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Downtown Albany, Georgia in 1927
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Historic Albany Theatre, once Southwest Georgia's leading center for the performing arts and the cornerstone of downtown Albany, Georgia development, was built in 1927 on land owned by Samuel Farkas, a Jewish immigrant who became a prominent Albany citizen after the Civil War. This theatre was built on land that had previously been the site of Farkas' livery stable and farm implement business. Adolph Gortakowsky, a land tenant of Farkas, had developed the theatre concept and given the plan to the Farkas estate. Architect Roy A. Benjamin, founder of Kemp, Bunch and Jackson, designed the theatre and built it in Classical Revival style. Historic Albany Theatre then became Albany, Georgia's first building constructed with steel beams.
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Historic Albany Theatre's Stage
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Albany Theatre, with a 2,000 seat auditorium, was Southwest Georgia's premier performing arts center. Nicknamed Southwest Georgia's Magnificent Theatre, it also served as a movie house and was comparable only to Atlanta's Fox Theatre. The auditorium featured a stage with capacity large enough for Broadway productions and an orchestra pit equipped with a Robert Morton ebony lacquer pipe organ. Performances at the theatre included Bing Crosby in 1939 accompanied by Shirley Ross, Franceiska Gaal and Akim Tamiroff promoting Paris Honeymoon, Buddy Rogers and his orchestra in 1939, Richard Himber with the NBC Orchestra and Stuart Allen, Cab Calloway in 1940 and the 1955 movie premier of Good-bye My Lady, filmed in Albany, Georgia, and starring Sidney Poitier.
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Historic Albany Theatre's Colored Entrance
Photo by Jeane Cyriaque
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Although during the days of segregation famous African-American performers performed at Albany Theatre, local African-Americans were not admitted to the theatre in the same manner as Caucasian-Americans. African-Americans were only admitted through the theatre's "Colored Entrance", a small ally accessed via a steel gate and leading to a side entrance with stairs to the balcony.
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The Crow's Nest
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Once in the balcony, African-Americans were only allowed to sit in the upper corner known as the "crows nest". From this vantage point, they witnessed Cab Calloway's performance and Good-bye My Lady.
In the early 1970s, Albany Theatre was abandoned. Oglethorpe Development Group, Inc. founded in 1996 by James R. Miller, an African-American, purchased the theatre from the Samuel Farkas estate and is currently restoring the theatre to its former glory as a performing arts center. The theatre has a Restrictive Deed, guaranteeing that it will remain a performing arts center. In August 2006, Historic Albany Theatre was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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