The National, formerly the National Theater and then Towne Theater, is a historic theater and performance venue located in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, US. Part of a section of Broad Street once known as Theatre Row, it is the only one of the three original auditoriums still standing. Built in 1923, the theater was constructed with an adaptable stage that allowed it to show early motion pictures as well as live performances. After a 1968 conversion to a dedicated cinema house it was renamed the Towne Theater, in which capacity it operated until closing in 1983. After an extensive renovation, the theater reopened in 2008 as The National, serving as a live music and

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

venue.

History

The National Theater's construction began in 1922 and was completed in 1923. It was built in the

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of ...

style, with the street-facing sides finished in sandstone-colored brick with

terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...

detailing. A four-story central section is flanked to the east and west by two-story wings. The street front portion of the first floor housed restaurant and retail space while the second and third contained offices. The fourth floor was dominated by the theater's projection room and a

billiard room A billiard room (also billiards room, or more specifically pool room, snooker room) is a recreation room, such as in a house or recreation center, with a billiards, pool or snooker table (The term "billiard room" or "pool room" may also be use ...

was housed in the basement. The auditorium itself originally sat 1,300, and features a large oval

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

and considerable Adamesque plasterwork. The

orchestra pit An orchestra pit is an area in a theatre (usually located in a lowered area in front of the stage) in which musicians perform. The orchestra plays mostly out of sight in the pit, rather than on the stage as for a concert, when providing music fo ...

sat 24 musicians and was considered the largest in Virginia. The theater opened on November 11, 1923 with a showing of Thomas Ince's film '' Her Reputation'', which was attended by a crowd of 2,000 that included the governor of Virginia and the mayor of Richmond. The National's stage was notable for its ability to convert from showing motion pictures to also stage live entertainment such as

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

shows. By 1966 the theater had come under the ownership of a Richmond-based firm that also owned the Colonial and State Theaters which constituted the rest of Theater Row. The National received a 1968 renovation that rearranged seating in the auditorium's balcony, covered the orchestra pit, and painted over much of the intricate

plasterwork Plasterwork is construction or ornamentation done with plaster, such as a layer of plaster on an interior or exterior wall structure, or plaster Molding (decorative), decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. This is also sometimes called parge ...

. It was also renamed as the Towne Theater. Despite the new name and look, business continued to wane as more theaters opened in the

suburbs A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

, and by 1981 it was the last theater open in downtown Richmond. It finally closed in 1983 and sat vacant for years afterward. In 1991 the City of Richmond entered into an agreement with the state government and a local

historical society A historical society is non-profit organization dedicated to collecting, preserving, interpreting, and promoting the history of a particular place, group of people, or topic. They play a crucial role in promoting historical awareness and understan ...

to purchase Theater Row; the State Theater was razed, and the Colonial's façade was incorporated into a new social services building. The National/Towne, meanwhile, began undergoing a gradual restoration by the Historic Richmond Foundation. The theater was sold in 2006 to a company that completed a $15 million renovation, and in 2008 it reopened as The National and is used as a 1,500-seat performing arts and music venue. In 2014, the venue was acquired by

AEG Live The initials AEG are used for or may refer to: Common meanings * AEG (German company) ; AEG) was a German producer of electrical equipment. It was established in 1883 by Emil Rathenau as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte El ...

. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2003 and is located in the Grace Street Commercial Historic District.

References

External links

Official website
* {{Authority control National Register of Historic Places in Richmond, Virginia Renaissance Revival architecture in Virginia Theatres completed in 1923 Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia 1923 establishments in Virginia Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Virginia