Roger L. Stevens Center
407 W. Fourth Street,
Winston-Salem,
NC
27101
407 W. Fourth Street,
Winston-Salem,
NC
27101
4 people
favorited this theater
The Carolina Theater was opened in 1929 with a seating capacity of 2,600 and cost $1 million to build. It was the largest theatre between Atlanta and Washington D.C. and was operated by Publix-Saenger. The stage was 40 feet deep and 80 feet wide. The Carolina Theatre was where Elvis Presley performed in 1954, prior to his first national hit record. It was closed in 1975.
The Carolina Theatre was purchased in 1975 by the North Carolina School of the Arts and turned into a performing arts center known as the Roger L. Stevens Center. Building work was carried out which truncated the height of the auditorium interior by raising the orchestra level to the level of the first balcony seating, which, when completed in 1983, the Roger L. Stevens Center opened with a seating capacity for 1,385. Unfortunately, the UNCSA destroyed the Art Deco style marquee, and the Neo-Classical style figures which were sculptured across the top of the proscenium. It is now a mere shadow of its former greatness, as the Carolina Theatre was spectacular, whereas the Sevens Center is bland.
Dale Pollock, the Dean of the Filmmaking School and a former film producer began a film festival in 2003 and once again shows movies at the Stevens Center. Pollock also planned to have screenings of classic films (from the school’s archives), which would be open to the public.
Contributed by
Ross Melnick
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Recent comments (view all 13 comments)
I performed in bands on the stage of the Carolina Theater in the 1960s.
I have some photos, as well as some “Winston-Salem Journal” newspaper ads. I also have a sound bite (MP3) of WTOB Radio DJ, Dick Bennick.
He was a MC at the theater for many of their Saturday Morning Kiddie Shows and for several late night horror shows. This may have helped him develop his DR. PAUL BEARER character, which later moved to TV.
I will try the “Add Photo” link (in the “Add Your Cinema Treasure! section) to the left to add my photos. As for my MP3 file, I don’t see a link to upload it.
Here is a photo, circa 1950s:
http://tinyurl.com/6pq4qp
Stevens Center website
The year given for this interior photo is 1962. Church services were being held here when the photo was taken.
1978 photo of the Carolina Theatre.
View link
Here is a B&W marquee shot:
http://tinyurl.com/d52hfp
The UNCSA completed their multimillion dollar renovation of the Stevens Center in 2003.
Their web page is now:
http://www.uncsa.edu/StevensCenter/
The Stevens Center hosted a series called ‘Films on Fourth’ for a few years, very recently if I recall. They stopped this in 2006. Mostly arthouse and independent films that were only playing in NY and LA, the shows were often soldout and filled to capacity. I saw ‘Lost in Translation’ here and the entire audience applauded when the film was over. Not sure why they stopped this series, it appeared quite successful.
The Carolina Theater in Winston-Salem NC was bought by the North Carolina School of the Arts in the late 1970’s and “renovations” were completed in 1983 -not 2003. I also question why it is listed under its current name, The Roger L. Stevens Center, since the Carolina, which was a historic and beautiful theater was gutted, not renovated, to make the Stevens Center. The original marquee was removed and the exterior has been almost entirely rebuilt. The proscenium, which featured a magnificent sculptural tableau of charioteers and a 7 foot tall statue of a goddess, was destroyed by the N.C. School of the Arts in order to raise the orchestra level to the height of the first balcony. Consequently, the original street level lobby was closed off and patrons now have to enter and immediately climb stairs (to the original first balcony level) to enter at the new orchestra level. To those of us who still remember the Carolina, she died over 30 years ago and I don’t want that history to be lost.
I agree with Imago the Winston-Salem Carolina theater needs its own article.