Celebrating 125 years

The Southern Theatre is marking its birthday with an open house

In 1896, writer F. Scott Fitzgerald was born, abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe died and Ohio Republican governor William Mckinley bested Democratic Party standard-bearer William Jennings Bryan for president. Women would not have the right to vote for another 24 years.

The world was a very different place 125 years ago, but one thing in Columbus has remained a constant: The Southern Theatre, then as now, has the best acoustics in town.

“You can whisper on the stage and it can be heard from the furthest row away,” said Jason Gay, the vice president of operations of the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA), the current owner and operator of what is the oldest extant theater in Greater Columbus.

The Southern Theatre, at 21 E. Main St., is celebrating a

DISPATCH FILE PHOTO BARBARA J. PERENIC/COLUMBUS DISPATCH Live performances were stopped in 1979. The Dutch leaf adorning the concentric arches that loom over the audience still gives the building a late 1800 feel, according to Jason Gay, of the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts, the owner and operator of the theater.