Nearly a century of history
at the Jefferson Theater:
• February 7, 1914: The most famous event that never
happened was a "musical dancing divertissment" by Evelyn Nesbit Thaw.
The wife of the murderer of Stanford White, the world-famous
architect who designed many of UVA's buildings, Ms. Thaw was denied
the stage by Mayor A.V. Conway, citing possibly injury to the morals
of the community. So she took the train west to Staunton and played
to a packed house there.
• March 4, 1924: World-famous extricator and occult-basher Harry Houdini (right) performed two shows, including escaping from his famous "Chinese Water Torture Cell.
• April 21, 1926: Firebrand evangelical preacher Billy Sunday, who called himself "God's Warrior," denounced the Devil and worldly evils to a packed house.
• February 17, 1930: Charlottesville Hero, a two-reel film shot entirely in Charlottesville earlier in the year by a Hollywood crew, premieres. The film was sponsored by the Daily Progress to demonstrate the relatively new medium of film.
• July 24, 1940: The stage served as the set for a cabin scene for the making of Virginia, a film shot on location in Charlottesville and Albemarle and starring Fred MacMurray.
• November, 1992: In what would become a Charlottesville tradition, noted film critic Roger Ebert gives the very first of his scene-by-scene analyses of major films. This year it was Citizen Kane.
•
December 12, 1993: Almost a rock star, Dave Matthews puts on an
acoustic concert with friend and occasional side-man, Tim Reynolds.
While the duo would later sell out much larger venues, their fame was
still rising here, and only 40-50% of the tickets were sold. One
spring day in 1998, Dave Matthews returned to the Jefferson.
Unfortunately, this time it was merely for a photo shoot for one of
his band's platinum albums. The photo at right was shot on the
Jefferson stage during a break in the real photo shoot.
• April 13, 1995: On his way to stardom, North Carolina-based Ben Folds Five opens for Shannon Worrell at the Jefferson. Local photographer Alexandra Searls shoots a picture from the front row that winds up being the only band shot in their first major-label CD!
• April 6, 1995: Heart's Lonely Hunters, a locally shot and produced film, which included footage shot in the projection booth and in the flyspace earlier in the year, premieres.
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