Acccording to the Majestic Theatre website "W.J. Huntingford built the Majestic Theatre with a moving picture show in 1911. Then Eph. Wolff purchased it the next year, as well as a Heintzman piano which now resides at the Biggar Museum & Gallery."W. J. Huntingford built the Majestic Theatre with a moving picture show in 1911. E
In the Jublilee Edition of the Biggar newspaper, a history of the Majestic Theatre is given and it says the first theatre building in Biggar was built by Rideout and Waton in 1911. After a short time they sold it to Mr. Wolfe. In 1914 the theatre was sold to Frank and George Shepherd for $11,000. The Shepherd’s enlarged the building in 1916 and redecorated the interior. Further renovations and an expansion were undertaken in 1929, making it so the theatre had over 600 seats. The first "talking" film was shown in Biggar in April 1930. Theatre goers got a whole new movie experience in 1945 with the installation of a new Simplex Projector and Soundmaster system with a DA-Light Source.

The theatre was operated by the Shepherd family until Joe Shepherd retired in 1986. In 1991 at a public meeting the community decided to save the Majestic Theatre. A non-profit corporation was set up to acquire the theatre from Joe Shepherd and to begin the renovation project. The building was gutted and brought up to modern standards with a new roof, new electrical, plumbing and heating systems. At this time an addition was added on at the back. The stage was extended by eight feet to accommodate live performances with seating reduced to 299 seats and the front entrance was reconfigured.

Today, movies run on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. The renovated theatre is the setting for the New Creation Community Players annual production, the annual Biggar and District Music Festival and the Biggar School of Dance, Dance Festival and various acts brought in by the Biggar and District Arts Council.

In earlier times in addition to a regular lineup of shows it hosted political rallies, *** rallies, the annual Remembrance Day Services, various live theatre productions and Cornish’s John Deere Farm Day to name a few. Boxing matches were also staged at the theatre. One match reported in the local paper was between Mac Taylor of Saskatoon and Biggar’s Bobby Baldwin.

The player piano which was used in the Majestic Theatre for the silent movies has been restored and is in good working order at the Biggar Museum & Gallery in their Majestic Theatre exhibit. Some of the old seats and other items from the old theatre were used to make up the exhibit.

Historically, many pioneering communities in Saskatchewan erected "opera houses" to house touring musicians and theatre groups. The Chautaguqua movement or traveling "tent show" toured the Northwest during these early years. Besides this heritage building in Biggar, Wolseley and Hanley also erected these buildings to support entertainment and bring performances and aim at a higher culture for their communities.[9]

Newspaper ad from The Independent, February 1, 1940, page 3

Add your Majestic Theatre Memories.


Historical Photograph:
"Safety screen, Majestic theatre, Biggar, Saskatchewan. Advertising signs painted on screen.". Image No: NA-2256-22. Glenbow Museum Where the World Meets the West - Archives Photographs. 1916. http://ww2.glenbow.org/search/archivesPhotosResults.aspx?AC=GET_RECORD&XC=/search/archivesPhotosResults.aspx&BU=&TN=IMAGEBAN&SN=AUTO11468&SE=1532&RN=27&MR=10&TR=0&TX=1000&ES=0&CS=0&XP=&RF=WebResults&EF=&DF=WebResultsDetails&RL=0&EL=0&DL=0&NP=255&ID=&MF=WPEngMsg.ini&MQ=&TI=0&DT=&ST=0&IR=27010&NR=0&NB=2&SV=0&BG=&FG=&QS=ArchivesPhotosSearch&OEX=ISO-8859-1&OEH=ISO-8859-1. Retrieved 2010-01-25.


"Production of "Aladdin", Biggar, Saskatchewan. Produced by John Porteous and Mrs. James Fleming.". File number: NA-2256-41. Glenbow Museum Where the World Meets the West - Archives Photographs. 1917. http://ww2.glenbow.org/search/archivesPhotosResults.aspx?AC=GET_RECORD&XC=/search/archivesPhotosResults.aspx&BU=&TN=IMAGEBAN&SN=AUTO11468&SE=1532&RN=35&MR=10&TR=0&TX=1000&ES=0&CS=0&XP=&RF=WebResults&EF=&DF=WebResultsDetails&RL=0&EL=0&DL=0&NP=255&ID=&MF=WPEngMsg.ini&MQ=&TI=0&DT=&ST=0&IR=27029&NR=0&NB=4&SV=0&BG=&FG=&QS=ArchivesPhotosSearch&OEX=ISO-8859-1&OEH=ISO-8859-1. Retrieved 2010-01-25.






Sources
1. The Independent, Jubilee Edition, Biggar, Saskatchewan, 1955.
2. The Independent, Biggar, Saskatchewan, May 8, 1913, page 1.
3. The Independent, Biggar, Saskatchewan, May 4, 1916, page 1.
4. The Independent, Biggar, Saskatchewan, August 1916, page 8.
5. The Independent, Biggar, Saskatchewan, May 3, 1928.
6. The Independent, Biggar, Saskatchewan, November 7, 1929, page 5.
7. The Independent, Biggar, Saskatchewan, April 28, 1930, page 1.
8. The Independent, Biggar, Saskatchewan, December 13, 1945, page 1.
9. "Saskatchewan Arts & Culture - Government of Saskatchewan". Quality of Life. http://www.gov.sk.ca/Default.aspx?DN=89b4f1e2-e0ba-4c9f-95bf-7c6a4fcbd070. Retrieved 2010-01-25.


External Link
Majestic Theatre

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Photo courtesy of Richard Walker, New York, USA
Left to Right: Edward Wacha, Fred Wacha & Harry Wacha.

Edward and Harry Wacha worked for a period of time at the Majestic Theatre for Frank and George Shepard. The boys helped Frank crank the hand-cranked projection machine as the one cranking the machine needed to give his arm a rest from time to time.

Electricity to the theatre at this time was provided by a gas engine and generator at the rear of the theatre, outside in a shanty. The engine would sometimes stop and put the theatre into darkness while Frank started the engine.