Historic North Theatre - River City Area Magazine

I first visited 629 North Main in Danville a few months before Covid put everything on pause. It was love at first sight for me. I was given the grand tour by a wizard who calls himself a mere magician, and was awestruck and almost speechless at what I was seeing, feeling, and sensing about all that had gone into creating such a magical place. The walls oozed love and dedication to the arts, and the air was full of whispers of those gone by who worked to make this a place for the arts.

I have never attended a movie or other performance there, but have visited several times, and each time I feel the magic. I could spend hours just soaking it all in. The Historic North Theatre is a place of live performances, a Magic Museum, a Christmas in Virginia Museum, a state-of-the-art theater, themed rooms, a small performance venue, an art gallery, and the man who owns and runs it, and even sweeps the floors, Wayne Alan.

Old photo of the marquee. One of many on display in the Historic North Theatre. By Chris Berry

Magic at an Early Age

By age 13, Wayne was performing magic shows on the Wilson Line, a ship that took groups down the Potomac River in Washington, DC. It was there he met Johnny, a boy about his age with special needs. Johnny came backstage, eager to talk with Wayne and examine his props. Johnny’s mother told the boy not to bother Wayne. “I told her it was no bother and that I was happy to visit with them and let him check out my magic props,” Wayne said.

As an adult, he continued his career in magic and was performing at a Washington shopping mall when a “full grown man with special needs came barreling up to the stage” after the show. Wayne heard a voice he recognized cautioning, “Now Johnny, don’t bother,” but Wayne cut her off before she could finish. He said, “It is no bother, just as it was no bother on the Wilson Line years ago.” Recognizing Wayne as “the boy magician,” she proceeded to tell him what an impact he had made on her son’s life. “As you are probably able to perceive, Johnny doesn’t have a lot of special things in his life. But, since he saw your magic show as a young teenager, he has loved magic…You have given him something special,” she told him. Wayne values the inspiration he received from this mother and son and relates the story as part of his Magical Meatless Meals Cookbook.

The Building at 629 North Main Street

The theater was constructed around the turn of the 20th century. It’s a three-story commercial building of brick and stucco that has housed different businesses through the years, including a Maytag dealership, a clothing store, and a five and dime store. In an early photo, the Masonic Symbol is visible, suggesting the third floor was used as a meeting place.

In July 1947, proprietor Leonard Lea announced the opening of The North Theatre. The building had undergone significant reconstruction to provide a 600-plus seating area of red leather seats on an elevated floor with plush carpets covering the aisles. All the latest improvements in movie equipment were included in the project, including one of the largest screens in the area. The theater boasted a soda fountain, candy bar, modern restrooms, business offices, and a patrons’ smoking lounge on the second floor.

The theater changed hands 20 years later, but continued to function as a movie theater before undergoing various remodeling and repurposing, including that of a coffee house and civic center, until becoming the home of Lynn-Haven Baptist Church for two years. The North Theatre Auction Place then took over. In 1989, Carolyn’s House of Flowers moved in.

A new century brought renewed interest in the theater. A group known as the North Theatre Group, composed of supporters of the arts and North Danville formed to bring new life to the building. Roy and Joan Gignac were leading donors and supporters. Plans were made and a construction company was hired. Plans called for an expanded stage; wide-screen digital projectors; a 25,000-square-foot arts complex incorporating the building on either side; dressing rooms; a costume design shop; rooms for visiting performers, and a renovated café. A fundraising goal of $4.5 million was set. The work was completed but the funding faltered and by 2011 the fully restored theater was for sale.

Semi-Retired Magician Meets 629 North Main Street

After over 30 years as a corporate magician, Wayne Alan was semi-retired. His career was highlighted by performances at the White House; various work with other noted magicians including David Copperfield and celebrities Oprah Winfrey and Larry King; becoming the first magician to write a cookbook, and the only American to win the Gold Medal for Grande Illusion at FISM, the World Championships of Magic. In 2011, he was considering buying a theater in which to perform his magic shows and promote other performances. He had leased a theater in Annapolis, MD in the 1980s.

In 2011, while looking through the Cinema Treasures Database, a listing of thousands of theaters, Wayne saw the North Theatre was for sale and made contact with Roy Gignac, who sent him pictures.

On Nov. 9, Wayne drove from Annapolis to Danville. While touring the building, he kept trying to find reasons not to buy it. But, he was completely blown away by what he was seeing, and at one point Gignac asked him, “Wayne, who is trying to sell this theater, me or you?” But he kept asking himself, “Wayne, why are you thinking about trying to revive an old theater in a town you never heard of?”

After asking Gignac for seven days to make a decision, Wayne headed back to Annapolis. He consulted his accountant the next day, and decided it all came down to a roll of the dice. He made a verbal agreement to buy the place.

Four years later, after many trips between Annapolis and Danville to do shows at the theater, Wayne was going through the neighborhood passing out free tickets to his Christmas Magic Show. He offered a ticket to a man sitting on a porch, who said, “Just seeing that marquee lit up again makes me and my neighbors feel good about our neighborhood.”

Wayne never intended to move to Danville, but he began to realize just how much Gignac and others before him wanted to make the theater and the area a thriving arts district. He left Annapolis and has since bought an adjoining building that he is turning into a Christmas Museum and a Magic Museum to display his collection of artifacts from the likes of the Great Houdini and the Amazing Dunninger. He plans to continue his private shows for the bus tours, but continue offering through-the-door shows too. In addition to his Christmas Magic Shows, potential plans include Branson shows and possibly a Houdini Festival and shows to honor Danville celebrities.

Whether it is a performance in the 500-seat downstairs theater or the 70-seat Carrington Gallery mini-theater on the second floor, there is magic in The Historic North Theatre. Those fortunate enough to get a tour of the building will fall under its spell – as I have.