On October 31, 1927, Mayor Paul Lindley was issued the first ticket and joined opening night crowds in exclaiming over the glittering crystal chandeliers, gilded railings, marbled columns, and classical statues.

The most monumental structure of its type ever built in the city, the terracotta façade is in a Greek design with embellishments painted in greens, reds, and golds. Tall windows light the floors above the lobby, which were intended to be the regional headquarters of the Publix-Saenger Theater Corporation until the Depression struck. The Carolina was also Greensboro’s first commercial building to be air conditioned.

The opulent décor was designed to provide the ordinary citizen with an experience of fantasy. Uniformed ushers greeted patrons passing through the elegant lobby and under handsome archways into the auditorium where clouds were seen on a sky-blue, domed ceiling above the columns and draperies reminiscent of a Greek amphitheater. Even during the Depression, the cost for an evening at the theatre was affordable at $0.75 for an adult and $0.50 for a child.

Operated as a part of the Keith Vaudeville chain, the Theatre’s early programs featured live performing acts, the Carolina Theatre Orchestra, the Carolina News newsreel, an audience sing-along, and a silent film accompanied by the impressive Robert Morton theatre pipe organ. Vaudeville’s days were numbered, however, and in 1928, the Carolina became the first theater in the state to install the new Vitaphone speakers, and crowds flocked to see films five times daily.

During the late 1960s, suburban businesses and neighborhood movie theaters began to attract citizens away from the heart of Greensboro. Just as Downtown began to decline, so did the Carolina Theatre. In 1975, responding to the growing need for centrally located community performance spaces, the United Arts Council raised funds to save the deteriorating building from demolition. By stretching the restoration budget with volunteer labor and donated services, the Carolina was refitted for use as a performing arts center and reopened in February 1978.

The bumpy journey was not over for the Carolina. Thick smoke greeted people coming to work on Wednesday, July 1, 1981. The Carolina was beset by a raging fire in a stairwell that had once led to the segregated balcony. The Theatre was closed for a year to repair the damage. The United Arts Council then staged the Renaissance Capital Campaign in 1988, raising $5,000,000 to help expand the city-owned Cultural Center on Davie Street, and to undertake the next phase of renovation at the Carolina. In 1991, the Theatre reopened.

In 2018, the Board of Directors launched the “Setting the Stage Capital Campaign.” With $2.8 million in funding secured, Phase I was completed in early 2022, including critical upgrades and renovations focused on the audience experience, including interior updates to seating, plasterwork, carpet, restrooms, concessions, lighting, sound and video equipment, heating and cooling systems, fire alarm system and upgrades to the black box theatre, The Crown. Unexpected downtime due to the COVID pandemic was maximized during Phase I, allowing completion of the slated projects. This phase also included a careful assessment of the decorative terra cotta façade and windows. Today, the Carolina Theatre has completed “Setting the Stage Capital Campaign Phase II – Renovate,” a project to restore and preserve the Carolina’s decorative terra cotta façade and leaded glass and steel windows.

The Carolina Theatre is a fully functioning performing arts facility, welcoming more than 100,000 guests through her doors each year. She has been home to the Greensboro Ballet – presenting an annual production of The Nutcracker as well as family favorites Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella; Community Theatre of Greensboro – performing their annual production of The Wizard of Oz for more than 25 years with over 125 community volunteers in the cast, crew and orchestra; Greensboro Opera bringing over 6000 Guilford County fifth graders every year to experience an opera at The Carolina Theatre. Other local performing arts groups, as well as civic groups, businesses, and individuals rent the facility for seminars, meeting, dance recitals, graduations, receptions, and even for weddings. Whether taking in a show in the Betty and Ben Cone, Jr. Auditorium or in The Crown at the Carolina located on the theatre’s third floor, the theatre continues with its mission of Presenting Arts, Preserving History, Promoting Community!