The Ritz Theatre is a historic

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

Brunswick, Georgia Brunswick ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Glynn County, Georgia, Glynn County in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As the primary urban and economic center of the lower southeast portion of Georgia, it is the second-larges ...

. Built in 1899, it originally served as an

opera house An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...

, but was later converted to a

movie palace A movie palace (or picture palace in the United Kingdom) is a large, elaborately decorated movie theater built from the 1910s to the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opening every year between 1925 and 1930. Wi ...

. The building is currently owned by the city of Brunswick and is a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...

of the

Brunswick Old Town Historic District Brunswick Old Town Historic District is a Historic districts in the United States, historic district in Brunswick, Georgia. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 26, 1979 and includes an area bounded by 1st Street, ...

History

The Grand Opera House was built in 1899 as the main

. Plans for the construction of the building had been in place since 1895, and the building served as a replacement for the L'Arioso Opera House, which had been destroyed by a storm in 1896. In addition to the theater, the building housed several

retailers Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler ...

on its first floor, and the second and third floors served as the general offices of the

Brunswick and Birmingham Railroad The Brunswick and Birmingham Railroad (B&B) was a railroad in southeastern United States. Its main route ran from Brunswick, Georgia to Sessoms (just east of Nicholls, Georgia). History The Brunswick and Birmingham Railroad was chartered on ...

. Following renovations in the 1920s or 1930s that included the installation of a marquee, the building was renamed the Ritz Theatre and converted to a

. During this time, the theater was segregated, with

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

allowed to enter the building through a separate door and view showings from the

balcony A balcony (from , "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. They are commonly found on multi-level houses, apartme ...

. In 1980, the city of Brunswick bought the property, and since 1989 it has been managed by the Golden Isles Arts and Humanities Association. Today, live performances, movie screenings, and other art exhibits are held at the venue.

References

External links

* {{Commons category-inline, Ritz Theatre (Brunswick) Brunswick, Georgia Historic district contributing properties in Georgia (U.S. state) Performing arts centers in Georgia (U.S. state) National Register of Historic Places in Glynn County, Georgia 1899 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Theatres completed in 1899