanly Funeral Home, and now we use this place just for a junk room," continued Mr. Huneycutt to the reviewer. "Yes, and the whole time we've been using the place", remarked J.E. Ewing, who made up the party that was looking over the old spot, as he turned half teasingly to Mr. Starnes, "We've paid Starnes rent enough to have bought the blame thing." According to Mr. Starnes, when questioned as to what became of the theater fixtures, he replied that the staging effects and scenery were sold to Jethro Almond, local show man, soon after they went out of business. |