Sept. 20, 2006
COMMUNITY UNITING BEHIND KEITH ALBEE
Women’s Club, Rotary Donate to Keith Albee Foundation; Workers Haul Dusty
Materials Away; More Volunteer Sessions Coming; McConaughey on Oprah Today;
Winfrey Will Devote Upcoming Show to Marshall Story
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By Tony Rutherford
Huntington News Network Writer
Huntington, WV (HNN) -- Co-President of the Keith Albee Foundation, David
Tyson, emphasized Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 19, 2006, that there is “work for
everybody” at the Keith Albee. But most of it will be dusty, requiring
lifting of metals, and tossing items into dumpsters.
“It’s pretty dirty,” Tyson said, suggesting that “wearing washable” items
are a must.
While the Tuesday work party concentrated on completing the removal of the
former left and right mini-theatres, plastering, dusting and other projects
remain before the movie palaces will be spic and span for the December 12
“We Are Marshall” world premiere. More volunteer parties will be announced.
If you wish to confirm time frames, call Tyson’s office at (304) 529-2593.
Meanwhile, the theatre received a $2,500 donation from the Huntington
Women’s Club, the second oldest in the state, and $1,600 from the Rotary
Club.
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The Women’s Club has co-sponsored Young People’s Concerts at the theatre with Cabell County Schools and Marshall University.
Both Walker and Becker remembered another Women’s Club/Keith Albee tradition --- the annual variety production of the song, dance and skit show “[Gay] Capers,” which was performed annually in the 1940s-1970s. Both women remember rehearsing their dances on the Keith Albee stage.
Ms. Walker remembers her first trip to the Keith Albee as a child. “I told my mother that the stars were awesome,” she recalled. Of course, mom had to spoil her imagination by revealing that the “stars” were actually “lights” on the ceiling. Encouraged by seeing the work in progress, Walker and others observed with delight that “this is the Keith Albee we remember.”
Anthony Hensley, an MU graduate student and former Keith Albee employee, worked the Saturday morning volunteer session in which the walls of the mini-theatres fell revealing the full auditorium for the first time since the 70s.
“I was in such awe,” Hensley said. “I got cold chills,” adding that he hopped up on the stage and said “Hello” which came back with perfect pitch. He then belted out “Delta Dawn” and “Amazing Grace” in honor of the occasion.
Hensley, who plans to open the West Virginia School of the Arts somewhere in downtown Huntington, applauded the fact that two dance schools have relocated downtown. “It’s wonderful that all the arts are coming downtown where we can collaborate.”
Remembering the range of talent that has performed on the Keith stage, the list includes George Burns, Bette Davis, Whoopi Goldberg, Jessica Tandy, Judy Collins, B.B. King and many more. Hensley hopes that arts students will be able to rehearse on the stage due to the “karma” and “energy” present. During his years working at the theatre, Steve Frye and he found original blueprints and sheet music from the 20s in one of the upstairs rooms.
Both Frye and he took on the dangerous mission of replacing the “lights” in the ceiling that allowed the stars to re-appear. Changing the lights for them meant balancing on a narrow catwalk above the plaster ceiling and carefully balancing themselves while the new bulbs were put in.
Thinking back to its vaudeville days, Hensley recalled that Huntington’s Keith was a “gem” in a circuit that began in New York City then moved to Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and then Huntington, W.Va.
During the Tuesday evening session, Derek Hyman, president of the Greater Huntington Theatre Corporation, dropped by to gaze at the auditorium without the dividers. He remembers selling tickets during his youth at the theatre, just before his dad [Jack] made the decision to construct the small auditoriums so the building would remain financially viable.
Although he handed off control of the theatre so a non-profit entity could get donations and grants to fully restore the palace, I could see a gleam of pride in Hyman’s eyes as he gazed upon the auditorium.
“The Hyman’s have been so wonderful for funding [partial] restoration projects,” Hensley said, recalling when two employees donated their time and Derek bought materials to upgrade restrooms areas and the exterior marble box office.
However, Hensley and others hit upon a key component that had been missing from the Keith Albee revitalization --- “the community is needed to bring it about.”
