ILLINOIS THEATERS

Small town cinema perseveres in the Land of Lincoln

Benita VanWinkle is the photographer who’s spent the past 40 years documenting the American small-town theater. She just came back from a summer tour where she photographed 50 theaters in the Northeast and Midwest. She also took part in some book signings for America’s Hometown Theaters: Please Remain Standing, a book that just sold out of its first printing. New editions are due in September.

“ The cinema world is smaller than we all might think, and shrinking in many ways still, but so many people were so kind to be supportive and encouraging about the book,” she said.

An art professor at High Point University in North Carolina, VanWinkle has strong roots in Illinois cinema. It was her graduate project at Southern Illinois University that set her on the road to shooting movie houses wherever she could find them. So far, VanWinkle has photographed over 1,200 U.S. theaters so I had to ask her: what are some that stand out in Illinois?

Here is a list of Illinois theaters that she said hold great memories for her:

Egyptian Theatre – DeKalb. “It still didn’t have air conditioning in 2016 when I visited. A beautiful theater with the theme prominently on display, there was an Egyptian “sarcophagus” standing next to the ATM machine. Somehow that seemed very fitting.”

Grand Theatre, DuQuoin – “I met a man there who was a retired minister, Bernard Duckwroth. While I was on the street photographing, I asked him about the theater. He said his mother had been an usher there when Gone with the Wind came to town, but she wasn’t allowed to work because the language was not proper for a young lady to hear. Even the male ushers were asked to step outside during that one line.”

Heart Theater, Effingham – “Purchased by Amy Van Bergen, and donated to a non-profit that is trying to restore it. The theater obviously had lots of sentimental value as many people mentioned how important it was to the community and how hard the previous owner had worked to keep it going. The morning I was there, a man was sleeping on the bench outside the theater. I felt like it was a symbol of a community that was trying their best.”

Massac Theater, Metropolis – “Of course, the home of Superman, but also an amazingly beautiful Art Deco beauty. The DJ of the radio station that was in the old projection room occupying part of the balcony, told me about a ghost he had seen there in the wee hours of the morning, a woman dressed in a long dress and standing just outside his recording room. We stepped outside the station room so he could show me where he had been. There was a large hole in the roof, and sunlight was shafting down into the auditorium with dust sifting through the air as the pigeons flew around inside. It was a vision I will never forget. I wish I could have captured it, but didn’t.”

Orpheum Theatre, then Marion Cultural Center, Marion, - “Not far from where I attended graduate school (Southern Illinois University) was the Orpheum Theatre, which had been slated for demolition in 1971, when a woman named Jaclyn Hancock stood in front of the bulldozers that had come to tear it down. She refused to move, and the theater went on to be refurbished, restored, and used until 1997 when it burned down.”

Paxton Majestic Theatre, Paxton – “This theater was one of the few I actually photographed on a 4 x 5 camera, but I had time and a friend as an assistant in 1986. My friend had grown up in this small town, and relayed there was a theater that was part of the town lore. Two sisters, Patricia and Donna Demuth, wrote a book called Majestic Memories that recounts many events that happened at the theatre, including a surprise wedding!”

Sesser Opera House, Sesser – “When I made it to Sesser (35 miles north of Carbondale) in 1990, there was an event happening that day, and I arrived early. I asked a couple of older gentlemen who were walking around what memories they had of the theater. In less than five minutes, they were in a heated discussion about how there had originally been (or not been) a mural of the Wild Weston the walls of the theater. I quietly slipped away as the debate seemed to get more impassioned. The mural discussion has never been resolved in my mind.”

Wildey Theatre, Edwardsville - “Larry Pugh, who was the manager of the Wildey in 1990 when I was there to photograph, relayed to me that one of his favorite days was when the local junior high had come to give presentations about choosing a state fish by making costumes to sway the vote of the audience. The winner was the bluegill.”

Sterling Theater, Sterling – “That Art Moderne architecture was a huge and beautiful brick of square glass. Just stunning, day or night.”

“You can understand that there are many Illinois theaters that have captured my heart,” said VanWinkle, who’s photographed over 100 theaters in the state. “I could have listed 20 more. I still have a few Illinois theaters to get to. I was so fortunate to be living in Illinois when I was. It was a magical place. I met my husband the first day of grad school and married him less than a year later. 37 years and counting!”