It was New Year’s Day and the year was 1866, the building was the grandiose Turner Opera House. William M and Joseph M Turner od West Carrolton built the oldest standing Theater still in existence in Dayton, Ohio. The theater cost 225,000 dollars when first opened. The Turner Opera House on 138 North Main St. caught the attention of Daytonians and the rest of the country. The Victoria Theater has definitely had its ups and downs and trials and tribulations over the last 146 years. Having survived floods, fires and tragedies the Victoria Theater is still standing and is a prominent historical building in Dayton, Ohio.
Fire Struck the Turner Opera House. Arson was suspected of having caused an all-consuming fire May 16, 1869, which destroyed the Theatre at a loss of 500,000(Wikipedia). The theater was not the only building damaged by this fire. The fire damaged some of the surrounding buildings. The fire of 1869 was one of the worst fires Dayton has ever seen. The original five story building was reduced to three after it was damaged by fire in 1869(Oldest Theater). The job of rebuilding took two years and it reopened on 1871 as the Music Hall (Lois).
Over the course of 146 years the Victoria Theater as it is known as today has had many different names. Rebuilt in 1871 as Music Hall, by 1885 it had become known as the Grand Opera House (Watson). It later became the Victoria Opera House, and was renamed the Victoria Theatre in 1901 (Watson). In the year 1919 it was re-opened as the Victory theatre after yet another fire struck. “The Victory Theatre”- a name commemorating the American war effort and its result (Wikipedia). The building was sold to the Arts Center foundation in 1990. For the last time the Theater changes its name...
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Saum, Louis. "Theater Weathers Flood, Changing Times." Dayton Daily News 8 Dec. 2005. Print.
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The theatre had three audience levels. The main floor (known as the "orchestra" or "parquet") was on the same level as the Foyer or Grand Stair Hall. The second level (the "dress circle") and the third level (the "gallery") were accessed through broad stairways that led off the foyer. The backstage areas were unusually large, with dressing rooms on five levels, an uncommonly large fly gallery (where scenery was hung), and even an elevator available to transport actors down to the stage level. The Iroquois was Chicago's newest and most polished theater, built by architect Benjamin Marshall, who had studied many fires over the years and had tried to make this particular building as safe as possible. The Iroquois was designed in the image of a famous Paris opera house, and the four-story structure contained elaborates stained glass windows and polished wood. The lobby of the Iroquois had a sixty-foot high ceiling and marble walls, and Marshall had put in as many as twenty-five exits that supposedly would allow a capacity crowd to escape any problems in less than five minutes. A curtain made of asbestos was supposed to be present, one that could be lowered from above the stage to protect the audience in case of a fire that started there.
Think about a play. During that play, was the President of the United States shot and killed in the theater? Of all the amazing places a person can visit in Washington D.C., Ford’s theater should be at the top of the list. Ford’s Theatre has had more interesting things happen to it than most theatres have ever had. The theater may have had bad luck, but nothing can bring it down for good. With the theatre’s past, it has become a national monument that everyone wants to see.
Southern Ohio Fair Association. Annual Southern Ohio Fair at Dayton, Ohio. Dayton: United Brethen Publishing House, 1878. Print.
Severance Hall is hailed as one of America’s grandest concert halls. The building is named after John L. Severance and his wife, Elisabeth, who initially pledged $1 million for its construction. Elisabeth’s father was the treasurer for John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company and was president of the board for the orchestra. Elisabeth died unexpectedly early in the design process. In her memory, John Severance made several more contributions toward the halls completion, totaling 3 million. The building was dedicated in 1930, and completed in 1931, at a cost of 7 million dollars. The landmark building was recognized as one of the most modern, up-to-date concert facilities in America when it opened. Severance also has a chamber music hall, called the Reinburger Hall, which seats 400 patrons, while the main concert hall is able to seat 1,844. Before the construction of Severance Hall, the Cleveland Orchestra first performed in the much smaller Grays Armory in downtown Cleveland and then moved to the Masonic Aud...
Difference between Greek and Modern Theatres Theatre today as in ancient Greek times is a popular form of entertainment. The adage is a slam. Today’s theatres share many similarities with the Greek. predecessors, however they are also very different. There are in fact many differences for example; layout, special effects, seating.
