This wing was discovered in the attic of the TaborOpera House; one of several wings that had been cut down and tacked to a wall in the attic.
Front side. A double-painted wing that was once nailed to an attic wall. Tabor Opera House, Leadville, Colorado.Back side. A double-painted wing that was once nailed to an attic wall. Tabor Opera House, Leadville, Colorado.
The original height of the wing was 16′-0″. During June 2018, I first visited the Tabor Opera House attic and uncovered some of the wings and shutters in a dusty pile.
Tabor Opera House attic, Leadville, Colorado, June 2018.Wings revealed behind the pile of dusty scene. Tabor Opera House attic, Leadville, Colorado, September 2020.
This was one of many pieces hidden under a vast pile of beautiful artwork. I returned to Leadville earlier this year (February 2020) to document the historic scenery contained on the stage of the Tabor Opera House. During a second trip to Leadville (Sept. 21-27, 2020) I led a group of local volunteers to document the attic scenery. The attic pieces received a preliminary cleaning before being lowered to the stage floor 40 feet below.
Double-painted wing after it was lowered to the stage floor.Double-painted wing after it was lowered to the stage floor.
This double painted wing is the only example that remains, depicting an exterior garden and rocky pass.
There is a variety of historic
scenery tucked away in the attic at the Tabor Opera House in Leadville,
Colorado. When the building was renovated, the stage was enlarged, and all of
the original wings and shutters were carefully tucked away above the auditorium
ceiling. This attic space was also once home to a few hotel rooms, divided by a
central sky hall that allowed natural light for each room.
Over the decades, the walls dividing
each hotel room were removed and the third floor became home to abandoned artifacts,
including theatre scenery, drop rollers, and much more. By the way, it is quite
a climb to the attic, over 70 steps in all. This climb, combined with an
altitude of 10,000 feet, certainly separates the locals from the flatlanders, like
me.
On the attic wall adjacent to the stage and above the proscenium arch is a loft. Well, not quite a “loft,” as there are no floorboards, just joists. We threw down a few planks to walk on.
Loft in the attic of the Tabor Opera House, Leadville, CO.Loft in the attic of the Tabor Opera House, Leadville, CO.
In this space are some additional wings, rolls, and shutters placed high above. I started my second day in the attic loft. This involved climbing up a wooden ladder with my camera, balancing my way across a few boards, and contorting myself to photograph a few dust-encrusted wings and shutters.
In the meantime, the crew started to
clean and remove some of the wings from the attic wall above the proscenium
arch. Several flats had been cut down and nailed into the wall above the proscenium
arch; no idea why this happened at all. The careful removal of 10’ wings involved
detaching the ladder that led to the loft and grid, as it partially covered one
wing. A team of three then carefully
carried each wing down the winding staircase to the stage.
Ladder to the loft in the attic of the Tabor Opera House, Leadville, CO. Painted wings were cut down and nailed to the wall.Removing the painted wings for documentation purposes at the Tabor Opera House in Leadville, CO.
Meanwhile, plans for the lowering
all other stage scenery commenced in earnest. The majority of pieces range from
5’ x 16’ to 12’ x 16’ – sizes too large to carry down the staircase. These pieces were lowered directly from the
attic by way of about fifteen feet above the pin rail. By the end of the day,
seventeen scenic pieces were lowered with this method. Although there were a
few rough starts, some frightening moments, and a couple panicked cries, each piece
made it safely to the stage floor. By
the end of the day, we established a system, and everything worked like
clockwork.
Lowering one of the scenes from the attic to the stage floor.One of the seventeen scenes lowered to the stage floor tonight.
Tomorrow we will set up two of the
scenes before lowering more. Due to size, we are saving the shutters for last, focusing
on interior sets these first few days. Despite
the hard work, it was a wonderful experience and a fantastic group of people to
work with. My sincere thanks go out to Carl, Mary Ann, Tammy, Greg, Kan, Curt, Michael,
Jane, and Bruce; such an outstanding group of individuals.
The volunteer crew for Day 2 at the Tabor Opera House in Leadville, Colorado.
