Eastern Oregon’s historic OK Theatre still a cultural mecca in Enterprise

Published 6:00 am Saturday, March 9, 2024

ENTERPRISE — Now 105 years old, Enterprise’s OK Theatre continues to be a cultural mecca for Wallowa County and the larger Northwest.

This year, owners Darrell and Christi Brann celebrate their decennial of owning it.

“We started off in 2014 so this is our 10th year — we’re calling it our decennial celebration year,” Darrell Brann said.

They’ll be marking their decennial Aug. 1-3. The season opened Wednesday.

Pandemic to pandemicOriginally scheduled to open in December 1918, the theater was delayed by the Spanish Flu pandemic and had to wait until early 1919.

“Originally it had 500 seats somehow,” Brann said. “I don’t know if they were smaller people. We have 350 seats in here now.”

A centry later, the Branns experienced another pandemic — COVID-19 — which slowed work on the restoration of the building.

The Branns have received thousands of dollars in grants and donations to help restore the one-time movie house in recent years.

Darrell said they received two grants for $100,000 each from the state Parks Department specifically for building’s façade. He’s also received contributions from Restore Oregon and local donors.

He coughed up some matching funds from his own savings. He’s also contributed labor through his own construction company.

“Everything we put in was with matching funds and labor,” he said. “We also had a lot of volunteers, particularly on the first round. Since COVID, we haven’t had as many volunteers, but that’s mainly because it got really awkward there for a while. We do have a goal that we are continuing with other spaces around — we’re adding a bar eventually, living spaces above and below the stage and a new green room (a room set aside for performers to spend time before going on stage.) The apartments will be for artist residencies.”

Darrell said there used to be apartments in the building, but they had to end such renting since they need access to those spaces for artists.

“The long-term plan is to have a place for artists to be able to stay while they record records with OK Records,” Darrell said.

Recent workThe second pandemic hasn’t stopped them.

“We had a big push this winter with the concession area,” Darrell said.

On Tuesday, Feb. 27, the Branns were working on some final paint work. There’s ornate woodwork by local artist Steve Arment and painting and stenciling by Joan Gilbert, Darrell said.

Recently, the Branns have reinstalled windows above the street that were boarded up since the 1950s. They still have to close them off to keep outside light from being a distraction.

“When we took over the OK, the whole area was one of the most depressed around,” he said. “I’ve been here since 1999. The theater had been shut down for almost a year at that point. The bowling alley in Joseph was gone. … A lot of us missed that. You’re raising five kids in a small town and you want something for them to do.”

Family funWith little to do for families, the Branns wanted their theater to become a family-friendly option.

They have five kids; the oldest two are out on their own. The oldest, Meredith, is living and working in Nashville and for the past two months has been teaching in Honduras.

There second child, Hartwell, is studying architecture at the University of Idaho in Moscow. Daughter Isabella will graduate this year and son Alden will the year after. Their youngest, Parker, is almost 11.

“He’s on his own track and having fun,” Darrell said. All the kids have been home-schooled.

The kids also have taken part in the OK. Brann said he and Christi figured it would be a fun and educational experience for their kids to meet performers and others in the community. The kids also learned some business, working the concessions stand.

“They enjoyed that and we figured it was a great way for us to plug into the community as a family,” he said.

The actsBeyond being an entrepreneur, Darrell has enjoyed being involved in the music world.

“It’s been really fun as a musician, myself, picking out people we like — there are so many musicians — I really take pride in the fact that I can hear and I’m looking for quality musicians,” he said. “Sometimes they may not have the best presence on the internet, but if I go and hear an example of them playing live and I can tell this is a good performer, we need to bring them in. I try to do that. It’s really paid off because many of them have played here and then go on to win Grammys.”

One recent example came in 2017, when the electric bluegrass performer Billy Strings performed at the OK.

“He is now untouchable by people like us,” he said. “He fills arenas with thousands of people and he’s a Grammy-winning power at this point.”

Daughter Meredith got her musical start at the OK. She released her debut album in 2019.

Other noteworthy acts the OK has welcomed include:

• Del McCoury, the most-awarded bluegrass player in history.

• Bluegrass mandolinist Sierra Hull.

• The Grammy Award-winning Infamous Stringdusters in 2018.

• The Wallowa Valley Chorale.

• Asleep At The Wheel in 2016.

• Riders in the Sky in 2015.

• Five-time Grammy-winner Victor Wooten.

Darrell said he finds bluegrass the best fit for Enterprise audiences.

“In trying to find something that fits our town, I’ve found that bluegrass tends to be popular with a younger audience — they like a jam-band element — we had the Infamous Stringdusters and they went off to become Grammy-winners,” he said.

By bringing in a wide variety of performers, they’ve been able to reach out to many in the community.

“Our goal has been to have a real cross-section of the community in here,” he said. “I feel that as we get more things done, we want to be open to more events.”

But Darrell isn’t just trying to bring in the big, already-established acts.

“We love to support local musicians when they’re coming up,” he said.

But it’s mostly about giving the Wallowa County community a good time.

“We’re all here in a small area and I hope we can learn to get along and be a little bit different than the rest of the country,” he said. “People are welcome here and we want to have fun and that’s really what it’s about — trying to put some of that stuff aside and just enjoy yourself — have a beer, listen to some music and eventually watch a show.”