Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 21, 1991 TAG: 9104210056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The theater, on the national and state registers of historic landmarks, is one of the last movie palaces in the country. The Byrd opened with the showing of "Waterfront" on Dec. 24, 1928, when Calvin Coolidge was president and alcohol was illegal.
Byrd patrons get a lot more than the latest film and a tub of popcorn.
"They get to go back in history, take a step back in time" said theater operator Duane K. Nelson, 31. The Byrd is named after William Byrd, Richmond's founder.
"We've done some cosmetic changes, but we've kept the theater pretty much intact," Nelson said.
Contemporary films such as "White Fang" and "Russia House" are played on two large Depression-era projectors. Girls dressed in vintage flapper costumes sell candy and soda behind an antique concession stand that used to occupy an old drugstore and bakery in New York. A light panel built in 1929 sets the mood on stage.
Richly decorated in the French Empire style, the marble box office, crystal chandeliers, hand-painted murals and gold-leaf moulding offer a stark contrast to the concrete cubicles of cinemas today.
"Unfortunately, most people are brought up today in cinderblock theaters and there's not a lot of ambience and atmosphere there," Nelson said. "Most places are plain. They're very boring inside."
The Byrd has its own chorus line of 12 dancing girls, called the Byrdettes, who headline films on special holidays. The mighty Wurlitzer theater organ accompanies silent films on weekend afternoons, and an 18-piece jazz ensemble directed by Doug Richards of Virginia Commonwealth University performs on special occasions.
"He did the same score that Duke Ellington did at the Cotton Club in 1929 - The Duke Ellington Nutcracker Suite," Nelson said.
The Byrd is steeped in history. Soot marks are still visible on the pinnacle of the theater's 60-foot ceilings, a reminder of World War II, when oil was in short supply and the Byrd had to install a coal-burning stove.
Ghosts also are said to haunt the cavernous hall, which seats 1,400.
Theater workers on occasion have seen the ghost of a former movie-house manager who was murdered across the street while making a nightly bank deposit, Nelson said.
Another apparition has been seen in the second row of the balcony by the theater's curator, Miles Rudisill, who has been coming to the Byrd since 1939, when he was 11.
"I assume it's a ghost or someone playing a hell of a joke on me," Rudisill said. "He'd come out in November or December and sit in the same seat. It's what happens in a place like this."
The Byrd has incorporated the conveniences of a modern-day movie theater without compromising its grand old style.
Three large speakers at the front of the theater blast Dolby stereo sound. Out back, construction workers put the finishing touches to a two-tiered, million-dollar parking deck for 250 cars.
The owners of the theater, Samuel and Irma Warren of Arlington, bought the property in 1982, because they wanted to own "the jewel of Richmond," Nelson said. "It was pretty run down then."
The Warrens closed the theater for about a year while Nelson directed its renovation. The Byrd began showing films again in 1984 until last December, when Nelson's former partner failed to renew the theater's lease and patrons found themselves before locked doors.
It remained closed for about a month, and reopened on Jan. 4 under a new lease and with Nelson as the sole operator.
Only a handful of movie houses like the Byrd still exist, Nelson said. The one it was modeled after, the Roxy Theater in New York, was demolished in 1960. Other theaters have been turned into performing arts centers.
by CNB