Elitch Theatre | |
Location | W. 38th Ave. and Tennyson St., Denver, Colorado |
---|---|
Coordinates | 39°46′6″N105°2′46″W / 39.76833°N 105.04611°W |
Area | Highlands |
Built | 1890 |
Architect | Lee & Liden |
Architectural style | Stick/Eastlake, Shingle Style |
NRHP reference No. | 78000844 [1] |
CSRHP No. | 5DV.143 |
Added to NRHP | March 21, 1978 |
The Historic Elitch Theatre is located at the original Elitch Gardens site in northwest Denver, Colorado. Opened in 1890, it was centerpiece of the park that was the first zoo west of Chicago. The theatre was Denver's first professional theatre, serving as home to America's first and oldest summer-stock theatre company from 1893 until the 1960s. The first films in the western US were shown there in 1896. Cecil B. DeMille sent yearly telegrams wishing the theatre another successful season, calling it "one of the cradles of American drama."
John Elitch and Mary Elitch Long first opened Elitch Gardens on May 1, 1890, with animals, bands, flowers and an open-air theatre where Mayor Londoner of Denver spoke. [2] Inspired by Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the first shows were vaudeville acts by accomplished local and national performers. In 1891 the theatre was enclosed and rebuilt for $100,000. The Boston Opera Company performed musicals, and light opera starting with The Pirates of Penzance . In 1893 the first summer stock theatre company, the Norcross Company, was organized in the East and brought to the gardens. Vaudeville shows continued until 1900.
In 1896, Edison's Vitascope was exhibited at the theatre showing the first films in Colorado. [3]
The Elitch Gardens Stock Theatre Company began performing in 1897 under the management of Mary Elitch Long. Its first season in 1897 opened with leading man James O'Neill, who had promised John that he would act in the new theatre when it was ready. The first show performed there was Helene. [4] The company became known for putting on ten plays in a ten-week summer season and attracting internationally known stars of the theatre and screen.
Sarah Bernhardt came to Denver in 1906 after the San Francisco earthquake destroyed the California Theatre where she was scheduled to perform. At Elitch's she played Camille at the matinée and LaSorcier at night. Douglas Fairbanks was hired into the same company. Prior in 1905, he was hired to sweep the stage for theatre tickets. [5]
Operating the park became too costly for Mary Elitch. With the purchase of Elitch Gardens by John Mulvihill in 1916, she relinquished control of the Gardens and theatre. (Two theatre boxes were always reserved for her and her friends). Mulvihill oversaw the theatre until his death in 1930 [6] and was succeeded by his son-in-law Arnold Gurtler. [4]
In 1953, the Elitch Theatre was used to film scenes for The Glenn Miller Story . [7]
The Elitch Garden Theatre Company became its own incorporated business, separate from the Elitch Gardens Park, renting the theatre in 1963. The company stopped operating as a traditional resident summer-stock, switching to single, star-packaged shows from New York. The company had many successful years, but as time and culture changed the theatre building was neglected.
The park's Trocadero Ballroom was bulldozed in 1975. Fearing a similar fate, the community added the theatre to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The Elitch Theatre Company's last season was in 1987. The park booked the "Incredible Acrobats of China" for a season, [8] then one night musical acts before it was officially closed in 1991. The Robber Bridegroom was performed with Patrick Cassidy for the theatre's centennial anniversary. [9] Actor Raymond Burr raised $2 million for an educational program at the theatre. The money was instead donated to local Cole Middle School.
The Elitch Gardens amusement park moved to the current central Platte Valley location in 1994. The new $94 million park was opened in 1995 with attendance reaching one million. Two fires in 1995 on the old Gardens property near the theatre cause public outcry for additional security. [10] The original Elitch property was sold to Perry Rose LLC in 1996 with the conditions that the theatre and carousel shell never be demolished. [4] [11]
In 2011, Barbara Medill, a friend of Mary Elitch Long, donated some of Long's possessions to the Foundation, including an engraved silver table setting. [12] Around the same time, the hand-painted decorative historic "Anne Hathaway" curtain, (oil on canvas: circa early 1900s), was removed from its original wooden bats and stored for construction work. After years of neglect and severe water damage the curtain was rolled and stored in a backstage room at the theatre.
After a massive volunteer cleanup, the interior was opened for Doors Open Denver in April 2012. [13] Musicians and Shakespearean performers were the first acts on stage in the 22 years since the building closed.
In 2016, Curtains Without Borders (a non-profit organization promulgating proper storage etiquette of antiquated theatre curtains and drapes.) Representatives from the group gave a lecture at the Elitch Theatre about theatre grand drapes and curtains. They were asked to review the Elitch Theatre's "Anne Hathaway" grand drape and consult on its restoration. The drape was removed from storage, and unrolled by CWB representatives and theatre volunteers who discovered improper storage. The drape was illegible, and the paint dissolved into dust as the curtain was unrolled. The curtain was displayed on the backstage theatre floor for lecture attendees to view. Those who regarding it as a piece of Colorado history were devastated that it had been destroyed by time and neglect.
