The Woodstock Opera House is a historical venue for performing arts and receptions located in

Woodstock, Illinois Woodstock is a city in (and the county seat of) McHenry County, Illinois, United States. It is located 45 miles northwest of Chicago, making it one of the city's outer-most suburbs. Per the 2020 census, the population was 25,630. The city's hist ...

. It was built in 1889 and designed as a multi-use facility with space for city administration offices as well as police and fire departments. The building was planned by architect Smith Hoag and built by contractor Simon Brink for a cost of $25,000. Today, the City of Woodstock still owns the building, but the building is used exclusively as a performance space. In 2013, the stage was dedicated to

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

, who grew up in Woodstock and performed at the venue during his formative years.

History

The Opera House was built in 1889 to house the library, council room, justice court, fire department and second floor auditorium for the City of Woodstock. The Patti Rosa Company provided the inaugural performance of ''Margery Daw'' on Thursday, September 4, 1890. The Opera House became McHenry County’s center for entertainment hosting touring

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

, minstrel and dramatic companies. When the traveling circuits disappeared in the early 20th century, the Opera House became the site for the

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-area's first, however short-lived,

summer stock theatre In American theater, summer-stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock th ...

. Presented by the Todd School for Boys, The Todd Theatre Festival of 1934 was a six-week summer festival organized by

, a 1931 graduate of the school. Three plays were presented — ''

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'', ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' and ''Tsar Paul'' — featuring Welles,

Hilton Edwards Hilton Edwards (2 February 1903 – 18 November 1982) was an English-born Irish actor, lighting designer and theatrical producer. He co-founded the Gate Theatre with his partner Micheál Mac Liammóir and two others, and has been referred to as ...

and Micheál MacLiammóir of Dublin's

Gate Theatre The Gate Theatre is a theatre on Cavendish Row in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1928. History Beginnings The Gate Theatre was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir with Daisy Bannard Cogley and Gearóid Ó Lochlai ...

, Louise Prussing, Charles O'Neal and Constance Heron.Tarbox, Todd, ''Orson Welles and Roger Hill: A Friendship in Three Acts''. Albany, Georgia: BearManor Media, 2013, . Welles, Orson, and

Peter Bogdanovich Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. One of the " New Hollywood" directors, Bogdanovich started as a film journalist until he was hired to work on ...

, edited by

Jonathan Rosenbaum Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for ''The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has ...

, ''

This is Orson Welles ''This is Orson Welles'' is a 1992 book by Orson Welles (1915–1985) and Peter Bogdanovich that comprises conversations between the two filmmakers recorded over several years, beginning in 1969.Welles, Orson, and Peter Bogdanovich, edited by Jon ...

''. New York:

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

Publishers 1992 . The stage of the Woodstock Opera House was dedicated to Welles in 2013, and the Woodstock Opera House hosted an 80th anniversary celebration of the Todd Theatre Festival. In 1947, a group of citizens formed and supported the Woodstock Players. For several years the Players, provided acting experience for students graduation from the Goodman School. Now-famous personalities Paul Newman, Tom Bosley,

Betsy Palmer Betsy Palmer (born Patricia Betsy Hrunek; November 1, 1926 – May 29, 2015) was an American actress, who was known as a regular supporting film and Broadway actress and television guest star, as a panelist on the game show ''I've Got a Secret' ...

, Geraldine Page, Shelley Berman and

Lois Nettleton Lois June Nettleton (August 16, 1927 – January 18, 2008) was an American film, stage, radio, and television actress. She received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won two Daytime Emmy Awards. Early life Lois Nettleton was born on Aug ...

were among the more notable personalities. Woodstock Opera House 01

In 1968, the Town Square Players was established. They were incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1973. In 1974, the Woodstock Musical Theatre Company was founded and made the Opera House their home. In 2019, the companies merged to create Theatre 121 and still perform regular seasons at the Opera House every year.

Architecture

Erected in 1889, the Opera House was designed and constructed by Elgin-based architect Smith Hoag at a cost of $25,000. The construction materials are mostly of local origin including limestone, terra cotta, fieldstone, white brick, and sandstone. Its architectural style is a mixture of late

Victorian-era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardi ...

tastes combined with Early American, Midwestern, Gothic, and even Moorish elements. The interior is modeled after the

showboat A showboat, or show boat, was a floating theater that traveled along the waterways of the United States, especially along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, to bring culture and entertainment to the inhabitants of river frontiers. Showboats were a ...

s of the time, with dimensions and decorations that imitate many of those grand floating theatres. In 1960, the Junior Civic Arts League invested time and effort to battle the increasing deterioration of the auditorium and stage. The Woodstock Fine Arts Association was formed in 1961 with the purpose of restoring the Opera House through the next decade. In 1972, the Opera House was declared a "landmark" by the city and the Woodstock Opera House Community Center, Inc. was formed to raise funds for a restoration effort. The Opera House was later closed for two years of restoration work. It reopened in February 1977 and was renamed the Woodstock Opera House Community Center. Additional restoration projects were finished over the next two decades and the Opera House was considered fully restored with the final addition of the front Portico in 1999. The building continues to be owned and maintained by the City of Woodstock and local residents. It features historic furnishings, stained glass windows, tin ceilings, original woodwork and hand drawn stencil ornamentations. In 2003, a new annex was completed and added to the Opera House on its adjacent lot. It provides disability access to the stage, a freight elevator, additional back stage areas, offices and the Stage Left Café. The Orson Welles Stage was dedicated February 10, 2013, honoring the site of Welles's American debut as a professional theatre director.

Current operations

The Woodstock Opera House hosts a variety of programming and events each year including concerts, theatrical plays, dance, visual arts, educational programming, lectures, meetings, receptions, and more. Situated on the historic square in downtown Woodstock, the Opera House is one of the oldest continuously operating theatres in the country. The Opera House is a fully modernized theatre while retaining its historical character. It features contemporary sound, lighting, stage rigging, heating, air-conditioning and other amenities and is owned and operated by the City of Woodstock.

Cinema

The venue is featured prominently in the film '' Groundhog Day'' (which was filmed primarily in Woodstock) as The Pennsylvanian Hotel.

References

External links