Saturday, January 13, 2007

The Original Whalom Theatre

Many people are familiar with the Whalom Playhouse, which was popular during the 1940's and 50's. But did you know that there was an earlier theatre, called the Whalom Theatre and even a Whalom Opera Company?





That's right! But you have to go all the way back before the Hurricane of 1938 (which destroyed all of Whalom and from which it was completely rebuilt). In these photos, we go back to the turn-of-the-century (circa 1910) for a glimpse of what it meant for people in Fitchburg to 'go to the theatre'.








1




AN INTERIOR VIEW OF THEATRE - from the auditorium to the stage, showing the rustic dressing rooms at

the right; also the foliage which makes under every condition such a beautiful background. From 1,000 to

4,000 electric lamps are used in producing the electric lighting effects (circa 1910).










2




THE PRESENT THEATRE - INTERIOR : View of the auditorium from the stage. Seating Capacity, 3000. There

are only two posts in the auditorium and these are 82 feet from the stage. The sides are always open as

shown.








3




THE NEW THEATRE - (note: the old theatre can be seen in the last photo of this set)









4




A SCENE ON THE WALK TO THE THEATRE (left) and A BIT OF THE THEATRE (right)









5




BITS OF THE THEATRE









6




SOME SCENIC EFFECTS USED IN OPERA PRODUCTIONS : "Olivette" (top),

"Fatinitza" (center), and "La Grande Duchesse" (bottom)









7




THE WHALOM OPERA COMPANY in "Three Black Cloaks".









8




A FINALE - SHOWING THE ELECTRICAL EFFECTS.









9




THE WHALOM OPERA COMPANY in "Said Pasha".










10




THE WHALOM OPERA COMPANY in "Maritana".









11




THE WHALOM OPERA COMPANY in "Rip Van Winkle".










12




THE OLD THEATRE - in which only a very few seats were reserved at five cents each. (note: this theatre was replaced by the more 'modern' theatre shown in the previous photos sometime prior to 1910).










We certainly hope you enjoyed these priceless rare photos. We have many more that we'll be posting soon, so please check back.




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