2008 Special Events
* Current 5/1/08. Subject to change*
REGISTER NOW •
Sponsorship Info •
Historic Theatres of Georgia (Optional Pre-Conference Ramble), 7/15/08 •
Early Bird Tour of Atlanta (Optional), 7/16/08 •
Opening Luncheon, 7/16/08 •
Opening Reception, 7/16/08 •
The Color Purple (Optional), 7/16/08 •
Historic Theatres in Small Georgia Communities, 7/17/08 •
Annual Service Providers/Suppliers Expo, 7/17/08 •
Historic Theatres in Atlanta Neighborhoods, 7/18/08 •
LHAT Annual Meeting and Reception, 7/18/08 •
Braves vs. Nationals Baseball Game (Optional), 7/18/09 •
Center for Puppetry Arts: Programming for Children and Families, 7/19/08 •
Annual Silent Auction and Reception, 7/19/08 •
Annual Awards Banquet, 7/19/08 •
Optional Evening Performances, 7/16-20/08 •
Historic Theatres of Georgia (Optional Pre-Conference Ramble; additional registration fee)
Tuesday, July 15, 8 AM to 10 PM (Includes continental breakfast, lunch and dinner.)
Registration and continental breakfast 7:00 - 7:45 AM, Georgian Terrace Conference Center
Join your colleagues for another full-day motor coach excursion to several communities in Georgia, visiting historic theatres and networking with presenters, community visionaries and other League members. From glorious restorations to creative adaptive reuse of historic buildings, you'll visit theatres as unique and varied as the communities they energize. From restored 19th century opera houses, to a former movie palace, the premier movie theatre and vaudeville hall catering to African-Americans in the segregated South, and a converted 19th century Romanesque Revival public graded school building, you'll visit structures reclaimed for generations yet to come, historic buildings that have played catalytic roles in the economic and cultural development of their communities. You'll have lunch along the way in a beautifully restored Victorian Hotel and dinner in another small town's historic district. Click for details on each theatre included in the Ramble.
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Early Bird Tour of Atlanta (Optional Pre-Conference tour; additional registration fee)
Wednesday, July 16, 9:00 AM to Noon
You must pre-register by June 16 to attend this optional event.
Take a guided bus tour of Atlanta while en-route to Atlanta Cyclorama and the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum. Admission to both attractions is included in your tour registration fee.
Although it sounds like something out of Disney World, the Atlanta Cyclorama was created in the 1880s. The concept – a huge, 360-degree cylindrical painting viewed from a rotating platform, enhanced by multimedia effects and faux terrain extending 30 feet from the painting into the foreground – was the forerunner of newsreels, travelogues, and TV war coverage.
The one you'll see here – a 42-foot-high cylindrical oil painting, 358 feet in circumference (on about 16,000 sq. ft. of canvas) – depicts the events of the Battle of Atlanta, on July 22 1864, in meticulous detail. It took 11 Eastern European artists, working in the United States in the studio of William Wehner, 22 months to complete the project.
A 14-minute film about the Battle of Atlanta precedes the Cyclorama viewing. The total program lasts about 35 minutes.
The building housing the Cyclorama also contains a museum of related artifacts, the most important being the steam locomotive Texas from the 1862 Great Locomotive Chase. Other exhibits include displays of Civil War arms and artillery, Civil War-themed paintings, portraits of Confederate and Union leaders, "life in camp" artifacts and photographs, and uniforms. You'll need about an hour and a half to see the museum in full if you visit both floors.
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Margaret Mitchell House
Photo courtesy of Atlanta CVB |
The Margaret Mitchell House & Museum
Built in 1899 by Cornelius J. Sheehan, the two-story, single-family home on fashionable Peachtree Street was converted in 1919 into a 10-unit apartment building. It was here, from 1925 until 1932, that Margaret Mitchell lived in Apartment #1 and wrote her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Gone With the Wind.
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Opening Luncheon
Sponsored by:
Wednesday, July 16, 1:00 – 2:30 PM
Georgian Terrace Grand Ballroom
Renew acquaintances, break bread with old friends and meet new ones during the opening event of the League's 32nd annual conference and theatre tour in the ballroom that was the site of the world premier reception of Gone with the Wind in 1939. Check back for details on keynote speaker.
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Opening Reception
Sponsored by:
Wednesday, July 16, 5:00 – 7:00 PM
Fox Theatre
Enjoy a nosh and drink at the Opening Reception, hosted by the Fabulous Fox Theatre, across the street from the Georgian Terrace Hotel. Tour the theatre, a grandiose monument to the heady excesses of the pre-crash 1920s, complete with minarets, onion domes, and an interior décor, which was even more lavish than its façade.
Click here for more information about the Fox Theatre.
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The Color Purple (Optional)
Wednesday, July 16, 8:00 PM
Fox Theatre
Following the Opening Reception, enjoy a performance of THE COLOR PURPLE at the Fabulous Fox. The Fox has reserved discounted tickets for LHAT attendees. Available on a first come, first served basis, tickets are $52.75 each. Click here to order tickets online. Enter User ID: super and password: group
About The Color Purple: Oprah Winfrey Presents THE COLOR PURPLE, a soul-stirring musical based on the classic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker and the Oscar-nominated film by Steven Spielberg. It is the unforgettable and inspiring story of a woman named Celie, who triumphs over tremendous odds to find joy in life, and her true inner beauty. Nominated for eleven Tony® Awards, THE COLOR PURPLE is a landmark theatrical event. With a joyous GRAMMY®-nominated score featuring jazz, gospel and blues, THE COLOR PURPLE is capturing the hearts of young and old, and uniting audiences in a celebration of love.
