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Old Opera House was Formerly Entertainment Center of Area Road Shows Appeared in City By Fred Morgan April 18, 1952 Few pedestrians who walk down the south side of the first business block of West Main Street in downtown Albemarle are aware that they are walking very nearly under the spacious auditorium of the famous Albemarle Opera House. Perhaps some observing person has noted the five circular glass-paneled pivot windows over Starnes and Merits and wondered why the windows were built that way. For the windows are unusual. There is probably none other in the city or county like them. Curiosity aroused by the odd windows might lead one to inquire into the history of the old building. If so, a panorama of the early formal entertainment scene in the town of Albemarle is in store for him. For the story behind the windows is the story of the grand old Opera House, pioneer among the theatrical establishments of the city. The windows were built in that fashion to make conspicuous the front of the show building and give it prominence on the street front of the town where it outshown any other structure for many years. Strange tales are told of the goings on behind the padlocked doors of the old auditorium. Shadowy figures are said to emerge from secret niches in the walls of the old stage and troupe gayly across the littered stage. After a period of light dancing and cavoting the figures take bows as if in appreciation of the applause of an imagined audience. Their swaggering and supercilious manner marks them as being from the show world of many years ago.
Ghostly
Songs
Echoes of fragments
of ghostly songs have been heard around the old house late at night.
The sounds, distinct yet underfinable, fill every nook and corner of the
auditorium and perhaps escape into the street or alley to arouse consternation
on the part of the late passerby.
Not every night is
chosen by the spooks for their dancing. They
dislike the rainy nights, or nights when the weather threatens.
Their spooky legs are sensitive to the arthritic pains which accompany
bad weather. And their legs are
aged and halting as noted from their dancing.
But on crisp nights
when the air is invigorating, they like to come out of their habitats and dance
to their hearts content on the dust laden floor of the stage in the bright
moonlight which streams through the three full length windows in the rear of the
stage.
Folks say that the
"Spooks of the Opera" as they are called, are the counterparts of the
old performers who acted upon the stage 40 years or more ago before a house
filled with Albemarle citizens. They
refused to leave their show business when it collapsed under them and they now
dwell timelessly in the secret places of the Opera House.
The clandestine
meetings of the ageless show folk upon the stage of the Opera House is
questionable, perhaps, but what explains the strange and varied footprints in the
dust upon the floor of the old stage?
Built
in 1907
Built in the year
1907 by F.E. Starnes, Doc Frank Parker, and J.C. Parker who were partners in the
venture, the Opera House fulfilled a long-felt need in the village of Albemarle
and for a number of years it brought clean and high quality entertainment to the
people.
No finer structure
stood in the village and none was more enticing.
The years in which the Opera House flourished outdid in formality and
elegance anything that has since appeared on the city's social and entertainment
horizon. It was considered quite a
memorable occasion to attend a show at the Opera House.
Time was when the
unpaved and often muddy street outside was lined with an overflow of carriages,
wagons, and saddled horses from the livery stable in town.
Little activity went on elsewhere when a show was in progress at the
Opera House.
Upstairs, the satin
curtain had just parted revealing the brightness and splendor of the stage.
Bated breaths were expelled in exclamations of wonder.
Unquieted children were hushed by parents.
Gossipers broke off their banter abruptly.
All eyes were focused on the bright stage.
Footlights glared
upon the brightly costumed performers on the stage who alternately made love and
flung hot words at each other. A
pianist out in front below the level of the stage floor played accompaniment to
the songs that were sung and kept in tempo with the movement of the action on
the stage. Horns or trumpets blared
out occasionally to accent some new turn in the movement of the drama.
Hand
Painted Scenery
Big scrolls of hand
painted scenery served as a background for the action and covered the three
windows in the rear of the stage unless they were required in the action of the
play. Expensive draperies and
screens decorated the 25 by 35 stage and the finest furniture in town suffered
under the sometimes ludicrous antics of the performers.
A set of wide steps
on either side of the stage led up to the dressing rooms of the performers.
At the back of one of the rooms, a metal fire escape stairway permitted a
means of escape in the event of fire.
Out in the spacious
auditorium, row upon row of the "finest seats between New York and
Havana" were filled with citizens of Albemarle, Stanly County and beyond,
who voraciously digested every movement and sound upon the stage.
Young ladies, dressed in their gayest evening gowns and with elbow-length
gloves, sat beside young men decked out in their finest suits.
To be escorted to a performance at the Opera House on a date was the
social ambition of every young lady.
Unescorted ladies
had come to the performance in groups and approached the ticket window at the
head of the stairs without a trace of timidity.
Not every town the size of Albemarle was equipped with a grand opera
house in which to witness the latest dramatic plays straight from New York, the
theatrical center of the country.
Liveried ushers had
shown the patrons to seats ranging in price from 50 cents for the balcony and
rear seats up to $2.00 for special reserved and box seats near the front.
Including the balcony, the auditorium seated something like 800 people
and reports say that it was invariably filled to capacity on show nights.
Heated
By Stoves
A row of metal
support posts down the center of the auditorium conflicted with the view of many
patrons. On each side of the wide
room a big cast-iron stove, fired up long before curtain time, gave sufficient
warmth to the audience. Big gas
lamps were used to light the building before electricity was obtained.
Each dressing room had been equipped with a stove a gas lamp.
If needed, one of the five pivot windows in the rear of the auditorium
could be cracked to admit fresh air.
At the end of an
act, the curtains closed, and while the setting was being changed and the actors
prompting themselves, the performance was criticized by the audience and in
shadowed places young couples whispered.
