Interior of Oddfellow's Temple at the Opera House, 1880s

Description

Médias

Image

Type d'élément

Photographs

Description

Photo of the St. Marys Oddfellows' temple that once existed within the St. Marys Opera House on the uppermost floor. This photo would have been taken sometime in the 1880s and features the men all posed together with some sitting and some standing. Behind them a sign station "HERE LOVE & TRUTH ARE KNOWN/WE WELCOME YOU" With I.O.O.F. on the right side.

From the Town of St. Marys website:

The St. Marys Opera House was built in 1879-80 by the St. Marys Chapter of the International Order of Oddfellows. Their goal was to build a structure that would surpass all others. The impressive structure was designed by Silas Weekes (who was a lodge member), and was built of locally quarried limestone. The cost when finished was $23,000.00 which was a remarkable amount for the time. According to eyewitness accounts it was "built with all the amenities necessary and great charm". It was designed to have stores on its street level, an eight hundred-seat theatre on the second and meeting rooms for the Odd fellows on the third. The stage was said to be "so enormous that during a performance of Ben Hur, five chariots drawn by real horses, could dash across it abreast."

The Opera House did not have an auspicious beginning. Its first performance was by the Holman Opera Company which performed so badly that the audience was disgusted and didn't hesitate to say so. Luckily within two days, the audiences were amazed at the music of world famous violinist A. Remenyi, who was one of the top ten violinists of his day.

In its 40 year heyday as a theatre, the St. Marys Opera House saw an incredible list of performers. The "Fabulous Marks Brothers" who were known as the "The Canadian Kings of Repertoire" performed on numerous occasions. (These seven, very famous brothers, were born near Perth, Ontario, operated three production companies and performed for over eight million people in their careers.) Beatrice Lillie, who was born in Toronto, entertained in the St. Marys Opera House while in her mid-teens, she went on to be known as the "Funniest Woman in the World". Nora Clench who grew up in St. Marys performed on numerous occasions, most notably for her "Farewell" Performance when she left Canada to study in Europe. Nora who became a world famous violinist, married an Australian painter knighted by Queen Victoria, and became Lady Leonora Streeton. E. Pauline Johnson, the famous poet, who was the daughter of a Six Nations Indian Chief and a white mother, performed by reading her dramatic poetry. Elocutionists like Agnes Knox Black gave dramatic readings, and Phrenologists (the study of the bumps on human skulls as a predictor of one's behavior) gave skull readings. Perry's Peerless Players, as well as many other vaudeville troupes, performed in the Opera House to the delight of the locals.

The all time favourite was the traveling production of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" which performed yearly in St. Marys. The performances were preceded by a parade along Queen Street, complete with a loud band and a pack of slavering bloodhounds. A local man by the name of Fred Loft recalled going to see it as a boy, what stood out in his memory was "the many and decrepit old bloodhounds that chased Ezra across the painted ice floes on the huge stage. It was a wonder that poor old dog didn't collapse from arthritis before he got across the stage."

Plays usually ran for one week. At one point, the tickets which were sold in advance at Andrews Jewelers were sold for 10 cents for adults, 5 cents for children, later prices rose all the way up to one dollar for adults. The Opera House saw nearly forty years of wonderful entertainment, temperance lectures, dramatic society plays, "Bobbie" Burns dances and political speeches; three separate Prime Ministers, Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Sir Charles Tupper all gave speeches at the Opera House during electoral campaigns.

As attendance declined, the Odd Fellows found it impossible to continue to operate the Opera House and eventually sold the building for $10,000. 00. Several subsequent business ventures tried in vain to operate the theatre while running their businesses on the 3rd and ground floors. Finally, the inevitable happened, and the Opera House was scheduled to close. People were heard on the streets of St. Marys saying, "What will we do without an Opera House?" Its final performance in 1919 was a production of Verde's Il Trovatore. This final performance was a great success, ironically, The Opera House performances ended better than they had begun.

The St. Marys Opera House was not alone in its demise. It shared its fate with hundreds of Opera Houses across Canada and the United States. The decline of Vaudeville and the advent of moving pictures were considered to be the main reasons for the closures, and some Opera Houses did survived as movie houses or town halls.

St. Marys' interior was gutted for use as a flour mill, which operated successfully for decades until the late 1970's when the company's needs outgrew the property.

The building was once again sold and when viable new uses could not be found, the Opera House was scheduled for demolition in early 1980. Thankfully, a group of locals managed to have the property designated and raised enough money to buy this magnificent building. This group in conjunction with the local Lions Club restored the façade, and built an apartment complex inside. The building still functions as an apartment building today, with stores on the ground level.

Notes

Condition: Excellent copy - other copy under this identifier is only okay and is not recommended for use as this copy is much clearer.

Date de l'original

1880s

Dimensions

Largeur: 17.8 cm
Hauteur: 12.6 cm

Dimensions d'image

Largeur d'image: 17cm
Hauteur d'image: 11.9cm

Sujet(s)

Interiors
Opera houses

Identifiant local

1026ph

Collection

St. Marys Museum photo collection.

Langage de l'élément

English

Couverture géographique

St. Marys

Ontario, Canada

Latitude: 43.2587683779415 Longitude: -81.1435765028

Déclaration de droit d'auteur

Copyright status unknown. Responsibility for determining the copyright status and any use rests exclusively with the user.

Citation recommandée

"Interior of Oddfellow's Temple at the Opera House, 1880s." St. Marys Museum, 1026ph.

Conditions d'utilisation

Reproduction of digital objects is restricted to fair use for personal study or research; any other use must be done with permission of copyright holder.

Notes de reproduction