Daughter of the Stars Theater & Cultural Center opens doors

Daughter of the Stars Theater and Cultural Center

Roots & Blues with the Lee Blanton Jr. June 1; classic and alternative rock with Moe Stringz June 22; and fresh bluegrass from Rare Bird Alert July 13

By Randy Arrington

STANLEY, May 17 — The revitalization of a former 1920s movie house on East Main Street generated a lot of nostalgia for Stanley residents during a ribbon cutting on Friday.

“Being in this building brings back memories of the hardware store…you could get anything,” Town Manager Terry Pettit told a small crowd gathered May 17 at what was most recently the Stanley Flower Shop.

As the group moved upstairs and walked on the original wood floors in the century-old theater, Pettit shared another memory.

“Back in the ’70s, I used to be in a rock band and we practiced right here,” the town manager said. “It’s been here many years, and this will once again be a great asset to the Town.”

“I was also in a band that practiced here,” Stanley Councilman Doug Purdham chimed in. “I can also remember when the hardware store was here… out front there, old men gathered to gossip around the pot belly stove, telling stories about what was going on in town.

“Patrick, we thank you for bringing this back to life.”

Patrick Burns first came to the Page Valley more than a quarter-century ago and started investing in vacation rentals. He owns Skyline Hideaway up on Tanner’s Ridge. In 2010, Burns moved from Maryland into the white house at the corner of the fire hall parking lot and for several years rented the brick building at the corner of Honeyville and Main to the Stanley Flower Shop. However, his main focus (sitting behind the flower shop) would be delayed for a few years until the economy recovered from the Great Recession, “which was not the time to gamble $100,000 bucks.”

In the last three years, Burns has invested more than six figures of his own funds to renovate the old venue, now known as the Daughter of the Stars Theater and Cultural Center.

On Friday, friends, supporters and local officials gathered for an Open House and ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by the Luray-Page County Chamber of Commerce.

“You truly have created a unique place for people to enjoy,” said Chamber President Gina Hilliard.

Although there have been a handful of performances in the theater while renovations continued on the 100-year-old building, the first official, fully operational performance took place on Saturday, May 18 when Cade Nelson III took the stage. The former contestant on “The Voice” entertained a healthy crowd and kicked off the summer concert series planned for the Page Valley’s newest entertainment venue. (See upcoming shows below.)

Saturday’s performance marked a major milestone for the Theater and Burns, who still has plans to improve the property further and enhance the environment of theater-goers.

“When we bought this property…within a half hour, I thought this will be a theater. It very much was a ‘Field of Dreams’ kind of thing,” Burns said.

However, he admits the challenges were great, as opossums and pigeons had taken up residency in the old building, which had a number of other issues as well.

“That was one of our first questions…could we seriously save the building?” Burns said. “Because there were several problems with the building…we had to pull it back together…and we are now three years from the start.”

The next phase for Burns is finishing renovations to the former flower shop to create a small restaurant that will serve beer and wine. He plans to build a kitchen on the back of the building and model the front of the cafe as a “live painting” portraying the famous 1942 oil-on-canvas by American artist Edward Hopper titled “Nighthawks.” Burns also plans to have a mural painted on the side of the building that will portray local history and compliment the mural on the side of Town Hall. As performers appear at the Theater, they will sign panels of another mural that will eventually be placed in sections in the cafe.

The Town of Stanley endured massive fires in 1909 and 1915 that leveled many buildings from the railroad tracks to what is now Kibler Library. The 1920s movie house at the corner of Honeyville Avenue that showed war films and old westerns was part of the rebuilding that occurred after those fires. Now, that building is going through its own rebirth.

The 94-seat theater is modest in size, but it’s rounded tin ceiling offers amazing acoustics that musicians seem to love. Burns added some fixed seating in the back, as well as a balcony because…”any theater worth its salt must have a balcony.”

As revenues pick up and the project truly gets on its feet, Burns plans to book even bigger acts and plan more community projects. Until the kitchen is built and the cafe completed, he can only sell pre-packaged items in concessions.

As an additional source of revenue and due to his deep love of history, Burns also makes documentaries about the history of the region, which can be viewed on their YouTube channel at Daughter of the Stars Theater. The distant relative to legendary documentary filmmaker Ken Burns has produced several pieces on various local history with the help of friend and collegaue, George Ruch of Philadelphia, who worked 30 years with the QVC channel and other television productions.

On Friday, Ruch strummed an acoustic guitar for a few minutes to demonstrate the building’s amazing acoustics to those gathered for the Open House. The floor, although original, sits on top of a honeycomb support that allows it to vibrate…almost as if, it was coming back to life.

Here’s a look at upcoming events at the Daughter of the Stars Theater and Cultural Center located at 186 East Main Street in Stanley, Va.:

Saturday, June 1

Roots and Blues with the Lee Blanton Jr. Band

Saturday, June 22

Classic and alternative rock with Moe Stringz

Saturday, July 13

Fresh bluegrass by Rare Bird Alert

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All SHOWTIMES are 7 p.m.

TICKETS are $18 online or $20 at the door.

Get T-shirts, coffee mugs and tickets

at https://www.daughterofthestarstheater.com