In fact, after the theatre stopped showing movies, young and old have lent their support for ensuring that the Keith once again echoes the grandeur that it once had as a 1928 Thomas Lamp atmospheric movie palace. Those cross sections of the community are evident from the volunteers who range from high school students, to women with fond memories, to the co-presidents --- a lawyer and state senator, all pitching in and loading building materials into dumpsters to get the Keith ready not only for an International Film Festival but for the world premiere of “We Are Marshall.”
The Herald Dispatch reported today that Warner Bros. had confirmed that Oprah Winfrey will indeed devote one program to the Marshall plane crash story to her national audience. One episode will be devoted to the movie, although specific details have not yet been finalized. Matthew McConaughey will appear on Oprah’s show at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20 on WSAZ, but no word on whether he will be discussing the Marshall movie.
Volunteers will be needed on an on-going basis prior to the International Film Festival, the fall Marshall Artists Series and the “We Are Marshall” premiere.
As you can readily see, the dust that has gathered on the seats will have to be cleaned. Major and minor plaster work and other patching will be done. Wires and other electrical work are necessary to install the newly purchased projector and sound equipment.
In fact, one picture from the stage shows there bigger than a person speakers that had been in the house for years. The small JBL’s lying on the stage floor will replace the large, ancient speakers.
Even, as the dust, metal shards, and insulation lies covering portions of the auditorium and the lobby stays crowded with dumpsters and dust masks, those who have ventured inside stop and gaze in awe: It’s amazing, they say, it will be the theatre it once was. The one we remember before the multiplexing became an economic necessity.
Appropriately, Junior Ross, who has been working at the Keith Albee for at least 47 years, has temporarily been placed in charge of the project. In fact, during the time frame between its closing as a movie theatre in January 2006 and continuing until now either he or one of the other GHTC employees have every other day walked the massive 3,000 seat complex to ensure that nothing happened to it i.e. a major plant breakage that unless caught quickly might forever have damaged the palatial structure.
Ross presided over the last movie at the Keith starting the showing of Steve Martin’s “Cheaper By The Dozen II,” completing a long climb to the booth which at the time brought feeling of a condemned walking the ‘last mile.’ Previously, he managed the East Drive In Theatre on U.S. Route 60 East, which later became Wal-Mart and is now the location for the Huntington Internal Medicine Group.
Many of Ross’ friends have passed on, including one of a kind projectionist William Harrah, who always talked about “claim jumping” by customers who would go from theatre to theatre without paying a second admission. Before Harrah, John Gallimore worked the Keith. And, who can forget the Mayor of Fourth Avenue, Allan Cross, whose spiffy outfits, gruff exterior but gentle interior, was for decades an icon.
Ironically, despite the City of Huntington differing in their viewpoints based on politics, age, or wealth (or lack thereof), the Keith Albee closing banded together representatives from throughout the community. They each have a common historic, arts and entertainment heritage and whether it was a first movie, walking across the stage to graduate from high school, or performing in a “Capers” production, everyone loves the Keith Albee.
Thus, as the Labor Council donates its work to save the new non-profit thousands of dollars, volunteers grab a crowbar, a dumpster, or a piece of metal. They see past the debris on the carpet, the scratches here and there to ornamental plaster or woodwork. They think of the spotlights, green carpet, and fancy dresses when the cast and filmmakers of “We Are Marshall” return to walk the aisle.
And, despite most not having funds to afford the $250-$1,000 tickets, they do not seem to care in their work. The Keith is their heritage. As part of the city where they spent many enjoyable entertaining times and for which they have pleasant memories of growing up, the Keith is a legacy they want to see restored to the way it was so that those who come later will see the grandeur, richness and beauty of a “Cathedral of Entertainment” built during a time when movie theatres were the common person’s “castle” or “palace,” a place where they could briefly gaze upon luxury before returning to their working place homes.
For the Keith Albee to find a new renaissance, all of those people who still call it “awesome” and “beautiful” must continue their bonds across community segments so that the rare movie palace remains a viable, vibrant, historic point of price for Huntington, W.Va. After all, many cities simply tore down the movie palaces for urban renewal in the 60s after flicks moved to multiplexes.
Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio, preserved many of their theatres. Cincinnati did not with a house larger than the Keith with a double sided arched staircase with marble and murals falling to become part of a new hotel. The task for Huntington is only beginning. After putting the building in order and looking awesome, the Keith Albee Foundation must secure programming (i.e. performances) that keep the building open and successful throughout years to come.
