Southport Magazine

The Amuzu Theatre has been amusing audiences for generations!

If you take a walk up North Howe Street, you’ll see the faded blue vertical Amuzu sign, circa early 1950’s, sticking off the side, once lit up by neon, now a cozy home to a bird’s nest.

The Historic Amuzu Theatre in Southport is a local landmark. Located two blocks up from the Cape Fear River at 111 North Howe Street. The building still manages to convey what was – the beckoning bright lights that drew evening crowds to the picture shows. The building was built in 1918 by builder, brick mason and former two term Mayor of the coastal town, Price Furpless. The Amuzu Theatre has been a venue for entertainment for residents and visitors of the area for almost a century. Cinematography, depicting stories for viewing pleasure, can be found on the theatre walls. They have evolved thru the years charting time and generations. The constant is the building and the story behind it, material worthy of the big screen. It is a story of family, tradition, talent and dedication.
The name Amuzu, as in “Amuse you” would have been an apt original name for a movie theatre, certainly more creative with the promise of an hour or so of entertainment. The first pictures to show were the silent films. Think of the era of Charlie Chaplin. The seats were wooden benches and sound was provided by a live organist accompaniment. Price Furpless and his wife Lily ran and operated the business. Peanuts were available as concessions. Family lore has it that Lily would cut slits in the bottom of the peanut bags to deter patrons from popping empty bags during the show. Price and Lily’s son, Bremen Lanier, or BL Furpless, joined the family business, seeing the theatre business thru the Depression, WWII and Hurricane Hazel. BL’s son Bill, followed suit in the family business beginning at a young age, his first job was to hold the door shut from the theater to the lobby. “The door didn’t have a spring, so I would sit to keep it closed to prevent the light from coming in,” reminisced Bill. Later his duties expanded to the soda machine operations that came in the 50’s with candy sales at the ticket booths. Wooden benches were replaced with more comfortable cushioned chairs, and the organ was replaced with a sound system. Curtains were draped along the brick walls to accommodate the acoustics.
Tragedy struck when BL Furpless, died at the age of 49. What was a father and son business became a son and mother business. Bill at 15 was running the show: ordering the movies, doing the advertising and handling the day to day operations. That was the year 1962, also the 50th anniversary of the Amuzu. To mark the milestone and pay tribute to Bill’s father and grandfather, a celebration was organized the week of July 4th, featuring the flick, The Golden Age of Comedy. It was a compilation of works from 1918 featuring Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Charley Chase and Buster Keaton, to name a few. Ticket prices reflected those of early years; 5 cents for children and 10 cents for adults.
As the film industry became more advanced so did television and cable television, hurting the movie houses of the day. Then came the 70’s when the big multi cinemas were being built in the outskirts of towns dwarfing the smaller movie houses, and in a majority of cases, marking the end of the downtown movie house era.
The Amuzu continued to run movies thru the 70’s. Repairs and maintenance, both of the building and the movie equipment sent the Amuzu struggling to compete with the newer bigger cinemas. They began operating on a seasonal schedule, running in the busier summer months and closing in the winter. The last movie to run was an edited version of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, shown in October of 1980. The old wooden doors of the Theatre closed. No one knew at the time, that it wouldn’t be used again for years; a twenty-five year intermission.
And life goes on. Bill and wife Cathy, both taught in the Brunswick County Schools and raised their family here. The Amuzu’s history of film did have an interesting side chapter. While not showing movies, the building was in the movies: Crimes of the Heart, I Know What you did last Summer and The Secret Lives of Bees, all featured scenes using the building.
After the long hiatus, the Amuzu was SHOWCASED BY REBECCA JONES ready again to amuse, this time on the stage. Their small stage that was built for possible vaudeville and traveling shows and was now going to be put to use with live performances. Britton Campbell, a former student of Cathy’s, came to the Furpless’, with the concept of Stage 11 Productions. The timing was right. The first Stage 11 production was Jekyll and Hyde in February 2005. Life was restored in the Theatre promoting restorations of the building. Bill and Cathy began the Historic Amuzu Theatre productions. Bill is the theatre manager and operator, Cathy takes on the role of keyboard player and musical creator/ director. Daughters Laura Furpless and Catherine Smutko have been involved in almost all of the productions. Since 2010 a core group of dedicated and talented volunteers; including a light person, sound person and troupe of actors and singers have been performing” Broadway on Howe Street” and the “Old Time Rock and Roll” slated each summer. This year’s Broadway on Howe Street is being directed by daughter, Laura Furpless, a music teacher in Leland. Songs from favorite shows will be featured including, Little Shop of Horrors, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Wicked, Cats, Mama Mia and many more. Show times in March are Sunday March 1st and Sunday March 8th at 3pm and Friday March 6th and Saturday March 7th at 7:30pm.
Tickets are $18.00 and are available at Ricky Evans Gallery located at 211N. Howe Street in Southport or Color Me Carolina at 300 Country Club Drive in Oak Island.
Ticket funds are used to restore, remodel and update the historic building. (possibly new LED lights replacing the broken neon tubes for the iconic sign.) It is a lot of work; an old building, but it’s a labor of love. “It’s been a constant in my life,” Bill speaks of the theatre with affection. Future plans? In addition to the Amuzu Theatre productions, the Furpless’ would eventually like to show independent films, and run a classic movie series: so, that’s-not-all- folks! The story continues…www.facebook.com/AmuzuTheatre • www.amuzutheatre.com.

Story by: REBECCA JONES