Grace Street Theater
Corporate brand
UnclaimedA Richmond, Virginia theater that began as the Lee Theatre, later operated as an adult cinema under the Lee Art Theatre name, and now serves Virginia Commonwealth University's dance program as Grace Street Theater.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
Grace Street Theater is a performing-arts venue at 934 West Grace Street in Richmond, Virginia. The building opened in 1935 as the Lee Theater, a 588-seat Art Deco movie house designed by Richmond architect Henry Carl Messerschmidt. Its original programming consisted largely of second-run, family-oriented MGM films. The theater was later operated by the Fabian Theatres chain, which closed it in 1963. The venue reopened in 1965 under the name Lee Art Theatre. It initially pursued an art-house identity, showing foreign and other non-mainstream films. In practice, its programming soon shifted toward soft-core adult movies, combining material marketed as sexually provocative with foreign or critically regarded films. This hybrid positioning helped the theater attract audiences during a period when art-house and adult-film exhibition sometimes overlapped. The venue became known as Richmond's first adult theater and later added live burlesque performances. Among the performers associated with its later years was Richmond drag performer Dirtwoman. The Lee Art Theatre also became significant in American First Amendment and obscenity law. In 1966, Richmond police seized films from the theater after an officer personally viewed them and considered them obscene. The theater's management was convicted in a Richmond city court, and the Virginia Supreme Court initially allowed the conviction to stand. The United States Supreme Court accepted the appeal and ruled in 1968 that obscene-material seizures could not be authorized solely on an officer's unsupported personal assessment without additional judicial examination of the factual basis. The case returned to Virginia, where the earlier judgments were reversed and the indictments were dismissed. The theater continued operating as an adult cinema after the court case, but changing media habits weakened the market for dedicated adult theaters. The rise of home video contributed to the venue's closure in 1993. Virginia Commonwealth University subsequently acquired and remodeled the building. It reopened in February 1996 as Grace Street Theater and became a university facility associated with VCU's Dance program. The venue therefore represents several distinct phases of Richmond cultural history: a neighborhood movie theater, an art-house and adult-film cinema, a site in a major obscenity case, and a university performing-arts venue. The current facility is operated in connection with Virginia Commonwealth University's arts and community-campus activities.
History
The building at 934 West Grace Street in Richmond opened on October 13, 1935, as the Lee Theater. It was designed by Richmond architect Henry Carl Messerschmidt in an Art Deco style and provided 588 seats. The original theater was named for Confederate general Robert E. Lee and operated as a conventional movie house. Its opening program presented the venue as a modern entertainment facility intended to accommodate talking pictures and future developments in cinema. The first film shown was China Seas, and the theater initially specialized in second-run, family-oriented MGM pictures. By 1950 the theater was being operated by the Fabian Theatres chain. Fabian closed the venue in 1963, after which the building returned to operation in 1965 under the name Lee Art Theatre. The relaunch was initially framed as an art-house venture, with foreign films and other material outside the mainstream commercial circuit. The theater's programming soon moved toward soft-core adult films, however, while retaining an association with foreign and art-oriented cinema. This combination gave the venue a distinctive commercial strategy: sexually provocative fare drew audiences, while more respectable or critically regarded titles helped frame the theater as something more than a conventional adult cinema. The Lee Art Theatre became known as Richmond's first adult theater. It screened films such as The Girl From S.I.N. and Olga's Dance Hall Girls and later presented Deep Throat, whose popularity generated long lines and helped associate the venue with the 1970s phenomenon sometimes described as porn chic. In 1975 the theater added burlesque dancers. Dirtwoman, a well-known Richmond drag performer, appeared there frequently during the venue's later adult-entertainment period. The theater became a nationally important legal subject in the 1960s. Richmond police confiscated films from the venue, including Angelique in Black Leather, based on an officer's personal assessment that the material was obscene. In November 1966, a Richmond city court found the theater's management guilty under Virginia's obscenity law. The Virginia Supreme Court initially allowed the conviction to remain in force in 1967. The United States Supreme Court then reviewed the matter and, in July 1968, ruled that a warrant to seize allegedly obscene material could not be issued solely on a police officer's unsupported statement that the officer had seen the material and considered it obscene. The Court required additional judicial inquiry into the factual basis of the allegation. On remand, the Virginia judgments were reversed and the indictments were dismissed. The Lee Art Theatre continued operating as an adult theater until 1993. The expansion of home video reduced the need for specialized adult cinemas and contributed to the venue's eventual closure. Virginia Commonwealth University later acquired and remodeled the property. In February 1996, it reopened as Grace Street Theater. Under its current identity, the building functions as a VCU arts venue and is used by the university's Dance program. The transition changed the site's role from commercial cinema and adult-entertainment venue to an institutional performing-arts facility while preserving the building's importance in Richmond's theater and film history.
