Smoot holding shows celebrating 100 years
The Paragon Ragtime Band will perform on Oct. 24 at the Smoot Theatre during the presentation of “Steamboat Bill, Jr.,” part of the celebration of the 100 years since the construction of the theater in Parkersburg. (Photo provided)
The cover of a pamphlet from the 1920s about the Smoot Theatre, then one of three theaters with the Lincoln and Camden owned by the Smoot Amusement Co. in Parkersburg. The Smoot will celebrate its 100th anniversary in October with a musical show on Sunday and a silent movie on Oct.24. (Photo provided)
Meckley.
Lott.
Henrichsen.
The hallway at the Wakley Annex that will be available for tours on Sunday in a program marking the 100-year anniversary of the Smoot Theatre on Fifth Street in Parkersburg. (Photo by Jess Mancini)
The Paragon Ragtime Band will perform on Oct. 24 at the Smoot Theatre during the presentation of “Steamboat Bill, Jr.,” part of the celebration of the 100 years since the construction of the theater in Parkersburg. (Photo provided)
The cover of a pamphlet from the 1920s about the Smoot Theatre, then one of three theaters with the Lincoln and Camden owned by the Smoot Amusement Co. in Parkersburg. The Smoot will celebrate its 100th anniversary in October with a musical show on Sunday and a silent movie on Oct.24. (Photo provided)
Meckley.
Lott.
Henrichsen.
The hallway at the Wakley Annex that will be available for tours on Sunday in a program marking the 100-year anniversary of the Smoot Theatre on Fifth Street in Parkersburg. (Photo by Jess Mancini)
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PARKERSBURG - The centennial of the Smoot Theatre will be celebrated in October in two events on stage and on the screen.
"I want to make this a big thing," Felice Jorgeson, executive director of the downtown Parkersburg theater, said.
The theater opened on Oct. 18, 1926, when vaudeville and silent movies were at the top.
Two events are planned: a musical celebration at 3 p.m. Sunday with free admission to the performance; and at 7 p.m. Oct. 24 with the showing of the silent movie "Steamboat Bill, Jr." starring Buster Keaton.
The movie, released in 1928, is about a grizzled captain of a riverboat on the Mississippi who is reunited with his spoiled college-educated son, Bill Jr., played by Keaton. Just like in the days before talkies, the movie will be presented with live music from the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, Jorgeson said.
Tickets are $45 for the Oct. 24 movie and are available at Smoottheatre.com.
Tours of the historic building also will be held on Sunday, Jorgeson said. The tours will start at Wakley Hall adjacent to the theater.
"People call and ask for a tour all the time," she said "This is their chance for a tour."
Tours can include places in the building where few have gone before, including the intact projection room at the top level of the theater, reachable only by numerous and steep stairs, Jorgeson said.
"We don't have an elevator," she said.
The entertainment portion of Sunday's observance will comprise the first part of the day's activities and will last about 45 minutes, Jorgeson said. Performing will be the Smoot House Band under Jorgeson's direction.
Local singer Marsha Parsons will be joined by the rising stars from Camp Vaudeville, a summer camp for students held at the Smoot Theatre. Katie Hendrickson from the Veritas Academy in Marietta will portray Fanny Brice and sing "Second Hand Rose." Avalyn Meckley from Williamstown Elementary School will perform "Baby Face." Ethan Lott will present Babe "The Sultan of Swat" Ruth as the most famous athlete of the 1920s.
"Bye Bye Blackbird," the hit tune of 1926, will be performed by the House Band with Stephan Smith on trumpet.
Judy Smith will have live models wearing fashions of the 1920s. Many volunteers will be dressed in clothing from the 1920s and the audience is encouraged to dress for the era, too, Jorgeson said.
Jorgeson will intersperse history of the area between songs, matching it to the music, some from the 1920s, the decade when the Smoot was built, and other decades in the last century.
"Parkersburg in the 1920s was booming," she said. "All sorts of good stuff was going on in Parkersburg."
The goal is to make the history interesting, Jorgeson said.
"A lot of people think history is boring. I don't think history is boring. I think it's interesting," she said. "A lot of the music will be tied to the history. I hope I can make it interesting."
Afterward, birthday cake will be served in Wakley Hall with entertainment by Duane Flesher on the piano and Hughie Lovelady on the saxophone.
Attendees from Wakley Hall can take the backstage and dressing room tours given by Scott Cain and Jorgeson and the History Hallway where Bob Harris will explain the photos on the wall. Opportunities to go all the way to the top of the building will be available, Jorgeson said.
"We'll stay as long as folks want to climb the stairs to the top," she said.