Two blocks, at Sixth and Ludlow, down from the original terminal station, dubbed the “car shed” (Delaney), the first passenger station was built in 1900. The Italian Renaissance styled building, whose architects were of the firm Elzner and Anderson from Cincinnati, Ohio, showed prominence within the city greatly. The cost of the building varied by source, but the highest reported cost was eight hundred thousand dollars, with the installing of the clock in the tower to only cost one thousand dollars. The clock tower could be seen blocks away, being a piece of the Dayton city skyline. The dedication of the building was held in July 1900 as it “attracted thousands of well-wishers and spectators” (Barnhart). Union Station “formally opened Saturday, July 2...
According to an article from the National Park Services’ Web site, “The original Broadway Fountain stood in the middle of Broadway for almost 100 years before it was dismantled and replaced with the 1981 bronze copy or reproduction” (“Broadway Fountain”). Followin...
In 1847, the Astor Place Opera House, also known as the Astor Place Theatre, was opened “strategically placed at the top of Lafayette Place” where some of the founders lived in their mansions. However two years later, on May 10th, 1849, what is now known as the Astor Place Riots led to the death of 2 people, and a bullet-riddled opera house that would force the building to close. The riot had been started by the Bowery Boys, excited by the rivalry between an American actor and a British actor, both vying for the role of Macbeth at the Astor Place Theatre. Casting the British actor, William Charles Macready, outraged supporters of the American, Edwin Forrest, and labeled Macready as “a symbol of English oppression, of aristocratic privilege” , causing them to storm the building during Macready’s performance on the evening of the 10th, and forcing the state militia to be called in. Ultimately, the building couldn't withstand the bad associations and press following the riot, and the Astor Place Opera House folded halfway through its next season. Five years later, and further uptown, the Academy of Music opened, New York’s second attempt to establish a premiere opera house. However this house was plagued with financial difficulties, unable to sustain itself on the production of new operas, and had to be supported by “concerts of popular classics… and [leasing the building] out for social and charitable events.” It was difficult to sustain a full-house for most performances, and while the house could be “packed with the great and the good…[,] there were frequently rows of unfilled seats.” The Academy founders and frequent attendees were made up of the oldest families of American money, indeed the snobbiest families of American money, uninterested in including those more nouveau riche. One of the newer
Elizabethan times in the 1600s was a progression for the world of the theater. A period named after Queen Elizabeth I of England, it is from this period that modern day society has its foundation for the entertainment industry. From the violence that was prevalent because of the Black Death, people turned to the theater for its poetry and romance. During this time period, there were two types of theatrical performances that were available for the people’s viewing, comedies or tragedies. These two genres were never really intertwined until the time of William Shakespeare. His play, Romeo and Juliet, is an example of both a comedy and a tragedy. It starts off as a comedy with Romeo weeping like a baby because of his love Rosaline, who did not love him back and ends as a tragedy when Romeo and Juliet, a pair of star crossed lovers, commit suicide because the lost of each other. It was also during Shakespeare’s time that writer were finally acknowledged by the people. Before this time, writers were not considered upper classman. Another group of people that began to rise into a higher social class were the actors. Actresses were not present back then because women were not allowed on stage. It was considered unladylike to have a female actor. Men played all the parts. Theater owners were dependent on actors to make them a profit. Rehearsals for the plays were fairly short, only lasting for about a week. The performances themselves would only show for three to four days.
Russell Brown, J. 1995. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Theatre. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, and Ben Johnson are names that have resonated through the centuries. Not since ancient Athens has there been such gluttony of talent, producing stories for the ages. Might Athens be were these Englishmen found their inspiration? Greece produced its share of legendary playwrights; Sophocles and Euripides are two of the most famous. There are far m Elizabethan England gave birth to some of the most famous names in theatre. ore similarities between Elizabethan and Greek Theatre then there are differences. The influence of both eras is felt even today, stage productions of Shakespeare and Euripides are performed from London too Broadway and everywhere in between. I believe that both eras have influenced modern theatre simply because the Greek so obviously influenced Elizabethan theatre.