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Historic Theatres in Small Georgia Communities
Coaches Sponsored By:
Thursday, July 17, 9:30 AM to 2:45 PM
Enjoy a motor coach ride with Nuts and Bolts discussions to and from two small communities, Cartersville and Canton, north of Atlanta and visit their historic theatres, cultural center pieces for generations but recently rehabilitated. Following the tour of the Historic Canton Theatre, enjoy a mid-day break and lunch in a local eatery before returning to Atlanta for afternoon Tools & Techniques sessions. Click here for more information about theatres included in this tour.
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Annual Service Providers/Suppliers Expo and Reception
Thursday, July 17, 5:00 – 7:00 PM, the Ponce at Peachtree, Georgian Terrace Hotel
A premiere event of LHAT's 32nd Annual Conference, our "Meet & Greet" Expo, introduces League member organizations that supply our industry with products and services to historic theatre members. Top off a great day with over drinks and appetizers while making some new contacts and learning about products and services for historic theatres. Special prizes will be awarded to representatives of historic theatres. Click here for more details about the 2008 Expo.
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Historic Theatres in Atlanta Neighborhoods
Friday, July 18, 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM
From Atlanta’s mid-town, we'll travel to other nearby neighborhoods, including the Virginia Highland and the Poncey Highland districts where historic theatres have been important catalysts for neighborhood economic and cultural development. Click here for more information about theatres included in this tour.
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League of Historic American Theatres Annual Meeting and Reception
Sponsored by:
Friday, July 18, 3:30 – 5:30 PM, Piedmont Ballroom and Lobby, Georgian Terrace Hotel
Your Association is forging ahead, fueled by members' recommendations. Focusing on programs that serve to sustain operating historic theatres, the League needs your active participation. Hear what's changing, what's staying the same, and join in the conservation shaping your national service organization.
After opening in 1997, the "Home of the Braves" quickly became an Atlanta landmark and the benchmark for future baseball park design. Turner Field combines the nostalgia and the atmosphere of old-time baseball with a state-of-the-art environment unlike any other park.
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Atlanta Braves vs. Washington Nationals
Turner Field.
Photo courtesy of Atlanta CVB
Friday, July 18th at 7:35 PM start at Turner Field
(Optional activity; additional registration fee)
Tickets are limited; first come, first served. Order your tickets by June 16th to join the fun at the ball park!
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Center for Puppetry Arts: Programming for Children and Families
Saturday, July 19th, 9:30 AM – 12:50 PM
Rated by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as "one of the top five exhibits in Georgia," and MSN.com as one of the top 10 children's museums in the U.S., PUPPETS: THE POWER OF WONDER is a hands-on Museum displaying more than 350 puppets from various time periods and countries around the world. All provide an exploration of puppetry as an international, ancient and popular art form. The Museum opened September 5, 1995, and was curated by Dr. Michael Malkin, Professor of Theatre, California Polytechnic State University. The League has arranged a presentation by the Center's education staff on its distance learning programs, ones that you can add to your programming mix for children and families. Then attend a performance of the Bremen Town Musicians and tour the Center's exhibits at your leisure. (Admission to the museum and performance is included in conference registration fee.)
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Annual Silent Auction and Reception
Sponsored by: 
Saturday, July 19th, 6:30 to 8:00 PM, Georgian Terrace Grand Ballroom Terrace
Make your last bids for items donated by League members to the Annual Silent Auction, while enjoying cocktails and hors d'oeuvres.
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Annual Awards Banquet
Saturday, July 19th, 8:00 – 10:00 PM, Georgian Terrace Grand Ballroom
Conclude another memorable LHAT conference by drawing inspiration from your colleagues. Honoring recipients of the 2008 Outstanding Historic Theatre and 2008 Outstanding Individual Contribution, the closing banquet celebrates excellence in our field.
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Optional Evening Performances
"Gee's Bend" by Elizabeth Gregory Wilder
Wed., 7/16, Thu, 7/17, Fri., 7/18 at 7:30 PM; also Sun. 7/20 at 2:30 PM
Theatrical Outfit, The Balzer Theater at Herren’s, 84 Luckie St., Atlanta, GA 30303
The Quilts of Gee's Bend were hailed by The New York Times as "some of the most miraculous works of modern art America has produced." Now, Theatrical Outfit presents, in an encore production, the story of the African American women whose faith and craft transformed suffering and injustice into beauty and meaning. Commissioned by The Alabama Shakespeare Festival, where the play sold out before opening day, "Gee's Bend" was described by
Atlanta Journal Constitution theater critic, Wendell Brock,as "...a glorious piece of theatrical handiwork."
From July 16-27, performances are Wednesday through Saturday nights at 7:30pm, with matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2:30pm. Tickets are $25 and can be reserved by calling the box office at (678) 528-1500.
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