page_title: Tibbits Opera House
section_title: Original construction
hierarchical_section_title: Tibbits Opera House / Architecture / Original construction
caption_attribution_description: English: Picture of the seating area inside Tibbits Opera House
context_page_description: The Tibbits Opera House is a historic performance venue on South Hatchett Street in downtown Coldwater, Michigan. Built in 1882, it is the second-oldest theatre in Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.
context_section_description: Preserved in the edition of September 19, 1882 of the Coldwater Republican newspaper is a richly detailed account of the building's physical description. From surviving photos and valuable accounts like these, we can re-imagine the experience of the original theatre patron.  When Tibbits Opera House first opened, such a patron would have found the theatre to be nothing less than an architectural masterpiece.
  A patron's first experience of the theatre would have been a view of the building's façade.  With its French "Second Empire" architectural design, the building was adorned with a 24-foot (7.3 m)-tall, slate-covered cupola with a flag staff mounted with a golden eagle statue.  The tip of the dome itself towered 76 feet (23 m) above the pavement below.  At the base of the cupola, one could behold an elegant bronze bust of Shakespeare, and below this still, inscribed in an arch above the front window was "Tibbits Opera-House, 1882", in gold leaf.  The face itself consisted of iron work, red and black brick, and cut stone "united in excellent taste."  Three large windows allowed the glow of the sun to fill the theatre lobby, and below the middle window was an iron balcony furnished with glass globe lanterns.
  As a patron entered the front doors, he would have found himself in a lobby with two stairwells leading up to the balcony, a manager's office, and a smoking room.  Upon stepping through the terracotta leather covered and gold trimmed wooden doors into the auditorium, a patron would have been softly bathed in the shimmering glow of 94 gas lights.  These lights, were crafted of polished brass and fitted with etched glass globes.  The stage itself was equipped with 174 gas lights.  All the lights in the entire theatre were controlled from the stage by means of a pipe system, allowing the stage manager to ignite or extinguish any or all of these brilliant lights in an instant.  Beneath a dome resplendent with painted cherubs, a large chandelier, known as an "Opal glass reflector", scattered sparkles of reflected light over all.  Elegant red Brussels' carpet softened patrons' steps, and grand opera chairs, upholstered in dark Cardinal plush awaited to seat them.  These chairs were engraved with the monogram, B.S.T., Barton Tibbits' initials, and many of these chairs offered foot rests and hat and umbrella racks.  Amazingly the auditorium originally held 1,000 seats for patrons.  The seating area was divided into the parquet and the parquet circle – two separate areas on the floor in front of the orchestra pit.  The walls of the auditorium, colored in cameo tints and dashes of cardinal, green, and gold color in "conventional figures" produced "a warm, sunny effect and [gave] the auditorium a bright and airy appearance which is very pleasing."  Dominating the scene was a grandly ornate 34-foot (10 m)-wide by 53-foot (16 m)-long proscenium stage with elegant opera boxes situated within the massive tin and plaster arch.
  The stage itself had all the latest technological features.  Scenery and curtains were shifted and moved via the rigging loft, and the stage itself included a "paint-bridge and movable frame, five sets of grooves, trapdoors, and every modern convenience for producing all kinds of scenic effects."  Additionally, speaking tubes and bell signals connected the stage manager with the box office, orchestra, and scene and trap shifters.  The stage's collection of scenic backdrops was exhaustive and of the highest quality, and was a third larger than the Kalamazoo Opera House.
  The boxes were draped with cardinal silk plush curtains, lined with gold, and trimmed with lace.  In the center of the proscenium arch one beheld a portrait of William Shakespeare and above this portrait against a light-blue background was "a group of cherubs, gracefully posed, representing music and the drama."  Surrounding the main chandelier in the auditorium were more "cunning little cherubs" trailing garlands of flowers.  In the words of the Coldwater Republican, "The delicate coloring of the background brings out the figures in strong reli
caption: A modern-day view of the inside of the theatre house
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