Strand Theatre to hold Once in a Centennial Gala

How many times have we driven past the façade of the Strand Theatre in downtown Shreveport and not given a thought about what this place means?

One hundred years ago, the doors opened on what was to become the flagship of the Saenger chain of theatres, which eventually grew to 320 theatres across the South. Nicknamed the “Million-Dollar Theatre,” it was air-conditioned and even had its own full-time orchestra. It housed a 939-pipe Robert Morton “Golden Voice” pipe organ to accompany the silent films and entertainments presented there.

In 1959, John Wayne and William Holden were in the audience for the premiere of their new movie, “The Horse Soldiers.” The facility continued to operate as a movie theater through the mid-1970s.

Closed and in decline, the Strand was donated to the newly formed Strand Theatre of Shreveport Corporation. Its principals, Jim Montgomery, Sen. Virginia Shehee and Judd Tooke, went to work on raising the capital necessary to restore its original features, down to restoring its original marquee, chandeliers and opera boxes.

Renovations took seven years and even encouraged citizens to come in and help do their part to rehabilitate the old girl. In 1977, the theater was added to the National Register of Historic Places and is now a contributing property to the Shreveport Commercial Historic District.

In December 1984, the Grand Lady, located at the corner of Louisiana and Crockett in downtown Shreveport, reopened to a standing-room-only audience to hear the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra welcome this cultural icon back to its rightful status.

Jump ahead a few decades to today, and The Strand Theatre is celebrating its 100 years of cinema, theater and community events with the Once in a Centennial Gala. It will be held on the historic stage, featuring heavy hors d’oeuvres, an open bar with signature cocktails, live entertainment and a red-carpet entrance, including photo opportunities for attendees.

The staff suggests you dress to impress in your finest gala attire and toast 100 years of entertainment. Tickets are limited and are $100 a person. The party begins at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20.

Jenifer Hill is the current and longest-serving executive director of the Strand.

She’s witnessed many changes in the 26 years she’s called the theater her business home, including the pandemic, which threatened the theater just when its financial situation had begun to turn around. She remembers that moment clearly.

We announced that we were out of debt, of course, in January of 2020 and had to shut the doors in March for 19 months. We had to furlough almost all of the staff. We weren’t doing shows. We couldn’t. The government shut us down. The staff was out for seven months, I think. It was awful.”

Being closed to the public and unable to hold events in the space, the economic situation was dire, but not fatal. With luck, loyal donors and some sweat equity, the Strand has survived and remains debt-free.

The end of Covid might be called the new salad days for the venue.

“When Covid was over, and people really wanted to get back on the road to make up for lost time, there were a lot of shows that were easy to put up, like comedians, small combos— we call them stool and a microphone kind of shows. We can put them up easily and get them done, and they’re inexpensive, so there were a lot of shows like that,” Hill explained. “Traditionally, we have done more like 15 to 20 rentals in a year. Suddenly, we’re doing 30 to 35.”

Hill said being downtown is an advantage because it’s the center of town. “It has been struggling, but I think we are beginning to see a more vibrant downtown in the past few years. It’s very safe, especially in the western end of downtown. And we have excellent security at our shows.

“At the time the Strand was built, downtown was huge. It was the thing. It was a city, and there were many theaters. The 1920s were a boom period for Shreveport.

If you look at the other things this year that are turning a hundred years old — Byrd High School, Querbes Golf Course — it was just a time of prosperity.”

What’s behind the turnaround in Hill’s opinion is, in part, due to the creation of Shreveport Commons, the group that she says has turned this section of town into a destination. “It’s much cleaner. It’s much more inviting. It’s just better,” she said. She also thinks that having more people living downtown now gives it a more neighborhood feel.

She said that this may have started as early as 1976, when the “Strand is Grand” project opened its doors and invited the community to come down and become part of the revitalization. On Saturdays, they asked anyone from the community to come down with a mop, a broom and a pair of rubber gloves to clean out the inside. “They invited the community in, and I think that’s why it feels like ours. It feels like a part of our community. That’s one of the things that I’m trying to keep going. We belong to everyone.”

