Chestnut Street Opera House
Chestnut Street Opera House | |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Coordinates | 39°57′01″N 75°09′30″W / 39.9503°N 75.1582°W |
Opened | 1870 |
Renovated | 1877 |
Demolished | 1940 |
Other information | |
Seating capacity | 1,656 |
The Chestnut Street Opera House was a theatre located at 1021–1029
Operational history
Fox's New American Theatre
Robert Fox built Fox's New American Theatre as a vaudeville house in 1870 on a site on Chestnut Street leased from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA).[2] It was previously the site of the PAFA's first and second buildings.[3] The site of the New American Theatre was 100 by 173 feet (30 by 53 m). The Chestnut Street frontage was occupied by an entrance hall behind an elaborate classical facade with Corinthian columns and a central arch topped by a clock and a sculpture of an eagle. The auditorium had three levels of seating, accommodating 1,656 patrons.[1]: 81–82
The theatre opened on December 17, 1870, with what was billed as "a powerful combination of amusements of all nations".
Despite this prediction, Fox's New American Theatre was destroyed by fire on February 25, 1877.
Chestnut Street Opera House
In 1880 Fox's theatre was acquired by George K. Goodwin, the manager of the Walnut Street Theatre, and reopened as a legitimate theatre, the Chestnut Street Opera House (CSOH).[1]: 18 [11][12]: 157 Newly re-modeled, the theatre re-opened on September 20, 1880, with a production of the Danicheffs.[13] Goodwin died in 1881[12]: 166 and that same year Philadelphia clothier and real estate businessman Joseph Monroe Bennett (a former partner of John Wanamaker) purchased the site of the theatre.[14] In 1882 the theatre magnates Samuel F. Nixon and J. Fred Zimmerman Sr. acquired the lease of the CSOH from Goodwin's widow.[12]: 166 Nixon and Zimmerman were part of the powerful Theatrical Syndicate that reshaped the entertainment business in the United States during the late 19th century by creating a powerful monopoly. The actor Richard Mansfield was a vocal critic of the Theatrical Syndicate, and made an impassioned speech against the syndicate from the stage of the CSOH. His speech was interrupted when the theatre's manager's dropped the curtain in front of him to silence his protest. Mansfield was subsequently blacklisted from all of the syndicate's theatres.[15]
When J. M. Bennett died in 1898, he bequeathed the theatre in his will to the University of Pennsylvania to fund women's education.[16] The will was contested by Bennett's daughter, Imogene E. Bennett Wellens, who had been disinherited. The matter went through several legal actions, ultimately arriving before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. That court validated the will on February 24, 1902, ruling in favor of the university.[17]
From 1913 the theatre was run as a luxury $1-a-seat cinema (equivalent to $31 in 2023) by Joseph Jefferson (J. J.) McCarthy, who managed the national release of
Notable productions
Nineteenth century
The Chestnut Street Opera House (CSOH) presented productions and events starring several notable entertainers and figures of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The celebrated Italian tragedienne Adelaide Ristori performed the title role in Euripides's Medea at the theatre during her 1875 American tour.[22] She later returned to the theatre in the title role of Paolo Giacometti's five-act historical play Elizabeth, Queen of England in November 1884, performing for the first time in her career in the English language when the production opened at the CSOH on November 10.[23]
The world premiere of
Philadelphia actor
The Mask and Wig Club, an all-male collegiate club associated with the University of Pennsylvania, presented its first staged production at the CSOH on June 4, 1889. As of 2021, the club remains active in staging musical theatre productions.[29]
The actor Edwin Booth appeared at the theatre multiple times during his career, beginning with a series of plays by William Shakespeare staged at the theatre in March 1896. These included the roles of Iago in Otello, Brutus in Julius Caesar, and the title roles in Macbeth, Hamlet, Richard III, and King Lear. He later returned to the theatre in the title role of Edward Bulwer-Lytton's Richelieu in 1897 and as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice in 1890.[30] On April 15, 1886, Walt Whitman delivered a free public lecture on Abraham Lincoln from the stage of the opera house; an event paid for by two prominent Philadelphians: journalist Talcott Williams and lawyer Thomas Donaldson.[31]
Twentieth century
The CSOH staged the United States premiere of
The CSOH was one of three theaters selected by the
The CSOH experienced a night of drama backstage when the
On Christmas Day 1935, the CSOH presented the premiere of Zoe Akins's O Evening Star, a play about a supposedly fictional actress Amy Bellaire. However, the play's similarities to the life of Marie Dressler and the performance of its star Jobyna Howland led the reviewer of The New York Times to proclaim it was a play about Dressler with Howland giving a convincing portrayal of that specific actress.[38] On November 30, 1936, the CSOH presented the world premiere of George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's comedic play You Can't Take It with You. The play became a smash hit on Broadway and won the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.[39]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-313-24054-6.
