Colonial Center

The Colonial Center for Performing Arts is a 501(c)(3) community theater located at 220 South Mecklenburg Avenue in South Hill, Virginia. It operates in the historic Colonial Theatre, originally constructed in 1925 by Gilbert A. Saunders for live entertainment, vaudeville, and musical productions. The building is listed on the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Virginia Landmarks Register, and the National Register of Historic Places. The theater closed in the 1970s and was later acquired by the South Hill Civic Center, Inc., then donated in 2001 to the South Hill Community Development Association, Inc. to establish a performing arts and cultural center. The Colonial Center and the Colonial Actors Theatre Society (C.A.T.S.) work to foster theatre and performing arts in Southside Virginia.

The Colonial Theatre was originally constructed in 1925 by Gilbert A. Saunders to house live entertainment, vaudeville, and musical productions. In later years, it served as a theatre for silent movies and then major modern motion pictures. The building also included the post office at one time on the ground floor, street front, as well as office spaces on the second floor and a social hall on the third floor. The Atlantic and Danville Railroad made possible the vast number of live performances held at the Colonial, which included such well-known entertainers as Joan Crawford, Clara Bow, Ronald Coleman, Vilma Banky, Louis Homer, Tex Ritter, Texas Rhythm Rangers, Gene Autry and Champ, Roy Rogers and Trigger, Minnie Pearl, and many more. The Colonial Theatre closed its doors in the 1970s to motion picture shows. A group of concerned citizens from the South Hill Civic Center, Inc. raised monies to purchase the old theatre. In the year 2000, the Montgomery family sold the Colonial to the South Hill Civic Center. The following year, 2001, the South Hill Civic Center donated the Colonial to the South Hill Community Development Association, Inc. to establish and maintain a performing arts and cultural center to serve the populace of the town of South Hill, Virginia and the surrounding counties of southern Virginia. The Colonial Center is currently a 501(c)(3) community theater and is listed on the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Virginia Landmarks Register, and on the National Park Services National Register of Historic Places.

A historic community theater and performing arts center serving South Hill, Virginia and surrounding counties.

Product categories. Live theater performances · Community theater productions · C.A.T.S. Flex Passes

1. 1The Colonial Center for Performing Arts |colonialcenterva.org
2. 2History | The Colonial Center for Performing Artscolonialcenterva.org
3. 3Community Theater About Us | The Colonial Center for Performing Artscolonialcenterva.org
4. 4Colonial Centerwikidata.org