- 1996
Reopens as Grace Street Theater
[2]After acquisition and remodeling by Virginia Commonwealth University, the building reopens as Grace Street Theater for university arts use.
- 1993
Lee Art Theatre closes
[1]The adult cinema closes after the market is weakened by the rise of home video.
- 1975
Burlesque performances added
[1]The Lee Art Theatre expands its adult-entertainment programming by adding burlesque dancers.
- 1971
Theater identifies as Richmond's first adult theater
[1]By this period the venue publicly presents itself as Richmond's first adult theater.
- 1968
U.S. Supreme Court rules on seizure safeguards
[1]The Supreme Court rules that seizure of allegedly obscene films requires more than an officer's unsupported personal conclusion and sends the case back to Virginia.
- 1967
Virginia Supreme Court initially rejects appeal
[1]The Virginia Supreme Court initially allows the lower-court obscenity judgment to stand.
- 1966
Richmond court convicts theater management
[1]A Richmond city court finds the theater's management guilty of possessing and exhibiting allegedly obscene motion pictures.
- 1965
Venue reopens as Lee Art Theatre
[1]The theater is remodeled and relaunched as the Lee Art Theatre, initially with an art-house and foreign-film orientation.
- 1963
Fabian closes the theater
[1]Fabian Theatres closes the Lee Theater.
- 1950
Fabian Theatres operates the venue
[1]The theater is operated by the Fabian Theatres chain during its conventional movie-house period.
Products and positioning
A university-affiliated performing-arts venue occupying a historic former cinema building in Richmond, with a past that spans mainstream film exhibition, art-house programming, adult cinema, and legally significant obscenity litigation.
Movie theater · 1935
Lee Theater
The original 1935 incarnation of the venue was a 588-seat neighborhood cinema showing second-run and family-oriented MGM films. Its Art Deco design and conventional movie-house programming defined the building's first phase.
Art-house and adult cinema · 1965
Lee Art Theatre
From its 1965 reopening until its closure in 1993, the venue operated under the Lee Art Theatre name. It began with foreign and art-house films before emphasizing soft-core adult cinema, later adding burlesque performances and screening prominent adult-film releases.
University performing-arts venue · 1996
Grace Street Theater
Since its 1996 reopening, the remodeled building has served Virginia Commonwealth University as Grace Street Theater. It is used for university arts activity, particularly the Dance program, and functions as a performance and event facility.
Controversies
Brand decisions
1996
Conversion into a university arts venueStrategyBackground
The former adult cinema closed in 1993 as home video reduced the demand for dedicated adult theaters.
Action taken
Virginia Commonwealth University acquired, remodeled, and reopened the building as Grace Street Theater for university arts programming.
Aftermath
The property entered a new institutional phase and became associated with VCU's Dance program and performing-arts activities.
1965
Shift toward art-house and adult-film programmingStrategyBackground
When the venue reopened as the Lee Art Theatre, it sought an audience through foreign and non-mainstream films, but demand and competitive conditions led it toward adult-film programming.
Action taken
The theater combined art-house presentation with soft-core adult films and later live burlesque entertainment.
Aftermath
The programming made the venue a prominent adult theater in Richmond and ultimately placed it at the center of an important obscenity-law case.
Sources2 sources
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