Champaign, Illinois’ Virginia Theatre new canopy. Vanda Bidwell photo, News-Gazette
Champaign, Illinois, theatre news from THS member Chris Anderson:
Art (Park, 1913) Theatre – The Art Theater Co-Operative, has been in the news nationally (see http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-02-16/for-small-theaters-the-digital-future-is-dark ). More information, and a great photo of the theatre when it was the Park, back in the dawn of time, at https://www.facebook.com/TheArtTheaterCoop
Virginia (1921) Theatre A new marquee was installed on August 31, 2011 (see http://www.news-gazette.com/tag/virginia-marquee for some photos of the process). This replaced the theatre’s second marquee, which had been in place since 1937 and which was removed in November 2010. In other Virginia Theatre news, the original Wurlitzer (2/8, Opus 490) was refurbished by local organbuilders Buzard Organ Pipe Organ Builders, who added a Wurlitzer Orchestral Oboe and English Post Horn, resulting in a lovely single-chamber 2/10, which was rededicated on March 31, 2012 at 7:00 PM, with Chris Gorsuch as the featured artist. The Virginia closed in May for final stages of renovation, and is expected to re-open for Roger Ebert’s Film Festival in April 2013.
