Connection to Star Wars' George Lucas leads to new sound system at Staunton's Arcadia
STAUNTON — Late last week, Pam Wagner posted on Facebook a photo of a surround sound system that had been donated to her latest project, the Arcadia in Downtown Staunton.
The Arcadia Project is a non-profit community cultural center that will feature theaters and event spaces, media studios, classes and workshops, and cultural programs, according to its website. Wagner is the executive director of the project located at 125 E. Beverley St., home of the former Dixie Theater.
While the sound system is a great addition to the project, the story of where the system came from is what made her post so cool.
"Why are the good men from Level 8 Technology smiling so big?" Wagner wrote on the Arcadia Facebook page. "Oh, just a little thing called provenance. The gear they are unloading, destined for our movie theater, comes courtesy of George Lucas."
Yep, that George Lucas. the famous filmmaker best known for creating the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises.
Wagner has had a pretty impressive career. A freelance director, writer and producer, Wagner won an Emmy Award in 2001 for directing the documentary "Lucille Ball: Finding Lucy." Wagner's husband, Thomas Wagner, wrote the Lucille Ball documentary for the PBS series "American Masters."
They won the Emmy on Sept. 9, 2001, two days before the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. They flew home to New York with the Emmys in a grocery bag.
"It felt so unimportant and insignificant," Wagner said of the Emmys. "It's like we barely told anyone about it because there were bigger things happening."
The connection with Lucas came a couple of years earlier though as a director and producer on the documentary, "The Mythology of ‘Star Wars’ with George Lucas and Bill Moyers."
The documentary featured Moyers, the veteran journalist and former White House press secretary, interviewing Lucas at Skywalker Ranch. Wagner has worked with Moyers on projects for nearly four decades.
"George gave us free access to use any clips, free of charge, from any of the Star Wars movies," Wagner said. "Which is what made it possible to do that film and illustrate it properly."
It was 1999, so when the documentary came out there were four movies in the franchise, the original trilogy plus the first movie in the prequel trilogy, "The Phantom Menace," which had just come out.
While her husband and daughter were Star Wars fans, Wagner wasn't much into science fiction.
"I'm a work-for-hire girl," Wagner said of her freelance career. "I get interested in whatever you pay me to get interested in."
A blurb on Moyers' website described the documentary as Lucas discussing his efforts to "tell old myths in new ways, the role of faith in his own life, and the influence of his mentor, Joseph Campbell."
Wagner got the chance to stay at Skywalker Ranch in a guest house during filming, calling it the "most luxurious hotel experience" she's ever had. It came complete with a fireplace and wine from Skywalker vineyards.
"I was standing at the ranch and I'm looking at this gorgeous view and I'm talking with whoever is standing there with me," Wagner said "I say, 'That's the prettiest view I've ever seen,' and they say, 'Yeah, George paid to have the river relocated about 30 feet to the right.'"
Wagner was on vacation recently in New Hampshire when she started talking to Steve Sutter, who has worked with Lucas for 30 years on a lot of his post-production facilities. The two were talking about the Arcadia Project when he told Wagner he might have something for her. He was working at one of Lucas' ranches in California and was replacing the sound system. Sutter said it was good pro gear he was taking out. He asked if they minded donating to Arcadia and was told that was fine.
Wagner told him to remind Lucas that "I am the producer that made him look really good in that documentary."
As for The Arcadia Project's timeline, Wagner said the request for proposals with drawings will likely go out in December. She hopes construction will start in March, 2024, and the venue will open in the first quarter of 2025.
Open house offers a sneak peak of the pre-construction Arcadia
Wagner is planning an open house Saturday, Oct. 21 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. for anyone interested in seeing the stripped down version.
"We've stripped it out," Wagner said, "and now the barebones of how it kind of looked in the '30s is what you can see for the first time in a long time."
More: 'Explosions' heard in Augusta County, USGS reports earthquake
More: Augusta County: Seaton, Higgs running for Wayne District Board of Supervisors
— Patrick Hite is a reporter at The News Leader. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Connection to Star Wars' George Lucas leads to new sound system for Staunton's Arcadia
