Central City Opera House
The Central City Opera House located in the National Historic Landmark District in Central City, Colorado, USA was constructed in 1878 by Welsh and Cornish miners.
In 1877, the citizens of Central City organized a fundraising drive for a grand new opera house befitting the gold mining town's reputation as "the richest square mile on earth." Many of the town's residents were Welsh and Cornish miners, who brought with them a rich tradition of music from their homeland. While locals pitched in during construction, the organizers also retained some of the best building professionals in the area. Denver architect Robert S. Roeschlaub provided an elegant, understated design for the stone structure, and San Francisco artist John C. Massman added elaborate trompe l'oeil murals to the interior. A creek flows through a flume under the Opera House.
The early glory years following the 1878 grand opening were short-lived. Musical and theatrical events appeared on its stage; Buffalo Bill performed here as well as P. T. Barnum’s circus. When the Central City mines were played out, the Opera House fell into disrepair.
City Opera House (Traverse City)
The City Opera House is located at 106-112 Front Street in Traverse City, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1971 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
History
In 1891, entrepreneurs Perry Hannah, Charles Wilhelm, Tony Bartok, and Frank Votruba owned the property where the opera house now stands. They hired architect E. R. Prall of Pontiac, Michigan to design this structure, and builder John Wilhelm to construct it. At the time of construction, it was the first building in Traverse City to use electric lights. The City Opera House provided a 1200-seat performance space for traveling artists as well as a perfect setting for formal balls, such as an Installation Ball held in 1892.
In 1920, a local movie house leased the building and shuttered it to eliminate competition. it was leased through the 1940s, and remained closed until 1985. In 1978, work began to raise money for restoration. In 1980, the owners gave the structure to the city, and restoration work began in 1985. In 2005, the bulk of a 30-year and 8.5 million dollar restoration was completed.
Opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building. While some venues are constructed specifically for operas, other opera houses are part of larger performing arts centers.
History
The first public opera house came into existence in 1637 as the Teatro San Cassiano in Venice, Italy, in a country where opera has been popular through the centuries among ordinary people as well as wealthy patrons; it still has a large number of working opera houses. In contrast, there was no opera house in London when Henry Purcell was composing and the first opera house in Germany was built in Hamburg in 1678. Early United States opera houses served a variety of functions in towns and cities, hosting community dances, fairs, plays, and vaudeville shows as well as operas and other musical events.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, opera houses were often financed by rulers, nobles, and wealthy people who used patronage of the arts to endorse their political ambitions and social positions or prestige. With the rise of bourgeois and capitalist social forms in the 19th century, European culture moved away from its patronage system to a publicly supported system. In the 2000s, most opera and theatre companies raise funds from a combination of government and institutional grants, ticket sales, and private donations.
Opera House (disambiguation)
An opera house is a theatre building used primarily for opera performances.
As a specific venue, Opera House may refer to:
Opera House may also refer to:
Opera House, Wellington
The Opera House is a proscenium theatre in Wellington, New Zealand, located on Manners Street opposite Te Aro Park.
History
Construction work on the building, originally known as the "Grand Opera House", began in 1911. William Pitt, the architect, was based in Melbourne, Australia, and much of the work was overseen by local architect Albert Liddy. It is a brick building, with wooden floors. The Opera House has three levels: stalls, circle and grand circle. It has fine moldings and an ornate dome. On either side of the proscenium arch are two boxes – arranged on top of each other.
In 1977, it was restored by the State Insurance company, and for many years it was known as the State Opera House. Today, it is simply called "The Opera House".
In recent years, The Opera House was operated by the same Trust which ran the nearby St James Theatre.
The Opera House was used for the theatre scenes in Peter Jackson's 2005 film King Kong.
In July 2011 Positively Wellington Venues, an integration between the Wellington Convention Centre and the St James Theatre Trust, began managing this theatre along with five other venues in the capital city.
Central City Opera
Central City Opera is the fifth-oldest opera company in the United States, founded in 1932 by Julie Penrose and Anne Evans. Each festival is presented in the 550-seat historic Central City Opera House built in 1878 in the gold mining era town of Central City, Colorado. Pelham G. Pearce was selected in 1996 as Managing Director for Central City Opera, and he was named General/Artistic Director in May 1998, when John Moriarty became Artistic Director Emeritus.
Most recent six-week summer festivals have included traditional and progressive works. About forty performances, including those specifically for young people, are presented each season. 2007 marked the 75th anniversary of the company and a single-season move from 3 to 4 opera productions. "Short Works" (selected ten-minute opera scenes), selected one-acts, and "Lunch & a Song" (solo luncheon performances), are produced alongside the main opera season by assistant directors and apprentice singers as part of the Bonfils-Stanton Artists Training Program.
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