History In 1958 Edward G. Robinson returned to the Historic Elitch Theatre where he had performed in the Summer Stock in 1921 & 1922. Summer stock started in Denver, Colorado, at the Elitch Theatre (part of Elitch Gardens). According to the 1948 book, Blueprint for Summer Theatre: "The first summer theatre opened its doors at Elitch Gardens, Denver, Colorado on May 1, 1890. Plays were presented with a resident company and guest stars, a policy that has been followed with tremendous success for over fifty years." In 1937 , Time magazine reported: "Elitch's Gardens is the great-grandfather of all U. S. summer stock companies....and nearly every personage in U. S. show business, from General & Mrs. Tom Thumb to Douglas Fairbanks, has at one time or another played Elitch's." For the  1893 summer season, Elitch Gardens employed the Frank Norcross Company. It was the first full-length season of summer stock. The first stock play presented at Elitch Theatre was Nancy and Company by Augustin Daly. It opened on June 10, 1893. 1896 was the second stock season and J. H. Huntley was signed to direct the resident stock company, headed by leading actress Jennie Kennark. The season opened with the play, Rosedale, by Lester Wallack.  "  Denver could boast that It was the only city in the country that could and did support two summer stock companies:""The summer theatrical season Is now at its height and both Manhattan Beach and Elitch's Gardens are doing splendid business, and deservedly, too, for nowhere in the country are to be found better attractions or better Summer stock than those with which our local public is now being edified… The strength of these companies, as well as the plays presented, are way above the average."Cecil B. DeMille, who acted in minor roles in the summer stock cast in 1905, would regularly send congratulatory telegrams to the theatre on opening night. In 1926, more than two decades after his time at the theatre, he sent a telegram stating: "It is a long time since I spent a very pleasant summer in stock at the Elitch Gardens. Today in Hollywood I can hardly go anywhere without meeting one or more now rather famous people who either during that summer or at other times played in what all actors and actresses consider on of the greatest cradles of the drama in American history."  In 1919–1920s Summer stock expanded: The Muny, St. Louis, Missouri (1919) is the nation's oldest and largest outdoor musical theatre; Manhattan Theatre Colony, first started near Peterborough, New Hampshire (1927) and moved to Ogunquit, Maine; Gretna Theatre, Mount Gretna, Pennsylvania (1927) as part of the Chautauqua movement; the Cape Playhouse, Dennis, Massachusetts (1927); and the Berkshire Playhouse, Stockbridge, Massachusetts (1928). Many of the theatres of the heyday, the 1920s through the 1960s, were in New England. Part of the "straw hat circuit," theatres also were in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, among other states. (Lakewood Playhouse near Skowhegan, Maine (1901 for summer), was an earlier theatre, but it was an established stock theatre that had then been used as a summer venue.)Wilmeth, p. 629
Elitch Theatre In 1958 Edward G. Robinson returned to the Historic Elitch Theatre where he had performed in the Summer Stock in 1921 & 1922. Summer stock started in Denver, Colorado, at the Elitch Theatre (part of Elitch Gardens). A 1937 article in Time magazine reported: "Elitch's Gardens is the great-grandfather of all U. S. summer stock companies....and nearly every personage in U. S. show business, from General & Mrs. Tom Thumb to Douglas Fairbanks, has at one time or another played Elitch's." According to the 1948 book, Blueprint for Summer Theatre: "The first summer theatre opened its doors at Elitch Gardens, Denver, Colorado on May 1, 1890. Plays were presented with a resident company and guest stars, a policy that has been followed with tremendous success for over fifty years." Most sources consider 1893 to be the first year of summer stock. For that summer season, Elitch Gardens employed the Frank Norcross Company. It was the first full-length season of summer stock. The first stock play presented at Elitch Theatre was Nancy and Company by Augustin Daly. It opened on June 10, 1893. 