115 West 4th St.
Reserve, LA 70084
30.054904,-90.557958
From the largest cities to the smallest towns, Louisiana has a vast and eclectic amount of theatres. Some may be grand multi-tiered and greatly ornate venues that hosts the biggest productions featuring the top stars of today, while others may be no bigger than your living room with milk crates for chairs. Whatever the case may be, you are likely to be equally entertained with both extremes. As a child, there was a movie theatre in my home town that was so bad, it was worth going, because you never quite knew what you would encounter. What they called new releases were already on VHS, your feet stuck to the floors from the filth and if you didn't get a staph infection from the chair springs sticking you in your legs, chances were you already had it form getting bit by one of the cat-sized rats that often scurried across the floor. I use the term “scurried”, yet “slowly crept” was more like it, as they had feasted for so long on candy and popcorn, they couldn't quite get around like they used to.
Pardon me for my wild tangent, as I often have the tendency to veer off topic. Nonetheless, our next location is one of these small hometown theatres but I can assure you, the conditions inside are nowhere near the old theatre I used to visit. In the small town of Reserve is a local theatre that has long been a source of great entertainment for the local community. The theatre was built in 1931 by Louis J. Maurin, Sr. and was originally opened to play motion pictures, or “talkies” as they were often called during these times. In 1954, a large remodeling took place and the venue was renamed to Maurin's Show Place of the River Parishes. It continued to feature the latest movies of the times until its doors would shut down on May 27, 1979. Fortunately, the closure would not last too long. On May of 1980, the St. John the Baptist Parish Council purchased and renovated the facility as a live-theatre venue and leased it to the Cultural Center Committee. The venue, now named the St. John Theatre opened in July of 1981 with the staging of the musical, "South Pacific," and has operated ever since, producing and presenting live-theatre and cultural events for the residents of the local community.
