Sam Grisman Project Newberry Opera House Newberry

The Newberry Opera House is a fully restored historic building that is located in Newberry, South Carolina. The venue was built 138 years ago, in 1882. It is designed in a French Gothic architectural style. Normann, Gottfried L, did the architecture of the building. It is said to be the live performance space for popular artists, local organizations, and touring theatre companies. The live performance venue was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. The upper floor of the building was designed as a theater as well as support spaces. On the other hand, the town government used the first floor for offices, the fire company, and a jail. For many years, the venue successfully attracted individual performers, national touring companies, and various theatre acts.

Later on, the Newberry Opera House was adapted to be used as a movie theater. It showed its last movie in 1952. The restoration of the venue began in 1998. The live performance venue hosts many famed vocalists and lecturers, novelty acts and boxing exhibitions, magicians and mind readers, and much more. The community also used it for dance, meetings, musicals, college commencement exercises, and other events. Some of the notable artists who performed at the opera house include Edwin Booth, Josh Turner, Maurice Williams, the Zodiacs, John Barrymore, and Tallulah Bankhead.

Birth of a Nation (1915) was the first film shown at the Newberry Opera House. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.