The Sylvia Theater is the culmination of dreams, a lot of hard and sometimes sweaty but always impassioned work, driven by the desire to share the magic of music with a hungry and excited audience. To offer a place where the unknown, newly discovered and popular singer and songwriter can gather to play their art and to collaborate with other artists in their pursuit of good music. To offer a venue where the music is the main purpose for being here a vision shared by all who will grace the Sylvia's center stage and the patrons who will follow.
History:
Charlotte NC area songwriter Paul Finnican ["Finnery"] who is also a mild-mannered-banker-by-day came to York, SC to close on a business loan deal sometime in the summer of 2001Paul saw this "diamond in the rough" building in the revitalized downtown area of York, immediately fell in love and started asking questions. As it turns out, the building was once a movie theater, bringing much remembered joy to the population of this community. The last time the building was used for entertainment, was in 1968 it has gone through many "metamorphosed" incarnations as a movie house, a hotel, a storage building and as a teacher's supply shop. Paul saw the unrealized potential and architectural integrity of the 100 year old building, coupled that with his desire to provide a venue for the singer-songwriter in this particular area and proceeded to purchase and personally renovate it. After completely redoing the interior and adding some nice touches, like re-sawing some of the beautiful, 100 year old beams to make the stage floor and bartop, The Sylvia Theater has been brought back to her well deserved status as a place to enjoy the arts. There have been many folks in the downtown business enclave in York that have been instrumental in bringing forth the wellspring of good tidings and positivism...they know who they are, and we thank them deeply for their help. The true nature of this venue has been brought to fruition by the tireless work of Paul, his family and friends, and by the well wishing and earnest folks of the York community.
Ours is a wide and varied demography, and we're exploring all kinds of options to generate interest and participation and, of course, income!. The primary focus of the venue though, is to be a forum and performance showcase for the regional/local and, when availabilities and schedules permit, nationally acclaimed artists. We've been approached by several other performance art and educational groups such as community and youth theater; local dance troupes and a series’ on Appalachian/Traditional music. We hope to use our considerable wall space as a gallery for local and regional artists to present and promote their craft, as well...running series of shows over the course six to eight weeks for any given show.
We are also looking to promote "studio-time", drawing on the very unique and intrinsic nature of the theater and its acoustics to set up a "live" recording environment for artists and ensembles.
