Virginia Theatre
256 W. Washington Street,
Suffolk,
VA
23434
256 W. Washington Street,
Suffolk,
VA
23434
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The Virginia Theatre was built in 1915 and operated as a vaudeville theatre. It is possible it also screen movies as part of the vaudeville programme. It was closed in the early-1920’s.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
Being a Suffolk native I had never heard of this theater. I might have to ask around. The building in this postcard looks familiar.
This primarily vaudeville venue was built in 1915 and was located at what is now known as 256 West Washington Street, which is currently a vacant lot. It was slow to embrace motion pictures as a form of entertainment, although it was said to have shown the silent epic, D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation. That, however, has never been authenticated.
By 1920, an actual movie house, Nansemond Fotosho, on North Main Street, had pretty much put vaudeville out to pasture in Suffolk, and the Virginia Theatre was shuttered, torn down, and replaced with an automobile dealership, Nansemond Motor Corporation. The building on the left side of the theater still stands, although it would be difficult to recognize after it was “modernized” in 1962.
The 850-seat Virginia Theatre launched October 30, 1913 with 300 seats in the balcony. The rear balcony was reserved for African American audiences. The Suffolk Theatre Company launched to a capacity crowd. Film-wise, the two day appearance of “Birth of a Nation” in Oct. 1916 was the biggest hit. The theater bowed out with another live show on Mary 30, 1919. A lumber sale took place as the theater was disassembled for its next usage.