Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-12-24

John Vanbrugh. 1t was raised by thirty
PERSONS of rank, principally of the
Wing party. if we may Judge by their
inscribing the first stone with the words
Little Whig,"' in compliment to
Sutherland, celebrated beauty of the
1ay. 1.-The money subscribed was sef00i
each. and the theatre opened April 9th,
1905, with an Italian opera, which was
far from being successfaL In the year
1920 sum of e5C 900 was raised by.
subscription to support the Italian opera.
On June II, 1889, the theater was burn
ed down, and, in consequence of this ac-
.cident, the opera was transferred first to
the 'littie theater" in the Hay-market,
and dsubsequentlyto the Pantheon in Ok
ford street, which was licensed to the
Lord Chamberlain. During this interval
Mr.. Taylor, the proprietor of the old
opera house, exerted himself. so success
/ fully that the Foundation of the new erec-
/ ition was laid by the Duke of. Buching
ham, and in less than a year the house
was completed. The season of 1871 at
I the Pantheon was very unsuccessful to
the manager, Mr.. o. Reilly, who thereby
| incurred debt to the amount of thirty
Thousand pounds. On. the new opera
house being completed, a general opera
/ establishment was formed, and the di-
rection reposed to five noblemen, on
whose refusal to act the management
should devolve on Taylor, and the debts
( of the Pantheon season were transferred
to the new concern. The then Lord
Chamberlain refused to grant the license,
but, the Pantheon being destroyed by
fire in the following season, the Kings
Theatre was licensed, and the regular
business of, the opera commenced. The
entire management soon fell into Mr..
TayIor's hands, and thus continued till
1903. in which, and in 1904, he sold to
one Mr.. Goold shares in the opera to the
amount of eeI7.oO0, being seven-six-
teenths, whilst Taylor mortgaged the
remaining nine-sixteenths to Goold for
s5,700., The ground on which the
Kings Theatre stood was held on lease
from the crown, the audience and stage
part being on two distinct leases, the
former at el ,260 and the latter at
1900 per annum. These leases ex-
tended to the year 1891. Goold
conducted the management till
his death in 1907. Catalina was
the great attraction of his management,
and the sum as salary received by her in
the season of 1907 was $4,000, and her
total profits with concerts, &c, was
e16.70O. On Goold's death the man
agement devolved on Taylor, who soon
became involved in a Chancery suit with
Mr.. Waters, -Goold's executor. No
change. however, took place till 1918,
when the house was for some time clos
ed by order of the Lord Chancellor. In
1Sl4it was reopened under the manage
ment of Mr.. Waters, who purchased it
under decree for see35, 1000 pounds. In
meantime Taylor was a prisoner for debt
in the Kings Bench. In 1916 the the
ater was again putup for sale, and the
whole concern was purchased by Wa
ters for 7O,150, who, to raise the mon
ey, mortgaged the opera house and other
property to Mr.. Chambers. the banker.
The year 1917 was brilliant one, for
the company included Madame Fodor
and Madame Pasta, with Creveil, Begrer,
Naldi, i,Ambrogetti, etc; and "Don Giovan-
in" was first made known to an English
audience. In 1918 the concern relapsed
into its former state, and August 10,
1920, an opera and ballet having been
anr rounced for representation, the COM
pany on arriving at the doors of the
house were unable to obtain admission,
for Mr.. Waters had Withdrawn to Ca
lais, and the theatre was closed. The
Opera House now passed into the hands
of Mr.. Ebers, who volunteered as man.
ager, and in the first season he so great
ly improved the ballet that the salaries
of dancers alone amounted to 100000
At the conclusion of the season of 1928
the theatre was let to Mr.. Bennelli; hut
Mr.. Ebers afterwards resumed the man
agement, which he retained till the close
of11S27. In 1928 the theatre was lei
to Mrs sLaporte and M. Laurent. at the
rent of $4,000, and this was a season
of great success, in consequence of the
combined attractions of Sontag and Pas
| ia. In the course of the seven years
that Mr.. Ebers held the Opera Hous.
be lest, however, f44, ,0S0.e The theatre
passed through various hands@with fuc
tuating fortunes, till Mr.. Lumley die
much to restore its popularity in 1912
| when he commenced his management
and lS47 was singularily brilliant sea
son, through the debut of Jenny Lind
| In 1861 after sshort season and som,
long vacations, it was opened by Mr.. E
II. Smith, and for the last five years the
theatre has been under the direction
of Mr.. Mapleson. 1t was known as the
largest in Europe, La Scala, at Milan
alone excepted, The exterior was great
ly improved by Messrs. Nash and Rep
ton in 1918, and was then surrounded or
! all sides by covered colonnade sup
/ ported by Doric pillars. The interior
had five tiers of boxes, which lwer,
chiefly private, andsiet to persons of ranl
| and fashion for the season.