Two years later, in 1928, the group named itself the Community Little Theatre on its way to becoming the Greenville Little Theatre. It took just a few months before the Greenville Artists Guild held its first performance, “The 12 Pound Look” in the Ramsay Fine Arts Auditorium. to hear about ways to start their own theatre. In 1926, 75 Greenville residents gathered at the library to meet with representatives of the Town Theatre in Columbia, S.C. In the 1920s, cities around the country opened little community theatres. Perhaps more important than the current building is the group who uses it. Executive director Allen McCalla says, “There can be an ambulance going past on College Street and you can’t hear it.” Sound travels well throughout the space and also makes it difficult for sound to leave. Notice its layered and intricate design, which allows for exceptional acoustics. If you can get access, go inside and look at the wooden ceiling. Built in 1967, this venue has provided theater-goers with light comedies, mysteries and golden age musicals for generations, with performances in the same spot where local theatre got its start more than 90 years ago. What a shame!Īlthough we can mourn the loss of this important building, the Greenville Little Theatre deserves its own praise as an organization that now claims the spot. The David Ramsey Fine Arts Center, one of the newest and most beautiful buildings on the site, serving the entire community, was the first to be destroyed in 1964. Whythe could proceed with demolition plans. However, Furman needed the money to pay for its new campus and sold the land to the city of Greenville. Whythe, the President of the Board of the Directors of the Greenville Little Theatre, fought preservationists who did not want to see the destruction of the GWC because of the college’s storied history. Plans to tear down the buildings of the GWC were discussed by Furman President John Plyler and other Greenville city officials and board members, including C. Before the Memorial Auditorium or Peace Center, this was the site of the Upstate's biggest plays and concerts.īy the 1960s, the Greenville Women’s College had merged with Furman University, which was in the process of moving its campus eight miles north of Downtown Greenville. The building's 6000 square feet gave plenty of room not only for GWC talent, but also most major productions in the Greenville area. In 1927, one of the bulletins described the variety of classes in piano, voice, violin, organ, and art techniques. Yearly bulletins passed out in the 1920s to Greenville Women’s College Alumni highlighted the success of the programs. The Fine Arts Center became the focal point of the Greenville Women’s College, as it allowed the students to immerse themselves in music and arts. He wanted the emphasis to be on the students, who were the “creative force of modern civilization.” The building was named for David Ramsey, a president, chairman, and a promoter of “the ideals of womanhood.” Judy Bainbridge’s book Academy and College emphasizes Ramsey did not want significant public attention for himself after the building's completion. When the finances of GWC were in order by 1922, the college saw the completion of its major arts venue and theatre. The Greenville Women’s College had a significant nineteenth century past, but struggled to expand its small campus because of Post-World War I debt. Ramsey Fine Arts Center, and afterward as the current theatre space. The location of this "Little Theatre" has had a dramatic impact on Greenville's cultural scene, first as the David M.
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