Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Once Upon a Time at the Opera House: Drama at Three Historic Michigan Theaters, 1882-1928

Once Upon a Time at the Opera House: Drama at Three Historic Michigan Theaters, 1882-1928

Harris, James Berton

Hardcover

Architecture HistoryTheater HistoryRegional: Midwest

Currently unavailable to order

ISBN10: 1611863015
ISBN13: 9781611863017
Publisher: Michigan St Univ Pr
Published: Feb 1 2019
Pages: 250
Weight: 3.80
Height: 1.20 Width: 11.20 Depth: 8.60
Language: English
The importance of opera houses to the cultural and community life in nonmetropolitan areas of the country from the last quarter of the nineteenth century to the advent of motion pictures in the 1920s has seldom been documented. As both the civic and arts center for the community, the local opera house was a venue for community meetings, political rallies, concerts, lectures, and theatrical entertainment. The stories the reader will encounter here--related with a healthy dose of humor--are based on historical facts, anecdotes, urban legends, and tall tales associated with three of the more than one hundred opera houses that existed in Michigan during this period. As there are similar stories about such structures throughout Michigan as well as in other Midwestern and Western states, this could be considered a storybook about the golden age of opera houses in many of America's rural regions. Unfortunately, many of Michigan's wonderful old jewel boxes have been razed or burned down. Whereas almost every town in the state once had a facility referred to as an opera house, few remain and, of those that do, few are open for business. The opera houses in Coldwater, Calumet, and Manistee are still in operation, however, and are still serving their communities as they have for over a hundred years.

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