Arts Council of Wilson
Mission
The mission of the Arts Council of Wilson is to improve the quality of life for all the citizens of Wilson County by providing cultural leadership and opportunities in the arts.
A Walk Down Memory Lane
Dr. Leland Grady had a vision. He created an opera house for the people of Wilson from his two-story Nash Street office building. While there were other theatres downtown, when the Wilson Theatre opened in fall 1919, it was the downtown showpiece for the citizens of Wilson. The theatre featured a beautiful palladium exterior, plush seats, brass railings and an elaborately detailed gold-painted plaster interior. It was truly a sight to behold.
During its early years, the theatre served as a performing stage for traveling shows of vaudeville, singing acts, magicians, minstrels and plays. Vaudeville entertained the entire family with a wide variety of acts designed to replaced their daily concerns with fun, fascination and fantasy. In addition, local events, including talent and fashion shows, made the theatre a center for the town's cultural activity. Also popular with Wilson's citizens were sexy burlesque acts during the early years.
On nights when there were no live performances, the theatre was in demand for silent movies. Talkies didn't make an appearance until several years later, around 1930, but a piano played in sync with the action on the screen and kept the 800-seat audience on the edges of their seats. Like most of America, Wilson flocked to movie theatres, and the Wilson Theatre was no exception. It was a busy place through the war years of the 1940's and into the 1960's as Wilsonians lined Nash Street to see their favorite stars of stage and screen. Wilsonians may recall with nostalgia donating bottle caps or soup labels as admission for seeing a movie, as the theatre was home to silver screen stars including Ava Gardner and Cary Grant, 3D movies and Saturday morning cartoons, serials and newsreels.By the early 1970's, the Wilson Theatre showed X-rated films. Although met with much disapproval, the scandalous films played there for several years.
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