After reopening for events earlier this year, the Star Theatre is providing a space to offer entertainment to the community.
The Town of Stuart, which owns the theatre, selected a non-profit organization called One Family Productions, to operate the theatre.
Chris Prutting, executive director, said there have been six shows held in the space since January, and several other shows are lined up.
The facility also is available to rent for a variety of events, Prutting said, such as private meetings, the Patrick County Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Summit, and Virginia Tech’s Reynolds Homestead’s one man show, “Mr. Lincoln’s Office: A Meeting with the President.”
There also have been birthday rentals and other events offered by the Reynolds Homestead, Prutting said. The town also hosted its annual Beer & Wine Festival there.
Prutting said he expects events may slow down over the summer, but pick back up in the fall and winter. One Family has also scheduled events at the theatre until the end of the year.
While One Family is still working on a rental package, Prutting said he calculated a full-day rental for $300. A half-day rental is $150, but for non-profit organizations it’s $200.
“Then it’s like an a la carte kind of thing. Like our tables and chairs are included, but like if you want pub tables, if you want to use the popcorn machine, if you want to use our drink dispensers, if you want to use any of our sound equipment, you know it’s kind of like you pick and choose that stuff,” he said.
Prutting said he also works with people on pricing as he’s “not a stickler” for the pricing rules.
The half day rent, at$150 “for a birthday party to me, is about as reasonable as you can get around here. I mean I know it’s about $100 for the Rotary Building, but the atmosphere’s not the same,” he said.
Prutting said the goal is for the theatre to be a space for anybody to visit, whether it’s locals or those outside the county. All are welcome to partake in any and all of the many good ideas coming down the pipeline.
“So many people have good ideas too, like it’s not only us, but people just having ideas, like a kid’s night where they just come and play video games or whatever on the big screen, glow party, Superbowl party. I mean when you have these screens, you know, why not,” he said.
Prutting said he also wants to make the Star a prominent scene that will kick off Stuart’s downtown revitalization.
Kristin Hylton, an at-large member of the organization, said that speaks to what Town Manager Bryce Simmons’ original goal for the theatre.
“That he envisions the Star being an anchor for the downtown’s arts district area. He has talked a lot about uptown being more commerce and downtown being more arts, especially with Calliope and things like that coming in as well,” she said.
Hylton said another goal is to just ensure the theatre is a space where the community feels welcome and is accessible.
Prutting said Stuart received American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds during the COVID-19 pandemic, and “basically, they purchased everything that they needed on their wish list at that point before they were even communicating about the Star. To a point where ARPA and the federal government were going to start taking these funds away because you’re not spending it anymore,” he said.
Prutting said Simmons put a proposal in to invest in the Star with only ARPA funds and no taxpayer money.
The Town Council approved purchasing the theater in mid-summer 2023, took the lease over, and then put out a request for proposals (RFPs) at the end of September.
Ultimately, One Family Productions’ presentation was selected, and the group became custodians of the Star in November.
“We officially signed the lease on January 5, and have just been kind of going ever since,” he said.
The organization pays $300 rent each month for the first year. The rent will increase to $500 per month in the second year.
“In the grand scheme of it all, you walked into a diamond. I mean this place was really well-taken care of after remodeling in the early 2000s. Never has been a real issue,” he said.
While there’s nothing One Family has had to work on regarding the building, Prutting said the organization does have a short list of things it wants to improve.
“We just recently had the front soft washed and it looks really good, almost brand new. We have got a quote to update the facade, not to change it, but to update it. For years and years, the sun has just bleached that color. I mean it was such a dark color if you look at old newspaper clippings when they first put it back up there,” he said.
Prutting said the organization also wants to update the marquees on the entrance’s side walls, potentially digitally, and soundproof the area.
“One of the biggest in the business, Stagetown, came here to give a quote to see about putting sound damping in here, putting up really nice theater curtains, projector, new screen, new speakers, new sound system, update lighting, and things like that,” he said.
Prutting said none of the upgrades will aesthetically change the historic feel of the building. He added his dream is that the theatre would become a place for artists to record music and release albums.
“We’ve had such a positive response from every band that’s played here so far, about how great this spot is,” he said.
Hylton said Peter Holland, who performed the “Mr. Lincoln’s Office” play, also noted the theatre would be a great space to record live theater “because the ambiance here is so good. You know, in a lot of places, even with photography but especially with videography, you’ve got eyesores in the background. He was like, with some theatre curtains and stuff, this would be a really amazing space,” she said.
Hylton said the Beasley family originally opened the theatre on June 6, 1942. “The first show that was here was ‘Carnival in Costa Rica,’ and then they had movies here very frequently and music and a really wide variety,” she said.
The theatre operated into the 1950s but closed sometime in the early 1960s. Since then, “it was a laundromat, apartments, and then a furniture store. We know that the furniture store was the last thing, but I’m not sure what order the apartments and laundromat were in,” she said.
Tom and Carol Beasley acquired it in 2004, and reopened the theatre as the Historic Star Theatre in October 2005.
“I think the coolest thing that Tom told me the other night was when he was a kid, he remembers coming in and being able to watch a matinee, get his popcorn, and get a fountain soda for .25 cents. So, that would have been in the late ’50s, early ’60s when he did that,” she said.
Hylton said the most surprising find was that the theatre also screened some not so family-friendly material.
“In 1953, we can confirm that the Star was showing movies that we may not show today. I found an ad in October 1953 for a movie called ‘The Side Streets of Hollywood,'” she said.
Those interested in renting the theatre may visit www.OneFamilyProductsions.org and look under the event calendar, or contact Prutting at cprutting@onefamilyproductions.com.
