DeGive's Opera House

Last updated March 24, 2019

DeGive's Opera House was the main venue for opera in Atlanta from 1871 until 1893.

Opera in Atlanta has a long and uneven history. The first shows performed in Atlanta predate the American Civil War and were primarily performed in makeshift facilities modified for the operatic arts. The main company for the region is the Atlanta Opera, founded in 1979, which produces mainstage opera productions and arts education programs for all ages. The Atlanta Opera is based at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

History and location

The Atlanta History Center describes how Belgian consul Laurent DeGive purchased an unfinished building at the corner of Marietta and Forsyth and hired architect and civil engineer Max Corput to design the opera house.^[1]

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,688 square kilometres (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.4 million. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi and Liège.

Laurent DeGive was the Belgian consul in Atlanta, Georgia in the late 19th century. He arrived in Atlanta in 1859. He built two opera houses in Atlanta, DeGive's Opera House, and DeGive's Grand Opera House, which would later become Loew's Grand Theatre, where Gone with the Wind (film) premiered.

Max Corput Belgian-American architect and Confederate Army captain

Max Corput, fully documented as Maximilien van den Corput was a Belgian-American architect. He designed the second Union Station of Atlanta, Georgia. Van den Corput also served as an officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.

The opera house opened on January 24, 1870, ^[2] and was expanded in 1873-4 to accommodate over 2,000 people.^[3] The opera house was later occupied by the Columbia Theater and later still by the Bijou Theater. The building was demolished in 1921 ^[4] to make way for the construction of the Palmer Building, which is in turn was replaced in 1976 by an office building at 41 Marietta Street.

Earlier confusion about the location of the original DeGive's stems from two misunderstandings. First, the location was assumed to be the site of the Kimball opera house. However, this building was at the SW corner of Marietta and Forsyth; DeGive's was at the NE corner. ^[5] Second, it had been assumed that the location may have been on at the corner of Marietta and Broad (not Forsyth) based on Reed's History of Atlanta. ^[6] However, this reference is only to Atlanta's antebellum Masonic Hall, later destroyed in a fire in May, 1866.

In 1893, DeGive opened the new, larger DeGive's Grand Opera House, which would later become Loew's Grand Theatre, at Peachtree and Forsyth.

Loew's Grand Theater, originally DeGive's Grand Opera House, was a movie theater at the corner of Peachtree and Forsyth Streets in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States. It was most famous as the site of the 1939 premiere of Gone with the Wind, which was attended by the stars of the film, except for the African Americans who appeared in it, who were also excluded from the souvenir program.

Peachtree Street main street of Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Peachtree Street is one of several major streets running through the city of Atlanta. Beginning at Five Points in downtown Atlanta, it runs North through Midtown; a few blocks after entering into Buckhead, the name changes to Peachtree Road at Palisades Road. Much of the city's historic and noteworthy architecture is located along the street, and it is often used for annual parades,, as well as one-time parades celebrating events such as the 100th anniversary of Coca-Cola in 1986 and the Atlanta Braves' 1995 World Series victory.

Earlier opera house

DeGive's was not the first opera house in Atlanta. The first shows performed in Atlanta predate the American Civil War and were primarily performed in makeshift facilities modified for the operatic arts. Reconstruction saw the formation of the Atlanta Opera House and Building Association. The association obtained the southwest corner of Marietta Street and Forsythe Street to construct a five-story opera house. By 1868, they were out of money. Instead of hosting great performances, Atlanta's first opera house, the Kimball Opera House as it was later known, was sold at a loss. It served as Georgia's state capitol from January 1869 to July 1889.^[7]

American Civil War Civil war in the United States from 1861 to 1865

The American Civil War was a war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North and the South. The Civil War is the most studied and written about episode in U.S. history. Primarily as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people, war broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina shortly after Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated as the President of the United States. The loyalists of the Union in the North proclaimed support for the Constitution. They faced secessionists of the Confederate States in the South, who advocated for states' rights to uphold slavery.

Hannibal Ingalls Kimball was an American entrepreneur and important businessman in post-Civil War Atlanta, Georgia.

The Georgia State Capitol is an architecturally and historically significant building in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The building has been named a National Historic Landmark which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As the primary office building of Georgia's government, the capitol houses the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor, and secretary of state on the second floor, chambers in which the General Assembly, that consists of the Georgia State Senate and Georgia House of Representatives which meets annually from January to April. The fourth floor houses visitors' galleries overlooking the legislative chambers and a museum located near the rotunda in which a statue of Miss Freedom caps the dome.

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References

↑ "DeGive's Opera House", Atlanta History Center
↑ Goodson, Steve (2007). Highbrows, Hillbillies, and Hellfire: Public Entertainment in Atlanta, 1880-1930, p. 17. (University of Georgia Press).
↑ "Our Opera House", Atlanta Sunday Herald, Sep. 14, 1873, p. 11
↑ The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, Sunday, January 2, 1921, page 5.
↑ "Map of Atlanta" (1886) Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries.
↑ Wallace Putam Reed, History of Atlanta, Georgia: with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, p.568
↑ Reed, Wallace Putnam (1889). History of Atlanta, Georgia, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Syracuse, NY: D. Mason & Co. pp. art I 278, Part II, 162–168.

External links

"DeGive's Opera House", Atlanta History Center

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[1] "DeGive's Opera House", Atlanta History Center

[2] Goodson, Steve (2007). Highbrows, Hillbillies, and Hellfire: Public Entertainment in Atlanta, 1880-1930, p. 17. (University of Georgia Press).

[3] "Our Opera House", Atlanta Sunday Herald, Sep. 14, 1873, p. 11

[4] The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, Sunday, January 2, 1921, page 5.

[5] "Map of Atlanta" (1886) Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries.

[6] Wallace Putam Reed, History of Atlanta, Georgia: with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, p.568

[7] Reed, Wallace Putnam (1889). History of Atlanta, Georgia, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Syracuse, NY: D. Mason & Co. pp. art I 278, Part II, 162–168.