Earlville Opera House is a historic

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

located in Earlville in

Chenango County, New York Chenango County is a County (United States), county located in the south-central section of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 47,220. Its county seat is Norwich, ...

. It was built in 1890 and occupies six of the eight units of the Douglass Block. The three-story Opera House rises above the two-story annex with the theater and balcony occupying the second and third floor, while storefronts are housed on the first floor. The heyday of the Opera House was from the 1890s to the 1920s; serving as a focal point for community activities and the arts beginning in 1892 and evolved through the decades by providing

Vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

acts, three-penny operas, and traveling medicine shows, followed by

silent movies A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

and then “

talkies A sound film is a Film, motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, bu ...

” in the 1950's. Then, the realities of cars, drive-ins, and television forced the small second story theater out of competition, locking the doors in 1952, seemingly for good. In 1971 the building was threatened by demolition but purchased by artist and political activist

Joey Skaggs Joey Skaggs (born 1945) is an American multi-media artist, activist, satirist, educator and prankster. In a career spanning 60 years, he has produced paintings, sculptures, guerrilla theater, performance art, socially revealing hoaxes, media pr ...

and donated to the Earlville community for the express purpose of restoring, preserving, and continuing its cultural function in perpetuity. In July 1972, the Earlville Opera House, Inc., assembled a volunteer board of directors and began restorative work immediately; in 1974, the Opera House was named to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

; and in 1976, the Opera House saw its first live performance in more than fifty years. Since that time, the Opera House has operated as a volunteer-based, not-for- profit organization. Earlville Opera House is located within the Earlville Historic District. ''See also:'' It is used as a community arts center. It was added to the

in 1974. The Earlville Opera House is a wonderful, largely intact, acoustically perfect historic theater. Managed by a stable, well-established, community-based organization, the building is the home of an exceptional year-round performance series; three visual arts galleries; an Artisan Gift Shop featuring the work of regional artists; arts education opportunities; a workshop series in response to community needs; and a variety of cultural activities including administration of the

New York State Council on the Arts The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) serves to foster and advance the arts, culture, and creativity throughout New York State, according to its website. The goal of the council is to allow all New Yorkers to benefit from the contribution ...

State Community Regrants (SCR) Program for Broome, Chenango and Otsego counties. The iconic venue serves far more than its own Village and continually addresses the current and future needs of a large regional community by expanding the availability and diversity of arts and culture in rural New York, undertaking critical historical preservation, and enhancing the economic vitality of

Central New York The central region of New York state includes: * Auburn in Cayuga County * Cortland in Cortland County * Oneida in Madison County * Syracuse, the largest city of Central New York, in Onondaga County * Fulton and Oswego in Oswego County ...

. History of more than one Opera House on the current site: Fire visited the first Opera House soon after it was built in 1890. The village with the help of Newell Douglass constructed a second opera house in the Douglass block on East Main Street but it too burned on March 31, 1892, when half of the Douglass block was consumed in the blaze. The village rallied again and the current Opera House was completed by November 1892 on the same site.

References

External links

Earlville Opera House website
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Theatres completed in 1890 Buildings and structures in Chenango County, New York National Register of Historic Places in Chenango County, New York Opera houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)