Capitol Theatre (Wheeling, West Virginia)
Encyclopedia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
and a landmark building in the national historic district of downtown Wheeling
Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...
. For many years it has served as the home of Jamboree USA
WWVA Jamboree
WWVA Jamboree, renamed Jamboree U.S.A. in the 1960s, and the Wheeling Jamboree in 2009, is a pioneering American radio show that featured country music from 1933–2008, and again since January 2009...
and the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra
Wheeling Symphony Orchestra
The Wheeling Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Wheeling, West Virginia. Since its founding in 1929, the orchestra has mostly performed at the Capitol Music Hall. But in May 2007, the "Capitol" closed its doors unexpectedly, forcing the Symphony to look for a new home. Temporary...
. Jamboree USA, a Saturday night live country music show broadcast on WWVA
WWVA (AM)
WWVA is an AM radio station that broadcasts on a frequency of 1170 kHz with studios in Wheeling, West Virginia, USA, and towers formerly located in St. Clairsville, Ohio, before they were destroyed in an August 2010 storm...
1170 AM from 1926 until 1977, was the second-longest running radio show in the United States, second only to the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
. The live music show annually drew hundreds of thousands of country music fans to Wheeling, where both local acts and nationally known celebrities like Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
, Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn is an American country music singer-songwriter, author and philanthropist. Born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner father, Lynn married at 13 years old, was a mother soon after, and moved to Washington with her husband, Oliver Lynn. Their marriage was sometimes tumultuous; he...
, Merle Haggard
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...
and Charley Pride
Charley Pride
Charley Frank Pride is an American country music singer. His smooth baritone voice was featured on thirty-nine number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His greatest success came in the early- to mid-1970s, when he became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis...
would perform.
History
The Capitol Theatre, designed by architect Charles W. Bates of Wheeling, was built by general contractor R. R. Kitchen at a cost of US$1,000,000.00 and first opened on ThanksgivingThanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
day 1928. The theatre initially presented movies and stage shows and later concerts by the Wheeling Symphony Society, which moved into the building in 1929. The radio station WWVA staged its first Jamboree show production at the Capitol in 1933. However, the Jamboree moved the venue to the Victoria Theatre
Victoria Theater (Wheeling, WV)
First opening its doors in 1904, Victoria Theater is the oldest operating theater in West Virginia. Located in the registered historic market district of the city of Wheeling, the Victoria is a ~800 seat Victorian style theater with many Beaux-Arts design influences...
after a year at the Capitol and the symphony followed thereafter, feeling that showing movies detracted from the musical performance. After the theatre stopped showing movies, the symphony returned to the Capitol in 1961, followed years later in 1969 by the Jamboree, which had tried several different venues since the Capitol, the longest venue being the Virginia Theater. In the subsequent years, the Capitol experienced major success as the Capitol Music Hall. In 1969, WWVA moved its studio to the Capitol building, where it produced and broadcast its Jamboree music shows. The Jamboree, the show later recast as Jamboree USA and the theatre was renamed the Capitol Music Hall; it experienced major success and drew supporters from throughout the tri-state area.
In 2006, Clear Channel, which had purchased 1170 AM and the Capitol building, cut the program due in part to declining popularity, and later closed the theatre after the building failed an annual safety inspection in the spring of 2007 and was hit with a list of fire code violations. In addition to the theatre, the Capitol Building included a ballroom, shop and recording studio, and also housed Clear Channel's other five radio stations in the region (including WWVA) which continued to use the building after the theatre was closed. WWVA now has a Saturday night "Studio 1170 Sessions" in place of the original Jamboree USA.The Wheeling Symphony has also been playing in various other venues during this time. To address the code requirements, it was estimated that the building needed a minimum of two million dollars in repairs and renovation. Clear Channel sold the building to Live Nation, which in May 2007, put the building up for sale for US$850,000.
Nearly every artist in country music has played on the Capitol's stage at one time. Artists such as Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Buck Owens, Patsy Cline, Mel Tillis, Charlie Daniels, Alan Jackson, Clint Black, Kenny Rodgers, Ronnie Milsap, Reba McEntire, Kenny Chesney, Marty Stuart, Travis Tritt, Tanya Tucker, Charlie Pride, Brad Paisley, Aaron Tippin, Waylon Jennings, Brooks & Dunn, Merle Haggard, Vince Gill, Tracey Lawrence, The Statler Brothers, The Oak Ridge Boys, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Sammy Kershaw, Ricky Skaggs, Randy Travis, Mark Chestnutt, Neal McCoy, Sugarland, Willie Nelson, John Anderson, Joe Diffie, David Allan Coe, and Alabama only begins to list the country artists that have played on the Capitol Theatre's legendary stage. Other acts such as Ray Charles, Black Sabatth, Blue Oyster Cult, Lynyrd Skynyrd, 3 Doors Down, Ted Nugent, Larry the Cable Guy, Rodney Carrington, George Carlin, B.B. King, Bob Dylan, Jeff Foxworthy, Jerry Seinfeld, David Copperfield, The Lettermen, Jay Leno, and many others have done shows at the Capitol Theatre. This year Broadway shows made their return to the Capitol Theatre with four shows. These shows were STOMP, The Drowsy Chaperone, CATS, and Jesus Christ Superstar. All four of these shows were extremely successful and popular with fans. Past Broadway shows at the Capitol Theatre have included Hairspray, Guys and Dolls, Little Orphan Annie, and many others.