Woodland Opera House
The Woodland Opera House is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and a California Historical Landmark. It is one of four still functioning opera houses from the 19th century in California and is located within the Downtown Historic District in Woodland, California.
History
The building, which was designed in 1885 by the prominent architect Thomas J. Welsh of San Francisco, was the first opera house in the Sacramento Valley. The contractor who built the building was William Henry Curson from Woodland. In July 1892 a fire destroyed, which had its origin in the Dead Cat Alley behind the theater, a large part of the territory that is now part of Downtown Woodland Historic District, including the Opera House. It was unclear whether this would be rebuilt, as the local businessman David N. Hershey purchased the property and was supported by other business people in the city in his intention. From 1895 and 1896 the Opera House was built by the contractor again. The cost was 8990 dollars. A majority of the original building material was reused, including the still partially standing walls.
End of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century some of the most famous actors and their ensembles were performed here. Among them were Nance O'Neil, James A. Herne, Harry Davenport, Helena Modjeska, John Philip Sousa and his troupe, the comedian Weber and Fields, George M. Cohan's troops, " Gentleman Jim " Corbett, John L. Sullivan, as well as the emerging film stars Sydney Greenstreet, Walter Huston, and Verna Felton.
By 1913, more than 300 guest appearances took place on this stage, and the Woodland Opera House had become a center of entertainment in the region. A court case, which fell to an incident in 1912 - a visitor had mistaken the door to a loading dock with an output and had fallen from about one meter in height and had thereby broken his arm - and the decline in ticket sales due to the advent of cinema films led to the closure of the theater.
New beginning
The opera house was closed and was almost six decades is not used, when it was purchased in 1971 by the Yolo County Historical Society. 1976, it was declared a California Historical Landmark and in 1980 donated to the State of California. After a reconstruction, which cost about two million dollars, the Opera House was reopened in 1989. During the following nine years, further work was carried out, which were led by Gary Worth, an architect from Woodland. Much of the material was provided by Brocchini & Associates of Oakland is available, including historical wallpaper, lighting elements and colors for the painting.
During the reconstruction of the building was brought statically up to date and made earthquake-proof. A central heating and Kilamanlage were installed, a sprinkler system and an alarm system have been added as well as a barrier-free access. There was a cultivation for mechanical equipment, and premises for the administration, a gift shop, the Mid Level lounge and a roof terrace. The restoration work of building interiors has won awards through the California Preservation Foundation and the League of Historic American Theaters.
With the help of the Woodland Rotary Club was formed in 1990 on the south side of the building a green space.
Architecture of the building,
Today's Opera House is a simple, two-story building made of red bricks. The structure has a length of about 32 m and a width of about 18 m. The walls have a thickness of about 50 cm. A stage area at the north end of the building was destroyed by fire in the 1930s. It had a height of 18 m above street level. In some cases, the building with the buildings on the west side of a common wall.
The interior of the building is a typical example of the architecture of American drama theater of the 19th century. The stage is designed as a semi-circular proscenium. The auditorium is surrounded by a horseshoe-shaped rank whose rows are not interrupted. Front of the stage there is an extended orchestra pit, as was customary in theaters of the Renaissance Revival.
Theater productions
Between September and June, five theater production are usually given, often being performed two to four weekend long. A youth theater camp is held annually in August, the youth theater program runs throughout the year. In connection with the formation of the county office of the current productions weekday tickets are offered at preferential rates for students for performances.
In addition to the performance of plays, the building now serves also to performances by musicians, comedians and more rarely also for holding weddings.