Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
By 5:30 P.M. on February 7, 2020, we had catalogued over 95 scenic pieces, as well as setting up four interior settings. The snow was coming down harder than ever as we crossed the street to the Silver Dollar Saloon. Over the course of five days, we shifted, documented, and reorganized all of the historic scenery on the Tabor Opera House stage, with the exception of the contemporary stage settings. We did not have an opportunity to document those painted after 1980.
The 1902 historic settings that we assembled included a center door fancy, Gothic interior, plain setting and prison scene. There were partial collections that we did not have try to assemble this time. This number does not include any of the original scenery delivered to the opera house before the renovation in 1901, pieces that are currently stored in the attic.
Of all the historic scenery collections in the United States that I have encountered, this is the most unique. There are others that are larger and more impressive, as well as others that have been moved to off site storage units to preserve their posterity. But the scenery at the Tabor Opera House spans decades and remains on site despite new owners and building renovations. I have written extensively about the resale of scenery collections throughout the late-nineteenth and early twentieth century, using examples across the country. Used scenery ended up in new locations for many reasons. For example, used scenery was left at the final destination after a touring show closed. Used scenery from touring shows was purchased by smaller venues in need of stock scenery, or those expanding their original stock. Used scenery was retrofitted and sold to new theaters without their knowledge. In other words, the purchase of used scenery was not an uncommon practice. In the past three decades, I have repeatedly identified used scenery collections still in use at various venues.
In many ways the Tabor Opera House exemplifies what occurred across the country during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Like many other performance venues, they continued to update their stock scenery, yet never really replaced it. What makes the Tabor collection remarkable, however, is that everything is still on site despite the venue changing hands and undergoing extensive renovations and structural changes. Even scenery that was manufactured for a previous stage, one without a fly loft, was retained after a remodel. I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that the wing-and-shutter scenery was not thrown away, given away, sold, or repurposed. This is extremely atypical, as their old scenery designed for grooves was not ever retrofitted for the new fly system, just kept.
Keep in mind that the entire building was renovated in 1901, both the auditorium and stage house were enlarged. The roof was ripped off and a fly loft added; yet the smaller scenery designed for grooves remained on site, unaltered and tucked away. For what purpose, and why did they just store it in the attic? Sentimental attachment? Too hard to dispose of at the time? We may never know the reason as to why the original scenery was kept.
I have often referenced used scenery collections, such as the 1901 scenery and stage machinery at the Scottish Rite Theatre in Little Rock. Two decades after the original installation of this collection by Sosman & Landis, it was transported and installed at the Scottish Rite theater in Pasadena, California, where it is still used today. That scenery was manufactured around the same time as the Tabor Opera House’s center door fancy set. Other examples of used scenery collections that I have explored include Salina, KS, Yankton, SD, and Deadwood, SD. Used scenery and stage machinery were carefully transported, refurbished and installed in second, and sometimes third, venues. We were an industry built on the repurposing of not only ideas, but also artifacts.
And then there is the sheer volume of scenery at the Tabor Opera House in Leadville, Colorado. There are almost 100 historic pieces on stage and dozens more in the attic, representing a scope of American scenic art in one venue that is unheard of. The Tabor’s 1879 through 1902 scenery collections that I examined this week did not include all of the modern scenery manufactured for melodramas and community productions after 1980.
The Tabor Opera House is a living history museum, unlike any of its kind in the United States, with wonderful examples of the ever-shifting stage aesthetic, all situated in one place. This is a destination location for theatre historians, practitioners, and art enthusiasts to visit. But the venue needs financial help, here is the link if you want to contribute to a good cause, as volunteer labor can only do so much: https://www.taboroperahouse.net/donate
Then we top off this remarkable collection with its extensive artistic provenance and stewardship. In 1933, the 1902 scenery collection was catalogued, by theatre folk who knew what they doing; the project was led my Muriel Sibell Wolle. The fact that this 1933 documentation is digitally accessible to the general public is also unusual in its own right. We have dozens of performing arts collections across the country that are almost impossible to access for general research without a site visit.
The preservation of the Tabor Opera House’s physical structure and artifacts were later spearheaded by a Minnesota school teacher, who purchased and began the preservation of the building in 1955. Then her daughter, Evelyn E. Livingston Furman, included the history surrounding the construction of the Tabor Opera House in a series of books.
The United States has thousands of examples of historic scenic art collections located in opera house, social halls, cinemas, fraternal theaters, and other performance venues. We have examples of painted scenery that range from fraternal ceremonies to famous film sets, yet nothing can compare to what is owned by this small mountain community in Leadville, Colorado, when considering historic scope.
The Tabor Opera House scenery collection has been stored in less than ideal conditions, complete with roof leaks and renovations. That being said the low humidity and high elevation helped a lot. The scenery has also seen plenty of use over the past century; maybe this is why the collection has been treasured and kept over the years. In many ways, what is the point of preserving historic scenery if it is never used again? For a painted scene to remain on a roll, or tacked to the wall of a lobby diminishes the overall significance of a piece. It is like taking off the original frame of an artwork, one carefully selected by the artist to display his work. The theater’s environment is intricately linked to the scenic art; these pieces were designed and manufactured to be viewed on a stage, placed a specific distance from the viewer. To observe them up close in a museum destroys the illusion and purpose of each piece.
I have a month’s worth of work left to go to complete the documentation of the piece that have been catalogued, each page based on my site notes and photographs. The easy part of the project is done. There are condition reports, historical analyses, replacement appraisals, and a collections care document to prepare. It is a daunting task, especially knowing that more clues remain hidden in the attic of the Tabor Opera House. The last time the collection was catalogued was in 1933 and I have big shoes to fill. At that time, the sets were documented in their entirety, but the individual state of each artifact was not examined. Muriel Sibell Wolle looked at the big picture, and this was very important for all research that would follow. Her “big picture” provided a guide map for those wishing to understand the history of scenery at the Tabor Opera House. Without her studies, my work this week would have been difficult at best; I would have been working “blind.”
In addition to Wolle’s contribution is the continued stewardship of those who followed her, including volunteers for this project. The careful documentation and cataloguing of all on site artifacts is just one more chapter in the Tabor Opera House history. One small example of this stewardship included the actions of volunteer Robyn; she found an old stage brace marked “Tabor Opera House” at a local antique store, purchased it and returned it home to the theater. All of the artifacts are finding their way home, as if drawn by a magnetic force.
The preservation of the old theater has remained a community endeavor since its inception. Even in the 1890s, when Horace Tabor had to let his prized possession go, there were those in the community who took over the care of his grand building. The Tabor Opera House, Augusta Tabor, Baby Doe and the Matchless Mine are all entwined with the captivating history of Leadville. Both Leadville natives and transplants have equally contributed to the preservation of this remarkable building.
To be continued…
