The Pinehurst Outlook
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Fashion Show Features Opening of The New Theatre
THE opening of the new Pinehurst Theatre on February 26
marks a milestone in the progress of the Sandhills, but
that isn't what is causing all the talk. The reason for that
'subdued but persistent whispering wherever two or three of the
socially prominent are gathered together is scandal and no wonder,
when Mrs. Nat Hurd flees fireside for the stage, and Fred Page's
wife turns cloak model overnight, and the sancrosanct of the inner
circle appear in public wearing borrowed finery, and don't care
who knows it.
Carolina Peaches are at the bottom of the whole trouble. And
the Fashion Parade which will be the feature of the first perform
ance at the new theatre is the occasion. Under the direction of Mrs.
Charles Picquet, the following ladies will display the last gasp in
robes, manteaux, trotteurs, redingotes, and what-not else so long as
it is expensive : Mrs. Anna Patch Blue, Mrs. Will Blue, Mrs. N. S.
Hurd, Mrs. Fred Page, Mrs. Charles Sadler, Mrs. E. L. Scofield,
Miss Mary Clark, Miss Mary Dell Hayes, Miss Gladys Going,
Miss Katharine Kelley, Miss Betty Scott, Miss Lavinia Sugg, Miss
Eleanor Weldon, Miss Cora Swoope and Mrs. Henry Graves.
New Theatre Cost $80,000
The glad rags for the occasion will be furnished by Mrs. C. L.
Hayes, of Pinehurst and Southern Pines, and their combined value
entirely dwarfs the fact that the Pinehurst Theatre cost $80,000
to construct. As for the Carolina Peaches who will wear them
ask any care-worn peach-raising father what keeps the spreading
acres snowed-in under notes of hand, and inexorably clamps the
chattel mortgage to the family flivver.
But anyway, the Pinehurst Theatre is beyond any question the
most modern and luxurious amusement house in the two Carolinas.
The adaptation of Byzantine form chosen by Aymar Embury, 2nd,
of Pinehurst and New York, the architect, has been particularly
happy in combining unusual beauty of line with the utmost of
practicality and convenience.
Building Absolutely Fireproof
The entire structure is of the most modern fireproof construction.
Hexagonal in shape, with sides of 36 and .44 feet placed alternately,
it is built of red brick trimmed with concrete,. roofed in green tile,
and topped by a cupola that rises to a height of 75 feet. A stage
35 by 40 feet extends from the rear side of the hexagon, and flying
wings on the three front angles allow space for four attractive
glassed-in shops. Color in the prevailing Russian style decorates
the entrance portal.
Walls are of non-inflammable material throughout, and a further
guarantee against accident is provided by exit doors of the latest
safety type, which open automatically at a slight pressure from
within. A light wooden floor has been laid over concrete to eliminate
dampness and dust without increasing fire risk.
Seating Capacity of 700
The auditorium is ceiled by a dome of exceptional height and
beauty, from which is hung a massive electrolier. An attractive
hanging balcony at the rear of the house provides for 250 out of
the total 700 seats. All chairs are upholstered in tapestry velours,
with seats unfolding from sockets of a special ball-bearing type.
An improvement which will earn the gratitude of all theatre-goers
is found in the spacing of the rows of chairs. Seating capacity has
been sacrificed to allow a comfortable interval between rows, so
that the holder of an interior seat may reach his place without the
customary march across the lower extremities of those nearer the
aisle.
Seven loges are arranged in an arc at the centre of the orchestra,
and an eighth is provided for in the balcony, above the projection
room. A cozy men's lounge and smoking room lies at the foot of a
flight of stairs leading from the orchestra floor at the left, with a
ladies' dressing room left of the balcony.
(Continued on page 14)