Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar. September 18, 2020. The Tabor Opera House

Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

I return to my “Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar” storyline today. Tomorrow I leave for Leadville, Colorado, departing in the wee morning hours and driving to Denver. I am stopping by Des Moines to pick up Michael Powers, and we will arrive in Leadville, Colorado, on Sunday, September 20. My week-long project is to document all of the scenery currently stored in the attic of the Tabor Opera House.

Originally built in 1879, the building was later purchased by the Leadville Elks and substantially renovated in 1901-1902. The renovation included enlarging the auditorium and stage. Previously used roll drops, wings and shutters were replaced with new fly scenery from the Kansas City Scenic Co. and Sosman & Landis Scene Painting Studio; Sosman & Landis was subcontracted by the Kansas City Scenic Co. for this project. Much of the original scenery never left the building it was simply tucked away in the attic.

In 1879, ten stage settings were delivered to the Tabor Opera House.  This was a standard a stock scenery collection at the time. Keep in mind that larger theaters would order as many as 25 to 35 sets. The height of the Tabor Opera Houses’ original grooves purportedly measured 16’-0,” accommodating painted wings and shutters. The height of the original proscenium was listed in theatrical guides, varying from 17’-0” to 20’-0”.

By 1884, “Harry Miner’s American Dramatic Directory” noted there were 12 sets of scenes, increasing the original installation by two sets. This was also common, as new theaters continued to increase their stock over the years, even within the first decade. I have verified that some additional scenery was delivered in 1888, painted by T. Frank Cox on site. There was also a signed piece by Cox on site that has helped verify the dates on a few other pieces.

I first visited the Tabor Opera House in June 2018, documenting some scenery on the stage and in the attic. My 49^th birthday was spent carefully shifting scenery to get a sense of what was in the attic.  At the time, I knew that this was a really special find, maybe one of the most significant scenery collections in North America due to its scope. I  returned this spring (February 2020) to document all of the 1902 scenery on the stage. This was the first of two phases to document all of the scenery on both the stage and in the attic.  I have been hired to provide historical analyses, conditions reports, replacement appraisals and final collections care programs and management for the Tabor Opera House scenery. These documents will help guide the future preservation and use of these remarkable artifacts.

In anticipation of this second-phase project, I also painted historic replicas of some shutter scenes that are stored in the attic. I referred to my 2018 images for color and some much older slides (gifted from Ken Kurtz) for composition, creating small 8” x 10” acrylic paintings. This step was solely to help convey was is currently stored in the Tabor Opera House attic, hidden under a century’s worth of dust. It is difficult for board members and the local community to understand these hidden treasures. I am planning to  paint many more scenes after fully documenting the attic collection.

My plan is to post scenes at the end of each day, sharing many on site discoveries.  Keep your fingers crossed that all travel goes well, and we stay healthy; the N95 masks are already packed!

To be continued…