1896 was the second stock season and J. H. Huntley was signed to direct the resident stock company, headed by leading actress Jennie Kennark. The season opened with the play, Rosedale, by Lester Wallack. However, opinions differ on the official first year of summer stock. In a 1955 article for the The Princeton University Library Chronicle, the authors suggest it was 1897: " Devotees of the straw hat circuit are usually under the impression that the summer theater movement originated when certain daft individuals began producing plays in barns. The true beginning was in the theater built by John and Mary Elitch on their ranch at Denver, Colorado, in 1891. After several seasons of vaudeville and light opera, the stock company inaugurated the 1897 season with its first dramatic performance. The director was George Edeson, with James O'Neill, father of dramatist Eugene O'Neill, as leading man. An unbroken series of successful seasons followed. This, then, is the oldest summer stock theater. In general, theatrical companies do not enjoy invariable successes, but widespread popularity has made summer theater a major industry, so that there is virtually no section of this country that does not boast at least one such dramatic group." Denver could boast that It was the only city in the country that could and did support two summer stock companies:""The summer theatrical season Is now at its height and both Manhattan Beach and Elitch's Gardens are doing splendid business, and deservedly, too, for nowhere in the country are to be found better attractions or better Summer stock than those with which our local public is now being edified… The strength of these companies, as well as the plays presented, are way above the average."Cecil B. DeMille, who acted in minor roles in the summer stock cast in 1905, would regularly send congratulatory telegrams to the theatre on opening night. In 1926, more than two decades after his time at the theatre, he sent a telegram stating: "It is a long time since I spent a very pleasant summer in stock at the Elitch Gardens. Today in Hollywood I can hardly go anywhere without meeting one or more now rather famous people who either during that summer or at other times played in what all actors and actresses consider on of the greatest cradles of the drama in American history." Later History In 1919–1920s Summer stock expanded: The Muny, St. Louis, Missouri (1919) is the nation's oldest and largest outdoor musical theatre; Manhattan Theatre Colony, first started near Peterborough, New Hampshire (1927) and moved to Ogunquit, Maine; Gretna Theatre, Mount Gretna, Pennsylvania (1927) as part of the Chautauqua movement; the Cape Playhouse, Dennis, Massachusetts (1927); and the Berkshire Playhouse, Stockbridge, Massachusetts (1928). Many of the theatres of the heyday, the 1920s through the 1960s, were in New England. Part of the "straw hat circuit," theatres also were in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, among other states. (Lakewood Playhouse near Skowhegan, Maine (1901 for summer), was an earlier theatre, but it was an established stock theatre that had then been used as a summer venue.)Wilmeth, p. 629
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History
Elitch Theatre
D
According to the 1948 book, Blueprint for Summer Theatre: "The first summer theatre opened its doors at Elitch Gardens, Denver, Colorado on May 1, 1890. Plays were presented with a resident company and guest stars, a policy that has been followed with tremendous success for over fifty years."
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For the
According to the 1948 book, Blueprint for Summer Theatre: "The first summer theatre opened its doors at Elitch Gardens, Denver, Colorado on May 1, 1890. Plays were presented with a resident company and guest stars, a policy that has been followed with tremendous success for over fifty years."
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Most sources consider
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to be the first year of summer stock. For that summer
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However, opinions differ on the official first year of summer stock. In a 1955 article for the The Princeton University Library Chronicle, the authors suggest it was 1897:
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Devotees of the straw hat circuit are usually under the impression that the summer theater movement originated when certain daft individuals began producing plays in barns. The true beginning was in the theater built by John and Mary Elitch on their ranch at Denver, Colorado, in 1891. After several seasons of vaudeville and light opera, the stock company inaugurated the 1897 season with its first dramatic performance. The director was George Edeson, with James O'Neill, father of dramatist Eugene O'Neill, as leading man. An unbroken series of successful seasons followed. This, then, is the oldest summer stock theater. In general, theatrical companies do not enjoy invariable successes, but widespread popularity has made summer theater a major industry, so that there is virtually no section of this country that does not boast at least one such dramatic group."
A
Later History