In 2018, the outdoor films and summer children's programming at the theater were cancelled due to $800,000 in damages caused by wind and a hail storm. [14]
The theatre closed in 1991 and sat empty for the next 11 years.
A nonprofit organization, the Historic Elitch Gardens Theatre Foundation, was formed in 2002 to raise funds, maintain, preserve and restore the theatre and carousel pavilion. [15] In 2006, the Historic Elitch Gardens Theatre Foundation received $5 million in federal, state, and city funding, plus grants and private donations. Work began on phase 1 -- saving and restoring the historic exterior. [16] The groundbreaking for the renovation of the theatre began with restoring the building's exterior, including a concrete foundation under the exterior walls. The roof, gable, main entrance/lobby, and exterior walls were replaced and painted. [16] A section of dressing rooms and shops on the West side of the building was demolished. Exterior restoration on the historic auditorium was completed in 2007. [17] [18]
Phase 2 of the restoration (2013-2014) included various health and safety upgrades, including restoring electricity and lighting throughout the building and the addition of a fire suppression system. This upgrade allowed the theatre to get temporary occupancy and begin tours and limited events. [19]
With the completion of Phase 3 (2020-2021), restrooms were added, a new roof was put on, and various other upgrades were made, allowing for the theatre to gain permanent occupancy. [19]
In summer 2022, the foundation offered free some outdoor movie showings. [20] In summer 2023, the interior had been sufficiently restored for a series of indoor movies and tours. [21] By late 2023, the foundation had high hopes for its Phase 4 progress, expecting to offer live shows in summer 2024, albeit without full lighting, rigging and sound. Opening the 400 balcony seats is part of Phase 5. [22]
Fundraising continues for interior renovations, including the need for theatre rigging, lighting, sound, etc. The plan is to reopen as a multimedia performing arts complex for the community offering education, film, live music, and theatre.[ citation needed ]
*** Brandon deWilde died in motor vehicle accident in Lakewood, Colorado, days after his final performance at the theatre.
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Elitch Gardens Theme & Water Park, colloquially known as Elitch's, is an amusement park in Denver, Colorado. It is owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment and operated by Premier Parks, LLC. Distinctive for being located in a downtown area, it is open April through October.
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Elitch Gardens was a family-owned seasonal amusement park, theater, and botanic garden in the West Highland neighborhood in northwest Denver, Colorado, United States, at 38th and Tennyson streets. For more than a century Elitch's was one of the most popular entertainment destinations in Colorado. It was nationally known for its luscious gardens, the Elitch Theatre, the Trocadero Ballroom, and the premier wooden roller coaster, Mister Twister. The park moved to downtown Denver in 1994 and later in November 1998 became Six Flags Elitch Gardens. The former location has been redeveloped.
Highland is a distinct city-center neighborhood in Denver, Colorado, United States, bounded by West 38th Avenue to the north, a Union Pacific Railroad line on the east, the South Platte River to the southeast, Speer Boulevard on the south, and Federal Boulevard on the west. The Highlands is sometimes used to refer to two separate city-center neighborhoods in Denver; Highland and West Highland, although the two neighborhoods are distinct. Highland and West Highland are both in the area that is referred to as the Northside. Highland is located immediately northwest of downtown. Note that the Highland neighborhood association has a slightly different definition with the easternmost boundary stopping at I-25. And the West Highland neighborhood to the immediate west of Highland, with the borders of 38th and 29th Avenues on the north and south and Federal and Sheridan Boulevards on the east and west. To distinguish between its immediately adjacent neighbor, West Highland, Highland is sometimes referred to as East Highland, Lower Highland or LoHi. The two together are casually called "the Highlands," a term which often falsely encompasses other Northwest Denver neighborhoods such as Jefferson Park, Sunnyside and Berkeley. Realtors have particularly pushed the inclusion of the recently gentrified Berkeley, located directly north of West Highland, as part of the Highlands, sometimes going so far as to refer to Berkeley and parts of Sunnyside as the "Upper Highlands". To add further confusion, within the Highlands neighborhoods there are several historic designations of various degrees, including Potter Highlands, Scottish Highlands and Highlands Park.
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Blanche Walsh was a highly regarded American stage actress who appeared in one film, Resurrection based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy and the first three reel treatment of any Tolstoy story.
Mary Elitch Long was one of the original owners of Elitch Gardens in Denver, Colorado. She was the first woman to own and manage a zoo—the first zoo between Chicago and the west coast—and one of the first women to own and manage a theater She was an author of two children's books and was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1996.
John Elitch Jr. was a restaurateur, businessman, actor, zookeeper, and original owner and namesake of Elitch Gardens and the Elitch Theatre in Denver, Colorado.
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Elitch may refer to: