Ellis Theater to Reopen

After a year of remodeling, the historic Ellis Theater in Philadelphia, Mississippi, will reopen this December. Twin States News spoke with the legendary Marty Stuart on the theater's return.

Ellis theater was built in 1926 and will soon reopen fully restored as a performance and multipurpose theater.

"One difference didn't make much of a change from one day to the next. A lot of what was happening was inside the walls and was infrastructure, but as you can see, it's like a beehive changing every minute", said Executive Director Dr. Dan Benard.

With the help of the community, over $200,000 helped to restore the theater, but this is only the first phase:

"This is one of the larger projects to house Marty's collection of historical memorabilia from country music. So, give us a couple more years, and we'll have that", stated Benard.

Native of Philadelphia, Marty Stuart, shares his memories of being on the Ellis stage for the first time.

"The first time I remember performing here was maybe ten years ago. It was pretty weary, but we got it done. The thing I took home with me was the look on the people's faces", said Stuart. "Everybody was happy. People were applauding crazy and having fun."

Stuart also says opening the theater is a victory for the city of Philadelphia.

"I consider it a wonderful thing. I'm happy for myself. I'm happy for everybody that's going to come here, but I'm happy for the city of Philadelphia because it's an old building that people just drove by every day. Look what it's become. So that's beautiful."

Ellis Theater will celebrate its grand opening with a big show on December 8th, 2022.