Small-town opera houses exist in rural communities throughout the United States. Unlike metropolitan opera houses in the United States and other areas of the world, small-town opera houses in the U.S. were constructed to operate as theatrical, versus operatic, performance venues. The name "opera house" was generally applied to the buildings to differentiate them from less reputable facilities.
From the 1850s to 1920s, opera houses were constructed in a vast number of small communities in the United States, usually with the backing of a local commercial patron and with the intent – according to historian Ann Satterthwaite – of signaling "to the world that the town was civilized". [1] In Colorado alone, 132 opera houses were built from 1860 to 1920. [1]
The importance of opera houses as cultural and entertainment venues in small communities in the United States ended with the growing ubiquity of cinema in the 1920s. [2]
Opera houses in small towns in the United States were usually so-named to avoid the déclassé connotations that the word "theater" had in the 19th century U.S. [3] In some towns in the American West, theaters were known as venues that hosted "box-rustling", a form of erotic dancing. [3]
Despite the name "opera house", small-town opera houses generally did not house repertory opera companies but, instead, served as general theaters to host touring productions of plays and vaudevillian shows, as well as occasional operatic performances, that brought popular entertainment from urban areas in the Eastern United States into more recently settled parts of the country. [1] [4] When not used for performances, they also functioned as community centers. [1] As of 2018, the Harrington Bank Block & Opera House in Harrington, Washington, which opened in 1904, had never staged an opera. [5]
Emma Abbott's English Opera Company, touring lectures by Mark Twain, Joseph Jefferson's famous portrayals of Rip Van Winkle, and approximately 500 theater troupes dedicated solely to the performance of Uncle Tom's Cabin were among popular touring attractions considered performance staples of small-town opera houses during the 19th century. [1]
Many small-town opera houses constructed during the 18th and early 19th centuries consisted of a stage with adjoining dressing rooms located on an upper floor of a multi-story building, with lower levels occupied by retail space or the meeting rooms of fraternal associations. [6] [7] In the Great Plains, opera houses generally had a seating capacity ranging from 200 to 1600. [8]
In 2019, the Preservation League of New York State created an inventory of historic, small-town opera houses in New York as part of its efforts to preserve this type of building. [9]
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to theatre:
An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets.
Maryland is a U.S. state with a musical heritage that dates back to the Native Americans of the region and includes contributions to colonial era music, modern American popular and folk music. The music of Maryland includes a number of popular musicians, folk styles and a documented music history that dates to the colonial archives on music from Annapolis, an important source in research on colonial music. Famous modern musicians from Maryland range from jazz singer Billie Holiday to pop punk band Good Charlotte, and include a wide array of popular styles.
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on 117 acres (47 ha) of national park land in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, near the town of Vienna. Through a partnership and collaboration of the National Park Service and the non-profit Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, the park offers both natural and cultural resources.
West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London. Along with New York City's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London. Famous screen actors, British and international alike, frequently appear on the London stage.
A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from a small coffeehouse for folk music shows, an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. Typically, different types of venues host different genres of music. Opera houses, bandshells, and concert halls host classical music performances, whereas public houses ("pubs"), nightclubs, and discothèques offer music in contemporary genres, such as rock, dance, country, and pop.
The Central City Opera House is located in the Central City/Black Hawk Historic District in Central City, Colorado, United States. It was constructed in 1878. It has offered operatic and theatrical productions that drew prominent actors and performers in the late 19th-century, and in the early 20th-century it was a motion picture theater.
The Astor Place Riot occurred on May 10, 1849, at the now-demolished Astor Opera House in Manhattan and left between 22 and 31 rioters dead, and more than 120 people injured. It was the deadliest to that date of a number of civic disturbances in Manhattan, which generally pitted immigrants and nativists against each other, or together against the wealthy who controlled the city's police and the state militia.
The architecture of Philadelphia is a mix of historic and modern styles that reflect the city's history. The first European settlements appeared within the present day borders of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the 17th century with most structures being built from logs. By the 18th century, brick structures had become common. Georgian and later Federal style buildings dominated much of the cityscape. In the first half of the 19th century, Greek revival appeared and flourished with architects such as William Strickland, John Haviland, and Thomas U. Walter. In the second half of the 19th century, Victorian architecture became popular with the city's most notable Victorian architect being Frank Furness.
A jazz club is a venue where the primary entertainment is the performance of live jazz music, although some jazz clubs primarily focus on the study and/or promotion of jazz-music. Jazz clubs are usually a type of nightclub or bar, which is licensed to sell alcoholic beverages. Jazz clubs were in large rooms in the eras of Orchestral jazz and big band jazz, when bands were large and often augmented by a string section. Large rooms were also more common in the Swing era, because at that time, jazz was popular as a dance music, so the dancers needed space to move. With the transition to 1940s-era styles like Bebop and later styles such as soul jazz, small combos of musicians such as quartets and trios were mostly used, and the music became more of a music to listen to, rather than a form of dance music. As a result, smaller clubs with small stages became practical.
The Riley Center, also known as the Grand Opera House and formally as the Mississippi State University Riley Center for Education and Performing Arts, is a performing arts and conference center in Meridian, Mississippi. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
The Woodland Opera House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and a California Historical Landmark, is one of four fully functioning 19th century opera houses in California. It is a contributing property to the Downtown Historic District of Woodland, California.
The Shanghai Oriental Art Center, abbreviated SHOAC, is one of the leading performance and cultural facilities in Shanghai. The five interconnected hemispherical halls or "petals" are shaped to resemble a butterfly orchid from above. They comprise the Entrance Hall, the Concert Hall, the Opera Hall, the Performance Hall, and the Exhibition Hall. The high-tech ceiling changes color during the night to reflect the nature of the performances inside. Located off Century Avenue in Pudong, the SHOAC was opened with a New Year's Eve concert in 2004 and officially opened on July 1, 2005.
The performing arts in Detroit include orchestra, live music, and theater, with more than a dozen performing arts venues. The stages and old time film palaces are generally located along Woodward Avenue, the city's central thoroughfare, in the Downtown, Midtown, and New Center areas. Some additional venues are located in neighborhood areas of the city. Many of the city's significant historic theaters have been revitalized.
Hudson Hall at the historic Hudson Opera House is an arts organization and venue in downtown Hudson, New York. The organization presents and produces arts and cultural programming year-round, and is an important civic partner in the vitality of Hudson. The building, constructed in 1855 as Hudson's city hall, is New York's oldest surviving theater.
Haiphong Opera House is a French-built neoclassical opera house on Opera Square in Hai Phong, which was opened in 1912.
The Martha Ellen Auditorium, now the State Theatre, was built 1916 in Central City, the county seat of Merrick County in the state of Nebraska in the midwestern United States. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, as a well-preserved example of a Nebraska opera house.
The Stonington Opera House is a theatrical venue at the corner of Main and School Streets in the center of Stonington, Maine. Built in 1912, it is one of a small number of early 20th-century performance halls constructed in Maine. It is the current home of Opera House Arts, a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring and preserving the historic building to its original purpose as a central community institution. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
Palmo's Opera House was a 19th-century theatre in Manhattan, New York that was located on Chambers Street between Broadway and Centre Street. It was one of the earliest opera houses in New York before it was converted into one of the earliest Broadway theatres. The theatre was conceived by Ferdinand Palmo, an Italian immigrant and successful restaurateur in New York City. It was located inside the former Stoppani's Arcade Baths building. Modest alteration to the building was done in 1843 to convert the building into a theater.
The Tabor Opera House is an opera house in Leadville, Colorado. Opened in 1879, The building has been designated a national treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.