- ^ a b Watson, John Fanning (1887). Annals of Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania, in the olden time, Volume 3. E. S. Stuart. pp. 373–375.
- ISBN 9781443866408.
- ^ "Fox's New American Theatre, Chestnut Street, Above Tenth". Philadelphia Evening Telegraph. December 17, 1870. p. 5.
- ^ "Fox's New American Theatre". December 24, 1870. p. 10.
- ^ "Amusements". Philadelphia Evening Telegraph. January 6, 1871. p. 3.
- Reading Times. February 26, 1877. p. 1.
The building was formerly the Academy of Fine Arts, being changed into a theatre after extensive alterations and preparations by Robert Fox, in 1870
- ^ "The City and the Suburbs". The Philadelphia Inquirer. June 4, 1877. p. 3.
- ^ "Remodeling a Theatre". The Philadelphia Inquirer. June 22, 1877. p. 2.
- ISBN 9781955041171.
- ^ a b "Philly Chestnut St. O.H. Faces The Wreckers". Variety. No. July 1939. 1939.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-271-03578-9.
- ^ Childs, George W. (1881). Public Ledger Almanac 1881. Westcott & Thomson. p. 25.
- ^ Chamberlain, Joshua Lawrence (1901). University of Pennsylvania, Its History, Influence, Equipment and Characteristics; with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Founders, Benefactors, Officers and Alumni, Volume 1. R. Herndon Company. p. 410.
- ISBN 9783031042416.
- ^ "Joseph Monroe Bennett 1816 - 1898". University Archives and Records Center. University of Pennsylvania Library. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
- The Philadelphia Times. February 26, 1902. p. 6.
- ^ Harrower, Jack (1934). "The Pioneer Prince of Ballyhoo". The New Movie Magazine. No. Jul-Dec 1934. p. 78.
- ^ Vogel, A. Mike (September 28, 1935). "Two Decades of Exhibition Tell Story of Changes Overnight". Motion Picture Herald. No. 120. p. 122.
- JSTOR 3661092. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
- ^ Henri, Robert (1890–1900). Party Scene. Brooklyn Academy of Music.
- ISBN 9780520272446.
- The New York Clipper: 28. 1885.
- ^ "Chestnut Street Opera House–A New Comic Opera". The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 8, 1887. p. 4.
- ISBN 9780199729708.
- ^ "Amusements, Music, etc". The Philadelphia Inquirer. September 1, 1884. p. 7.
- The Kansas City Times. August 1, 1886. p. 5.
- ^ "George W. Munroe, Actor, Dies At 70; Once Star of 'My Aunt Bridget' Was Noted for His Characterizations of Irish Women". The New York Times. January 30, 1932. p. 17.
- ^ "A Toast to Dear Old Penn: A Celebration of Student Performing Arts at the University of Pennsylvania" (PDF). Platt Student Performing Arts House, University of Pennsylvania. December 10, 2021.
- ISBN 9781476601465.
- ISBN 9781587294785.
- ISBN 9781443884259.
- ISBN 9780823228737.
- ISBN 9780814336977.
- ISBN 9780197514511.
- ISBN 9780786421091.
- ^ ""Top Speed" New Musical Comedy". The Philadelphia Inquirer. November 13, 1929. p. 4.
- ^ "ZOE AKINS'S PLAY IS WELL RECEIVED; ' O Evening Star' Is Praised as 'Brilliant' and 'Mild Hit' by Philadelphia Critics". The New York Times. December 26, 1935. p. 20.
- ISBN 9780061811432.