VailDaily.com: The Tabor Opera House was the first theater to go up in Leadville in 1879, and over 140 years later it is the only one left standing. Originally built by Horace Tabor, who made a $9 million fortune on silver before losing it all in a single decade, the building has withstood the test of time as it transitioned to the ownership of the fraternal order of the Elks Club, then to local historian Evelyn Furman and her family, until finally being purchased by the city of Leadville in 2016.
5 comments:
This was truly a fascinating article. I think the fact that so many people and organizations have no idea what could be hiding in their attics is really interesting. It's amazing that these pieces weren't just reused and turned into new set pieces over and over again as we often do in theatre but I think what's even more amazing that the article fails to mention is that none of them seemed to be affected by water damage or insect and rodent damage. These types of damages seem to be fairly common place in most old, historic buildings as there are repairs are needed that can go unnoticed for years. These set pieces withstood all of that and are now able to be restored and reused. I think one of the best parts of this article was that they mentioned that these aren't just going to be given to a museum to be looked at by the public and never seen again, but they will be used for educational workshops, patron viewings, and even potentially used in future performances.
Everything about this space and discovery is so interesting. From being the first and only remaining theatre in Leadville to the hundreds of painted scenery sets hidden away in the space, there is immense history that must be associated with it because of that fact. I love owner's the reaction to the scenery pieces. Not only are they planning on displaying them to the public, which I think is a great way to not waste the scenery and expose more people to the history of scenic design, but they are also planning on using the pieces in future productions. This not only again prevents the scenery from being wasted, but also minimizes the use of materials in the future. This saves both money and resources, benefitting both the production team and the planet.
Some of my FAVORITE kinds of youtube videos are the ones where restoration technicians/artists work to bring life back to historical works of art. Normally the paintings are, well, painting size. I cannot imagine what it would look like to watch someone restore these gorgeous scenery pieces!! How amazing is it that they were able to safely uncover these beautiful paintings?? I am so glad that the Tabor Opera House team is working to get funding to preserve the scenery, because it would truly be a shame if anything happened to them (or if they ended up in the garbage). They are a piece of history, one we do not often get to see in real life. These theatre makers are truly creating a beautiful opportunity for education in attempting to hold on to them, and I am hopeful that we will get an update if anything important happens!
It's always so exciting to see little (or sometimes very big) pieces of history uncovered. Each of these pieces is so beautiful and carefully constructed and reconstructed by these individuals that are so dedicated to this restoration. As soon as they began talking about the scope of the find I was worried about whether they were planning to attempt restoration of the entire collection or if it would all be taken out and turned over to a museum. It's astoundingly impressive what these volunteers are attempting to accomplish and if I ever get the chance to go visit I would very much like to. Echoing an idea from Sammy's post, in order to get funding for a project of this magnitude I feel like them making a docuseries or youtube videos on the restoration of these pieces would not only be immensely interesting to watch but also educational for those who may take on a task like this in future and commemorative of the feat they are taking on.
This is, perhaps, the sexiest thing I have seen this week. I just love old art so, so much. I love the creation and the discovery and the restoration and the preservation of old art; it is so fun to watch and so satisfying to my soul. Just from the few pictures we can see in this article, I am already so enamored with this artist's work. They sort of remind of Romantic landscape paintings, albeit with less atmospheric perspective. There isn't much about him online that I can see, but Google Images does yield a few more photos of his scenic work, all of outstanding beauty. I also definitely agree with what Sammy and Magnolia have said here. I love restoration videos (the ones where they don't absolutely botch the piece) and I would watch the hell out of someone restoring or working to preserve these pieces of scenery.
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