Belonging to everyone brings its own set of limitations and responsibilities, according to the executive director. The Strand presents its own programs in cooperation with local sponsors, who make entertainment possible. “When we do Strand-presented shows, to get the sponsors we need, it has to be within certain parameters,” Hill explained.

Other shows rent the Strand to present their programs. “The rentals can be anything,” she said. “We do Christian shows. If it’s legal and profitable, we will put it on stage. We don’t discriminate. We have a drag show coming up at Christmas time, which people are all up in their feelings about.”

But, if that’s not your cup of eggnog, Hill reminds you that you don’t have to buy that ticket. “By not discriminating about the type of art that we put on the stage, we are trying to make it feel like it belongs to everyone, so that there is something for everyone. There are a lot of shows that I don’t like. I wouldn’t buy a ticket to it. I have certain tastes, too. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t put it on the stage.”

Artspace has opened a curated exhibit featuring The Strand. There are nine new works of art. They invited artists and opened the theater on a Sunday afternoon, and these artists spent three or four hours walking around to get a feel for the Strand or starting their projects. It will run through Oct. 11. Mixed in with the new art are historic features about the theater.

The current season opens with local favorite Betty Buckley on Sept. 19, the day before the big centennial gala. A look at the schedule makes you understand why Hill said they’ve been so busy and still out of debt. Shows are booked almost back-to-back, and that means the staff and visiting crews have their own ballet to perform throughout the season. “On a day-to-day basis, we have six full-time and one part-time [employee]. It’s a 1.5 million dollar organization. Of course, on show days, we get much bigger. Stagehands, bartenders, security personnel and all those people come in. In theory, it works seamlessly.

“We’ll still have a Stand-presented season, and we’ll do rentals where we can bring in all types of art for the community. Be available for all the tiny dancers to get their first taste of a stage when they do their recitals in the spring. We love being the home for that.”

Love has a lot to do with presenting the arts in any form, and Hill has some fond memories to cherish about her tenure at the helm of the State Theatre of Louisiana.

“During the pandemic, I did a lot of things. I scrubbed toilets, and I did whatever needed to be done in the building. However, I also scrubbed those marble staircases from top to bottom, so I could say that I did. I can tell my grandchildren that I did that. It made her mine.”

The Strand Theatre boasts several lavish opera boxes for visiting patrons. Its interior features ornate chandeliers and columns.

A Ghostly Event

Landmarks generally can’t escape having a ghost story, and the Strand is no exception. Here it is, according to Jenifer Hill:

Here’s the story, and I don’t believe in ghosts, except that I do believe that there is an energy that animates up and that energy goes somewhere.

The day we closed due to COVID, we were going to close for two weeks, remember? After two weeks had passed, and it was clear that it would be more than two weeks, I returned to the building to walk through to ensure the plumbing hadn’t erupted. Things happen in abandoned buildings.

In the founder’s upstairs room, there are three portraits of Jim [Montgomery], Virginia [Shehee] and Judd Tooke, the three who started raising the money to do the restoration. Those portraits have hung there at least since 1991.

Jim’s portrait was 12 feet across the floor, face down. That building is plaster and steel. It does not move. We have motion detectors, it’s fully alarmed, and it’s hung with a French cleat [a sturdy and interlocking system]. It had to have lifted and flown across the room.

I picked Jim up, and I had a little talk with him, because I knew him, you know. And I told him that as long as I drew breath, I was going to make sure that this building was OK. We were having a crisis worldwide, but the building was OK, and I hung him back on the wall; he’s been fine ever since.

That’s when we got the ghost light. We’ve never had a ghost light before. I would not have believed that story if I hadn’t seen it. I firmly believe he was worried. He spent all that energy and all that time getting that building up and going again, and suddenly it just shut down with no explanation. I firmly believe that this was a concern for him. He was trying to get someone’s attention.

Executive Director Jenifer Hill is not above doing her own cleaning to keep the Strand looking grand during the Covid shutdown.