Columbus – Southern Theatre

Current Name of Theater: Southern Theatre
Current Type: performance theater
Seats: 933
Website: http://www.capa.com/venues/southern-theatre
Historic Names of Theater: The Great Southern Fireproof Hotel and Opera House, Towne Cinema, Southern Theatre
Address: 21 E Main St, Columbus, OH 43215
Contact: (614) 340-1896
Year Built/Style: 1896
Original Architects: Dauben, Krumm, and Riebel
Original Cost: $1.5 million
Listed on National Register: yes – 82001458, December 2, 1982
History of Theater: After fire destroyed five downtown theatres between 1889 and 1893, an assembly of businessmen decided to enhance the city’s south side with a new and improved fashionable hotel. Designed by the prominent local architectural firm of Dauben, Krumm, and Riebel, construction began in 1894 on the Great Southern Fireproof Hotel and Opera House. The Southern Theatre opened on September 21, 1896, and the hotel opened the following summer. Constructed of “fireproof” tile, brick, iron, steel, and concrete, the theatre, which originally seated 1,723 on three levels, was praised for its plush seats, stylish boxes, excellent sight lines, and absence of posts or other obstructions. Its ample stage dimensions proved more than up to the challenge of the 1903 touring production of Ben Hur, which featured a cast of 350 and a chariot race, in which two teams of horses galloped on treadmills for a mile!
A Modern Facility
The Southern Theatre departed from the classical opera house by incorporating features considered very “modern” for its day. Most notable was the design of the audience chamber ceiling. From the proscenium opening, a series of concentric arches radiated into the house, creating an acoustic system that is still nearly perfect today.
The Southern Theatre was one of the first commercial facilities in Columbus to use electricity. The six arches that fanned out over the orchestra were lined with light bulbs-204 lamps in all! Tinted globes shaded the bulbs, giving the effect of warm, diffused light over the entire theatre. Ahead of its time, the building had to produce its own electricity. The complex also produced its own water supply from three wells in the basement.
Grand Acts for a Grand Stage
The Southern’s opening entertainment was the Broadway touring production of In Gay New York, followed by An American Beauty starring Lillian Russell. During its early years, the greatest names of the theatrical world played the Southern, including Ethel and Lionel Barry more, John Philip Sousa, Sarah Bernhardt, Al Jolson, and W.C. Fields. Actress Maude Adams flew from the stage to the balcony in an early production of Peter Pan and dancer Isadora Duncan refused to play Columbus unless she could play the Southern!
Changes for the Southern
By 1901, the Southern was still struggling to cover the building costs, said to have been $1.5 million. Fred and Ralph Lazarus stepped in, purchasing the property at an auction for $235,000. The brothers oversaw many renovations, including the installation of the a projection booth and the removal of the first several rows of the arches so the newly installed pipe organ could be heard from behind. By 1931, the Southern was a full-time movie house. After decades of increasing maintenance issues, the Lazarus family sold the facility to a realtor with plans of turning it into an apartment building and garage. That didn’t come to pass, however, and in 1979, the Southern’s doors were closed.
A Piece of Columbus History
The oldest surviving theatre in central Ohio and one of the oldest in the state, the Southern Theatre opened in 1896 as part of a performance space and hotel complex on the corner of High and Main Streets. The Southern was designed for theatrical touring productions and later accommodated silent films, vaudeville, first-and second-run motion pictures, dance, country music reviews, and community events.
Over its stage life, the Southern hosted performing celebrities, including singer Lillian Russell, actors Ethel and Lionel Barrymore, Maude Adams, Sarah Bernhardt, dancers Anna Pavalova and Isadora Duncan, John Philip Sousa, Al Jolson, George M. Cohen, Mae West, and W.C. Fields. Closed in 1979, the theatre was gifted to CAPA in 1986.
Cost of Rehabilitation:
Architect: Rogers Krajnak Architects
Contractors:
Source of Funds:
Renovation Story: The theater closed in 1979 and in 1986 was acquired by CAPA. After sitting empty for nearly two decades, the Southern was completely restored by CAPA in 1997-98 during an extensive 14-month rebuilding process. The newly restored Southern Theatre reopened on September 26, 1998.
Rogers Krajnak Architects was commissioned by The Columbus Association for The Performing Arts (CAPA) to renovate a portion of this historic theater built in 1896. The project included the removal of the audio control area located at house left and the installation of a new aisle and additional seating to match the adjacent areas. The renovated area on house left now matches the corresponding area on house right which was previously renovated in 1998 (a comprehensive theater renovation for which Peter Krajnak was the Project Manager while employed with his previous firm).
The new renovated area included the restoration and installation of an ornamental copper panel that was removed during the previous renovation. An historic brass post, a new curved steel railing, a new wood cap, decorative painting, segmented wood strip flooring and carpeting were carefully integrated into the renovated area to match adjacent finishes.