The Star Theater
Weiser, Washington County
- Grants: 2023 – Structural assessment to accommodate safety doors.
Location: 322 State Street, Weiser, Idaho
In 1899, a mason by the name of AC Gordon established a brick manufacturing business in Weiser. In 1916, he purchased an existing motion picture enterprise called The Star Theater, which showed films on the ground floor of the Knights of Pytheas building in downtown. He immediately put into motion plans to build the current Star Theater in a remodeled and expanded building that previously held a haberdashery and smoke shop. Frank Moore, an architect from Salt Lake City, designed the theater to accommodate both motion pictures and live performances, and by all accounts the opening night gala was a smashing success, featuring a showing of Sleeping Fires and a news reel depicting General Pershing and his troops arriving safely in France ‘to join the great struggle for humanity.’
In 1919, Gordon committed himself fulltime to the entertainment industry, purchasing and/or being involved with several other theaters and opera houses in the Weiser area. In 1930, the family moved to Boise where they operated the Ria and Rialto Theatres, while still maintaining The Star. In 1936, they opened The Mayfair in Weiser, which was intended to be a B Movie House and serve as overflow for The Star. Both theaters hosted many a road show from such notable names as Red Skelton, Will & Roy Rogers, and Bing Crosby, as well as Christmas pageants, galas, fashion shows, and, in a surprisingly progressive turn, sex education reels for high school students (segregated, of course).
The Star would undergo a series of updates and renovations in the first few decades of its existence. First, a sound system for ‘talkies’ was installed and then immediately upgraded in 1929, which was followed by the 1934 addition of the art deco facade we see largely intact today. 1940 would see the most substantial changes to The Star. The interior was gutted completely, the rear wall pushed back to create a fire exit and additional storage space, and the roof was raised to accommodate a balcony and fly for theater productions. A new stage, dressing rooms, men’s and women’s restrooms, a business office, and a make-up/crying room for parents with noisy infants were all added to the balcony level. The ground floor of the auditorium was sloped to improve visibility, seats were replaced, and a new curtain, carpeting, lighting, wall coverings, heating and cooling system, wiring, and projection equipment were installed. On the exterior of the building, the ticket booth was moved from the center of the entryway to the side. Ostensibly, everything but the marquee was modernized, increasing the capacity of the theater to 650 patrons. At this time, most contemporary theaters were designed to exclusively show moving pictures, which makes The Star’s capacity for live performance even more unique. Minor changes, such as the replacement of carpeting and the addition of popcorn and concession stands, have been made over the years, but the theater is largely the same as it was following the 1940 renovation.
The Star continued to show movies up until the mid-1990s, though its use as a theatrical venue has waxed and waned. That is, until a deal was struck between the then-owners (the Wheeler family) and the incredibly named Illustrious Onionskin Players to bring their annual melodrama production to The Star, returning the stage to its vaudevillian roots. In 2000, The Star became the permanent home of the Illustrious Onionskins, who purchased the building and continue to care for it to this day.
