Ogdensburg Opera House

Description

The Opera House opened on 10 Nov 1881 with three comedy's performed by Wallack's Stock Company of New York City. The first, performed at 8pm on Nov 10, was "The School for Scandal". The next afternoon was "London Assurance" and the final performance, on the evening of Nov 11, was "She Stoops to Conquer"; although "The Rivals" had originally been advertised for the third performance. Descriptions of the auditorium on opening night say that the auditorium was 60x70 feet with 192 orchestra chairs, a parquet circle with 246 seats, a balcony with 282, and a second gallery for at lest 228 more. It had four private boxes, large enough for six persons each, so that its seating capacity was 972, without any extra chairs. However, later mention was made that the first performances were so popular that extra seats were brought into the aisles, calling question to the safety of the evenings in case of fire. It was also noted that there was ample space allowed to each sitter, "largely in excess of that in the ordinary run of such buildings", and all seats in the second gallery were in full sight and hearing of the stage. The stage was 40 feet from front to rear and sixty-four feet across. Within the proscenium were doors to be used when a performer is called in front of the curtain, to save raising the drop. Under the stage was the green room and eight dressing rooms, supplied with hot and cold water and properly furnished. There was an outside entrance directly from the green room, by which actors could enter the building. There was also a retiring room for the orchestra, from which they can go directly to their place in front of the stage. There was also a communicating door to the front of the building where there was a dwelling for the janitor and the cells for the city prisoners. There was also a carriage porch on Caroline street so that patrons would enter the building without being exposed to storms. The entire building was lighted in the evening with gas through polished bronze chandeliers. The main auditorium and stage was lighted by "an electric apparatus controlled from the stage". For heating there were "three immense steam boilers" the furnished the heat for the entire building. Over 13,000 feet of steampipe was required and many cast iron radiators. Nearly every seat on the ground floor of the theatre has a hot air register connecting with the coils of pipes placed in the basement. The ceiling of the auditorium was "exposed timber work, every stick of which enters, I am told, into the roof construction". All were finely furnished with carvings, beautiful in design and execution. "The private boxes and the proscenium front are of rare beauty in all details."