The Pennyroyal Arts Council will celebrate the Alhambra Theatre’s 95th birthday with a 1920s theme party from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 3, at the downtown theater.
“Take a step back in time to the roaring ‘20s and join us for an evening celebration of the Alhambra Theatre’s 95th birthday,” the arts council’s invitation says. “We will be announcing our 2023-2024 Live Season in addition to unveiling a historic theatre surprise!”
The Todd Hill Orchestra will play for the event, and hors d’oeuvres and birthday cake will be served. There will be a cash bar and open seating.
Tickets are $95 for a couple or $50 for a single. They can be purchased online.
The Alhambra, owned by Christian County government, opened on May 28, 1928.
The theater was built just before the Great Depression as part of a municipal building that housed city, county and state operations. Its earliest audiences came for silent movies accompanied by musicians in the orchestra pit between the stage and the auditorium.
In addition to the movie theater, the City-County Public Building constructed next door to the courthouse also had an armory, police station and city hall. The building was designed by John Trice Waller, of Hopkinsville. Other buildings he designed included Attucks High School, the Carnegie Library and Riverside Cemetery Chapel.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
