#TBT: Wilmington’s historic home for entertainment
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Since 1858, Thalian Hall has been Wilmington’s home to performing arts.
The building that houses City Hall and Thalian Hall has been a part of Wilmington’s cityscape for more than one hundred and fifty years. Countless parades have passed by in front of its columns. Inside the theater building, 19th century politicians debated whether to leave the Union in the run up to the Civil War. After the war, theater-goers have heard talks by a wide range of people including notorious English author Oscar Wilde and Tuskeegee founder Booker T. Washington. They have seen plays, movies, musical acts, and all sorts of entertainments.
Given how long it has towered over 3rd Street, it’s not surprising that, over the course of its long history, the building has undergone a number of makeovers. One of these makeovers was completed in April 1941.
Still, the story of the 1941 revamp began years earlier. In April 1938, the city appointed a “citizens committee” to plan the historic theater’s restoration. Wilmington-born interior designer Henry Jay MacMillan chaired the committee.
After this promising commitment by the city and its citizens, in early 1939 it looked like the city’s historic theater-city hall was in jeopardy. As work was being done on the city hall side building, one of the walls collapsed, putting the whole structure at risk. Local residents rallied to make sure that City Hall/Thalian Hall survived and the building was fixed up rather than torn down.
The theater’s renovation was a community effort. According to a local newspaper at the time, “…the Thalians themselves, in overalls and jumpers, with paint pots and brushes, with cleaning fluids and elbow grease, settled down to the restoration job.”
And so, after collapsing walls and community agitation, on April 25, 1941, Thalian Hall held a formal re-opening event. Many community groups supported the event. The Cape Fear Garden Club provided the flowers. The Thursday Morning Music Club, a local group that was official organized in 1920’s, performed the music. Those who attended the reopening saw two plays: Box and Cox by John Madison Morton, which was being revived after 85 years, and The Romances by Edmond Rostand. Since the 1940s, there have been three more renovations – one after a 1970’s fire in the interior, a second in the late 1980’s, and a third which culminated in a public re-dedication of the theater in May of 2010.
Today, Thalian is still a place where locals and visitors can enjoy plays, music, dancing, and even films. It truly is a landmark of Downtown Wilmington.
Special thanks to Jan Davidson at the Cape Fear Museum.
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