Joy Theatre

James L. Craig, the publisher of the Rayne Tribune, opened the Opera House, continuing silent film presentations that had been running at Derouen’a Opera House. Craig’s new Opera House opened May 1, 1915 showing the silent feature, “One Wonderful Night". The theatre had two hand-cranked Edison projectors and a Wurlitzer player piano.

After Mr. Craig died, the children moved the lobby and entrance to the east side of the building and a name change in his honor to the Craig Theatre. In 1925, the name switched back to the Opera House and a 12-pipe Reproduco pipe organ was added to improve presentations. “Phantom of the Opera” was one of the first films to benefit from the new pipe organ accompaniment.

In 1928 and 1929, the theatre was updated including early Movie-Phone sound technology. When the theatre decided to go to Vitaphone, the Opera House operation moved to the Evangeline Theatre.

On January 7, 1933, the equipment and seating of the Evangeline Theatre was then moved to the Opera House with the Evangeline closing. Improved Western Electric sound on film technology supplanted the Vitaphone system. In 1935, the interior was given a refresh with a bigger lobby in the space of the newspaper and improved Western Electric sound. Competition came when operators who would become the Joy Theatre Circuit took over the former Evangeline renaming it the Joy Theatre.

Effective January 1 1937, the Joy operators took on the opera house from New Orleans to reduce the competition. On June 11, 1937 the Joy Theatre and the Opera House merged. The theatre was again updated in 1938 reducing seat count from 500 to 400. Plans were announced for a new Joy Theatre in October of 1941 and likely open in 1942. But War shortages halt the project until 1946.

As the new theatre is being executed post-War, that project changes its name to the Arcadia Theatre as the Joy Theatre location was under consideration as a discount location. The Arcadia was being built where the first Joy in town was. (It was the former Evangeline location that ended up operating as the Gem Theatre in its final days before being demolished.)

On August 9, 1946, before the Arcadia Theatre had all of the materials needed for completion, the Joy Theatre / former Opera House burned to the ground. It had lasted about 31 years. Manager C.B. “Buck” Hardy quickly got equipment to St. Joseph’s Gymnasium to create a temporary venue called Gym Theatre to complete bookings. Hardy even opened a temporary open air drive-in called Buck’s Drive-In.

As cooler weather came, the drive-in closed after its brief and only operation. Buck carved out an indoor operation: the short-lived Buck’s Theatre in a retail spot. A neighboring town’s showman would combine with Hardy to create the Bruce Theatre in Rayne.

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