The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1919-09-16
The New Opera House

Within a week the improvement
at the Mount Holly Opera House wi
probably have been completed and W
will have a theatre of the most mod
ern style. Considerable expense ha
been put on the work Of remodelini
the building and the result will b
pleasing to the patrons of the house
Several feet have been cut away iron
the stage and the space thus secure,
has been put into seating capacity
whereby many new seats will be pu
in. Instead Of having some of tn,
chairs facing the stage at an angl,
they will be run straight across anC
every chair will face the stage direct
ly. Four boxes have been put in anC
an additional entrance has been cut il
the front of the house, which will af.
ford easy entrance. The Office of the
manager has been cut in half and the
spacs thus secured will give an extra
exit.
The sides and ceiling of the hallway
have been covered with metal and
there will be a metal canopy over the
front door which will be brilliantly
lighted at night. A new organ has
been installed at a cost of over $4,000
1t was played last evening by Miss
Phares and she has evidently made
good use of her opportunity to study
the different intricasies of the instru-
ment
The Mount Holly Opera House came
into existence in 1875, the ground be-
ing purchased on the 23d of April of
that year. Prior to that date the Ar
cade hall was used for entertainments
and the accommodations were very
scant. Some of Mount Holly's citi-
zens thought there ought to be a
public hall and a drive was made to
secure subscriptions for stock for the
new place. This effort was successful
and the new enterprise started life
under the name of "The Concert Hall
Association" Later the place was
given the name Mount Holly Opera
House" but now it is known as the
Mount Holly Theatre"
When the opera house was built 1t
was set back from the street, the idea
being to some time build front with
stores and offices. This was not done
and finally Charles H. FolweI, the
former proprietor of the Mirror, made
an offer for the front lot and it was
sold to him with the reservation of
the entrance to the theatre which was
to be kept up by him. The Mirror
building was put on the lot in the year
1880.
The first performance was given on
the 10Th of August, 1876, by COM
pany of performers from the Walnut
street theatre stock company. "Our
Country's Flag" and "The Rough Dia-
mond" were the attractions, with a
Julia Snyder, of the
Ira Glee Club. Sam Hemple, who was
a leading comedian of the day, was
the chief character in the play There
were two nights of entertainment, the
second being on Wednesday, August
80, when the same company gave an
other comedy and Miss Snyder again
sang The first performances gave
the house a sort of setback as the
prices were fixed on a city basis-the
first night being rs cents and one dol
lar, the second night so and rs cents.
This rather staggered the Mount
Holly public which had not been ac-
customed to paying such sums for
and the audiences were
small but the performances were first
class.
From that time the opera house has
had varied experiences and many
Some years it paid but
oftener it ran in debt until finally it
went under the Sheriff's hammer and
was bought by three gentlemen who
rented it for shows as they came
along.
Eleven years ago Edward B. Hulse
came here and started his moving pic
ture place and he has kept the place
going with profit to the owners as
well as to himself Mr.. Hulse has
worked hard to give Mount Holly
good entertainments and the way in
which he has succeeded is shown by
the good audiences that greet him
every night. It was not always thus,
however For some time he faced
failure but he persevered and gained
the confidence of the public and is
now enjoying the benefits that are the
rax111f of hard work