WHY SUPPORT THE MILLER THEATER?
First and foremost the Miller Theater is the home to the Augusta Symphony. In addition to the Symphony Series and Pops! Concerts, the Augusta Symphony engages in school outreach, veterans programs through Community Chords and provides music therapy at the Knox Music Institute at the Miller Theater. All other concerts and events hosted at the Miller Theater also help to generate revenue to offset the overhead of theater operations.
All events support the mission of the Miller Theater which is to provide diverse programs and events that engage, entertain and educate. By attracting world class talent to our beautiful historic venue, we draw fans from throughout the region providing significant economic impact to the city and cultivating an arts revival downtown that encourages creativity and prosperity.
THE MILLER STORY
In the late 1930s, Frank Miller had a vision to build a movie palace and performance hall that would rival any theater in the south. He commissioned famed theater architect Roy Benjamin and spared no expense building the art moderne landmark that opened to great fanfare in downtown Augusta in 1940. For more than 40 years, the Miller Theater was host to movies, premieres, opera, theater productions, youth reviews and senior follies. Eventually, the theater fell into disrepair and was shuttered in 1984. It sat vacant until 2005, when Augusta businessman and philanthropist Peter Knox IV purchased it with the goal of preserving it as an entertainment venue.
In 2008, he offered the Miller Theater to the Augusta Symphony to serve as their permanent home. After extensive feasibility studies, the Augusta Symphony Board of Directors accepted his generous offer and set out to not only restore the theater, but to enhance it to be a thoroughly modern performing arts venue. Raising more than $23 million dollars, the Augusta Symphony succeeded in achieving their aspiration to maintain the historical integrity of the theater while expanding the adjacent spaces to accommodate the needs of the fans as well as the artists.
Today, patrons enjoy the unique beauty of the original design, artwork, metalcraft and woodwork while also benefiting from state of the art acoustics and production. Once again the theater is alive with a diverse schedule of events featuring national touring artists, comedians, concerts and showcasing local talent as well. The Miller Theater has reclaimed its former glory and is busier than ever celebrating the power of art and entertainment to enhance the quality of life in Augusta.
