A building that has hosted vaudeville acts, early films, dive bars and a neighborhood pub for more than a century is about to become a theater again. Eric and Aden Nepom bought the structure at 720 Main St. in downtown Oregon City for $750,000 in August, with plans to transform it into First City Theater, a venue for improv, scripted plays, musicals, burlesque, classic films and stand-up comedy.
The building opened in 1912 as the Star Theater, Oregon City's first theater, according to oregonlive.com. The 300-seat house offered vaudeville shows and “photoplays” in its early years, and the Oregon Theater Project notes its programming leaned on vaudeville acts accompanied by live music from pianist Frank Murphy. The two sources differ slightly on when the curtain finally fell on the Star Theater, with oregonlive.com reporting it operated until around 1950 and the Oregon Theater Project placing its closure sometime in the 1950s.
From Movie House to Pioneer Pub
After its run as a theater ended, the building spent the following decades as a string of bars and nightclubs, the outlet reports. Most recently it was home to Pioneer Pub, which closed in February after the building's owner died in 2025 and the heirs put the property up for sale, per the same account. That sale is what eventually brought the space to the Nepoms, who live in West Linn and run the First City Theater project together.
Eric Nepom confirmed to WhatNow Portland that the venue is still in its early stages, and he estimates renovations will take six months to a year before First City Theater can open. The roughly 4,000-square-foot building is being planned with a stage measuring about 12 by 26 feet, tiered seating for 80 to 100 guests, a green room, and classroom space intended for improv workshops and rehearsals — a scaled-down footprint compared with the original Star Theater's 300 seats.
Improv Roots Behind the New Stage
The project is deeply tied to the couple's background in improv comedy. Eric Nepom founded Infinite Improv about 25 years ago, and Aden Nepom joined the company around 12 years ago; Infinite Improv is set to become First City Theater's resident improv company. Aden's separate business, Art of Change, is planned to offer communication and public-speaking training inside the same space, according to oregonlive.com.
The name First City Theater carries a double meaning. It honors Oregon City's history as the first incorporated city west of the Rocky Mountains, the outlet reports, while also nodding to The Second City, the Chicago improv theater known for launching Saturday Night Live performers. Plans for the venue include serving beer, wine and snacks to patrons, and the Nepoms hope audiences will pair a show with dinner at nearby downtown restaurants.
Beyond the renovation timeline, the Nepoms have a specific show in mind to christen the new stage: they hope to open First City Theater with a Star Wars parody play. First City Theater's own website currently describes the project as being in its earliest stages of design, with renovation to follow — language that lines up with Eric Nepom's six-month-to-a-year estimate rather than a firm opening date.