Beginning in
October and continuing for several months, the opera season brought numerous
attractions to the stage for a one night stand.
Many Lyceum attractions were presented between the dates of the big
shows.
"The
Clansman" by Thomas Dixon, was one of the greatest and most memorable plays
ever presented upon the stage of the Opera House.
The author, himself, was present at the performance as well as 40 people
on the stage and a carload of stage effects.
The troupers arrived in Albemarle from New York by the carloads.
Governor Glenn of North Carolina, said, "Every man, woman, and child
should see the Clansman". It
was presented in the Opera House October 6, 1908.
According to the
advertisement, a troop of spirited cavalry horses was a part of the show, but
due to the second-story position of the auditorium they could not perform in
Albemarle. However, little dramatic
value was lost by the non-participation of the animals.
Other
Plays
Another renowned
play presented at the Opera House was "The Servant in the House" by
Charles Rann Kennedy. Local
advertisements of the play stated it thus:
"With Victor Lambert and a cast of musical excellence - complete
equipment of special scenery- box seats, $1.50, lower floor, 75 cents and $1.00;
balcony, 25 and 50 cents." It
ran at the Opera House on Tuesday night, January 7, 1913.
"The Sins of
the Father", another outstanding production, played at the Opera House on
Saturday night, January 21, 1911. Also
by Thomas Dixon, it was said to be sweeping through the South like a whirlwind.
At the request of numerous merchants and clerks in town, the curtain did
not rise on this play until 9pm. The
price of seats advanced to 75 cents, $1, $1.50, and $2.
Included in the
advertisement was this bit of pertinent advice: "On account of the enormous
demand for seats, patrons are earnestly advised to order tickets well in advance
and thus avoid paying extortionate prices to speculators.
"St Elmo"
played at the Opera House October 10, 1911, and "The Thief" was
presented on the night of October 26, 1911.
Polk Miller, showman from Richmond, Virginia, staged comedy and musical
shows at the Opera House with his native Virginia Negroes.
Traveling troubadours engaged the auditorium for a one night stand and
were quickly on their way to the next town.
The house maintained a piano for the performers, but no orchestra.
At first there was
considerable objection to the coming of the theatre among the church folks of
the town who misunderstood the motives of the owners and were worried about the
moral future of Albemarle. However,
since the three owners were among the most liberal benefactors to the three
principal churches in town, no severe opposition was encountered.
During the first season when each play was more widely acclaimed than the
last, the church folks, with misgiving, slipped inside the theatre to see for
themselves what work of the devil had been brought upon their town.
To their surprise, they found most of their friends and church-goers
there.
Ministers
Attended
According to Mr
Starnes, the town's leading ministers were among the best patrons.
The Opera House was no discredit to the town and cast no reflection upon
the moral stability of its citizens.
Managed largely by
Mr. Starnes with some assistance from Mike Peeler, the Opera House obtained
better quality productions than any other city in the territory.
Mr. Starnes, an optometrist, maintained an optical shop upstairs near the
entrance to the auditorium and G.D.B. Reynolds had a law office in the building.
In the spring and off-season months, the auditorium was utilized for
commencement exercises, political rallies, lectures, conventions and so on.
Among the many
lecturers speaking from the stage of the Opera House were the lieutenant
governor of the state of Mississippi and Dr Oscar Haywood, a noted lecturer and
Baptist leader from Mt Gilead. Mr.
Haywood is said to have been the first man to drive an automobile into the town
of Albemarle, having driven it all the way from New York.
The high school and the Albemarle Normal and Industrial Institute used
the auditorium for plays and commencement exercises, since it was the only
suitable place in town.
After a few years,
during which the Opera House was well patronized, the road shows began to fall
off and the stock companies dissolved their services.
Soon the more modern device of moving pictures replaced the plays.
The building was leased to L.O. Parker and J.C. Bost who operated a
motion picture theatre there for about two years.
Scenery
Sold
When plays could no
longer be obtained at the Opera House, the fixtures, scenery, and staging
effects were sold to Jethro Almond, local showman.
In 1919 after
moving pictures were established in the town, the auditorium was taken over by
Huneycutt and Ewing and used as a supplement to their undertaking facilities.
P.J. Honeycutt's furniture store next door was connected to the
auditorium by means of a fire proof door. During
the flu epidemic in 1919 they had to move their funeral home over their place of
business and they made good use of the large floor of the auditorium.
More than 20 years
ago the local VFW post used the auditorium as a meeting place.
When they vacated it, the seats were dismantled and the auditorium has
since been used as storage space for various firms and individuals.
Boxes of old papers and records, antique pieces, cabinets, chairs, and an
assortment of junk litters the auditorium and balcony.
Stripped of its
glamour and embellishments, the old stage forlornly awaits the singing and
dancing troupers to brighten its countenance.
Strewn with lumber boxes, chairs, broken vases and tidbits, it still
retains a certain dignity despite its state of degradation.
In the rear, the three windows, dingy from the effects of a thousand
rains admit a little light into the gloomy interior.
By close examination, one can see initials upon the walls of the stage
and dressing rooms, scratched there decades ago by some forgotten actor.
Out near the center
of the stage floor a battered and broken suitcase, pasted over with pennants and
stickers, awaits the gay clothes and hand of its owner.
Thirty-odd years accumulation of dust covers everything.
Don't lie in wait
for the ghosts and spooks that haunt the Opera House.
Don't expect to record the erie music.
The season is over. But next October
when the nights grow chilly and the bright moonlight pierces down through frosty
air, strange things will happen in the old Albemarle Opera House.
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