Mt Vernon Theatre Opens in Tallassee 50 years Later

It was like a step back in time for Tallassee residents. The Mt. Vernon Theatre is back open.

“I can’t even…I can’t even say it. We are just all so excited. Its been a huge effort. Takes a long time to get something like this going,” said Jan Autery, Project Coordinator.

The play, “Dear Mama: Letters and Music from World War II,” is made up of community members.

The old movie theater was built in 1935 but closed in 1968. It has undergone a lot of renovations for the past two years to open back up now 50 years later.
For some, it’s a trip down memory lane.

“real excited because I used to live here when I was a little bitty girl and we are from Montgomery,” said Montgomery resident Linda Taylor.

“I grew up in Tallassee. But my dad came here and it’s just a big deal to me to come see it open up after all those years,” said Barry Parker.

But perhaps the most special is James Manning’s story.
He worked at the old movie theater taking tickets and cleaning the theater as a young boy.

“I snuck upstairs, learned how to run the projectors and sometime the guy that was up there and was moving out to the drive in said ‘hey he knows how to run the projectors!’ so I got moved upstairs,” said Manning.

And now, more than 50 yrs later, he traveled back to the theater from Missouri to be here to take tickets up once again.

“It’s fantastic. They did a fantastic job of remodeling it. Some of the things weren’t here before but a lot of it was,” said Manning.

The theatre will hold performances Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.