Miller Theatre

YEAH, they turned into a Fancy Nightclub,that lasted a few months,But she is still standing for private parties,now I think.

I don’t know.Everyone in the Arts would love to have the Miller going,but The Imperial is across the street.It is a tad smaller about 800 seats.we had more when it played movies.A new roof was put on the Miller.FRIENDS OF THE MILLER,which is on CT could probably answer alot of Questions.At least Augusta saved the MODJESKA,IMPERIAL and MILLER Theatres.

Yes, they had a full orchestra for ballets and operas.Tight,but we got them all in.I have pictures of almost every room in the Miller.The Elevator I don’t think was working.The Dressing rooms were much nicer than the IMPERIAL’s across the street,but the Imperial had a larger stage.

I worked as a Stagehand on “CARMEN” we spent weeks fixing up the dressing rooms downstairs and getting it ready for the Opera and Ballet.I put the Marquee up on “CARMEN” the only one I ever did Downtown,even though I worked the Imperial as an Doorman and later Assistant Mgr..I have a picture of “Carmen” that I hope my friend Nick in Tampa will get on since he has a printer,Shows the set and most of the stage.I don’t think we used the pit Elevator at all, Henry 41.

The Friends site confirms that there was indeed an elevator pit in the Miller; see this page http://www.friendsofthemiller.com/id4.html, scroll down the list of contractors to “Orchestra and Organ Lifts—-Constructed by Bruckner Mitchell, Inc.”
I never saw an orchestra in the Miller pit, and I doubt if there were many occasions in the working life of the theater when an orchestra would have been used. The “Carmen” performance in 1983 might have been one such. I would venture to guess that the lift had been inoperative for a long time. More and more when I see photos of the Miller interior I am reminded of Radio City Music Hall: the Arte Moderne styling, fabric covered walls, elevator pit, etc. Of course, Radio City holds 6,000 and the Miller “only” 1,500. As a working classical musician for 40 years, I have performed on stage and pit of many theaters, but none with a pit elevator.
I saw movies at all the Broad Street houses as a kid: Rialto, Modjeska, Imperial, Miller. The joke about the Rialto was that you took two sticks with you: one to sit on, and one to beat the rats off. It was a movie house pure and simple (“shoebox” design) and had no stage to speak of AFAIK. The others were real theaters. Vaudeville was staged at the Modjeska and Imperial before my time, but by the advent of the Miller that form of stage entertainment had pretty much vanished nationwide, a victim of the film industry. In corresponding fashion, the movie houses succumbed because of television, among other reasons.
BTW, there is one other surviving theater building in Augusta, the Palace (see http://www.friendsofthemiller.com/id6.html)) The building stands near the site of the late, lamented Union Station. (Why do we always demolish our most important structures? The concept of adaptive reuse has yet to penetrate the noodles of many of our real estate developer geniuses.)

Thanks Henry,plez add more to our Augusta theatres,can’t get many locals interested about CT.

I grew up in Augusta in the 1940s, and was a regular summer visitor throughout the ‘50s, as my grandparents lived there. I saw many movies at the Miller and have many fond memories of this beautiful theater. Does anyone recall the Saturday Youth Review, sponsored by Sancken Diary, a half-hour program broadcast live on Saturday mornings from the stage of the Miller on radio station WGAC, which was located on the second floor of a building just down Broad St. (at the corner of 7th) from the theater. The Miller had a Hammond organ in the pit, and at the beginning of the program it came rising up with the program’s theme song “Smile, Darn Ya, Smile” being played by the organist, Jack——?, who also worked at WGAC. In fact, I believe that the entire orchestra pit was an elevator, not just the organ pad, which would make it most unusual for a small regional theater. Can anyone confirm this? In the years since childhood, I have lived in many cities, including New Orleans, New York, and Rochester, and lived through the Golden Age of Radio as well as the last glory years of the American cinema, but the Miller will always be my “home” theater, and my favorite of all.

Nice photo of the interior: Miller Stage

Correction to above. The Woolworth store was at 8th and Broad, not 9th. Also, I think Scotty and Boots had a radio show on WRDW whose studios were in the old Masonic Building, also at 8th and Broad next to the Modjeska. I can recall the sidewalks being absolutely jammed, shoulder to shoulder with people. What a pleasure it is to remember simpler times of childhood 60+ years ago.

Claude Casey shown in the Cwalczak post played alot of shows on stage at the MODJESKA in Augusta,but never at the Miller.This from Bill Barkley retired projectionist.

One correction in the caption under the photo of the Miller marquee for “Three Faces of Eve”: Joanne Woodward may have been unavailable to attend the premiere because she was making a picture with Marlon Brando, but it wasn’t “The Young Lions”; it was “The Fugitive Kind.”

Augusta Amusements announces another event scheduled for Friday December 10th at the Paul Simon Theater. Nick Hilscher and his Big Band will perform “A Swingin' Holiday Featuring the Music of Frank Sinatra”. Matinee concert at 3PM and evening show at 8PM. More information at www.augustaamusements.com

No Mike thats the real count.As of that day.