Part 538: W. H. Clifton and the Elks Opera House
1905 there were two articles about the Sosman & Landis stage Carpenter, W. H. Clifton, in the “Weekly Journal-Miner” (Prescott, Arizona, 1 Feb. 1905, page 2). In February 1905, Clifton finished installing “the curtains and scenery” at the Elks Opera House in Prescott, Arizona. The theater was located in the Elks Building at 117 East Gurley Street. Clifton’s next Sosman & Landis installation was scheduled in North Carolina.
As a Sosman & Landis stage carpenter, Clifton quickly traveled from one location to another, installing the stage machinery and hanging painted scenery for each theater. In 1905, Clifton was on site to superintend the installation and arrangement of the scenery after it was shipped from Chicago to Prescott, Arizona.
Prior to Clifton’s departure for another theater, he exhibited the scenery for the Prescott clients. Here is the 1905 Weekly Journal-Miner article in its entirety:
“W. H. Clifton, stage carpenter for Sosman & Landis of Chicago gave a private matinee yesterday afternoon for the Elks’ theatre which was attended by about forty or fifty people. The entertainment consisted of an exhibition of all the curtains and scenery of the opera house and was given for the purpose of giving the building committee an opportunity to see what they have purchased and to check it up on the list in order to demonstrate that they have received all that they have paid for. The curtains, scenery and all the stage appointments are certainly up to date and quite handsome. Mr. Clifton is an expert also in the manipulating of them. The Elk’s seem to be well pleased with their purchase. The opera house, when completed, will without doubt be one of the finest in this territory, and a few, if any in the southwest will surpass it. There may be larger buildings of the kind but none more complete in its furnishings and all of its appointments” (Prescott, Arizona, 1 Feb. 1905, page 2).
The Elks Theatre initially hosted minstrel shows, balls, plays and theater performances. Silent films soon dominated the theater by 1915, transitioning to “talkies” by 1929. It remained a movie house until the 1980s. After the theatre changed hands multiple time, it was turned over to Arizona Community Foundation during the early 1980s. The City of Prescott purchased the theater in 2001. The Foundation in partnership with the City of Prescott began the restoration with the lobby, green room, dressing rooms and other parts of the building. Restoration of the Elks theater was completed in 2010. The stage now displays tri-layered vinyl backdrops, based on original black and white photographs. Yes, I re-read the sentence twice too – “tri-layered vinyl backdrops, based on original black and white photographs.”
As regard to Clifton, it appears that he left Sosman & Landis to take another stage carpenter position in Pennsylvania the after completing the 1905-1906 season. In Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guide for the 1906-1907 and 1907-1908 W. H. Clifton is listed as the stage carpenter for the Lewis Opera House in Canton, Pennsylvania. Although there were many W. H. Clifton’s at the time, I believe that this particular one was born in 1853, passed away in 1926, and married to Eugenia Clifton (1855-1920). This information is not confirmed yet, just pieced together.
To be continued…
