Granada Theater and Raleigh Street Cinemas see record attendance in 2023

Dec. 29—BLUEFIELD — A big organ chamber that looks like part of a steam engine instead of a musical instrument is a sign of coming attractions for a local theater which has enjoyed a record attendance for the 2023 Christmas season.

The Bluefield Arts and Revitalization Corporation (BARC) has seen more than 6,000 people of all ages came downtown to events at the Granada Theater and Raleigh Street Cinemas for movies, music, dance recitals, live theater, school field trips and holiday parties during the 2023 Christmas season, said Tim Smith, the Granada Theater's house manager and programming director.

Smith said 2023's record attendance represents a 20 percent increase in the audiences visiting the Granada during Christmas.

Besides first-run movies including Christmas classics, audiences were able to enjoy a live theater performance of "Miracle on 34th Street" as well as live shows featuring students of STARZ Performing Arts Academy, and a concert with "America's Got Talent" singer Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr. and the bluegrass band Chosen Road.

The latter event — Chosen Road's Hometown Christmas — was a sell-out, with Mercer County's favorite gospel bluegrass group joined on stage at the Granada by the Church Sisters and Karen Peck and New River, Smith said. And the Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. concert had "amazing" attendance despite bad weather. Generations, a choir program which brings generations together, had two performances. In another show, actor Kevin Sizemore presented the movie "A Christmas Tree Miracle."

"During the holiday season, BARC was pleased to play its part in promoting Bluefield as West Virginia's Christmas City. Our programs brought local residents, school children, businesspeople, and tourists to downtown Bluefield, helping further BARC's purpose of using the arts to create opportunities for entertainment, employment, and education in the city's downtown," Smith said.

Future shows and events at the Granada Theater and Raleigh Street Cinemas are taking shape for 2024.

"Oh, absolutely," Smith said. "At the moment I'm still planning some things, but it's going to be a full-tilt spring. There's going to be some great music."

One event coming in 2024 is the restoration of the Granada Theater's original Wurlitzer organ.

"In 1928 it was purchased for $25,000," Smith said. "That was a lot of money back then."

During the 1920s, theaters across the country were replacing their orchestras with large Wurlitzer organs. The musicians performed while silent movies were being shown, but paying a whole orchestra was expensive, Smith said. Paying one organ player was cheaper. Eventually, a theater's organ player was considered the master of ceremonies.

The Granada's organ was sold years ago and ended up at the Evans Theater in Indiana. Later, it was taken to the Keith Albee Theater in Huntington. A former Bramwell resident, Bob Edmunds, found the organ while teaching at Marshall University. It became available when the Keith Albee's original organ was found.

The Granada Theater's Wurlitzer organ returned to Bluefield in June 2015. Smith said the plan is to finish its restoration by April this year. After years of work, its music will accompany a silent movie called "The Little General." It stars the late comedian Charlie Chaplin, best known in cinema history for his Little Tramp character.

"It's going to be a great, great event," Smith said.

One plan is to present an old-fashioned vaudeville show with the silent movie so the audience can get a taste of what going to the movies was like back in 1928, he added.

Besides the movies and live performances, the Granada Theater has hosted people reliving their experiences there. One visitor recalled how he learned about the bombing of Pearl Harbor and America's entry into World War II while attending a show there. In another instance, a couple celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary came back to the Granada and visited the scene of their first date and first kiss.

Performers ranging from the late singer and actor Frank Sinatra to The Three Stooges entertained audiences at the Granada, Smith said.

"It's also a place where people came and shared a lot of good memories," he said.

Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com