Elitch Theatre

About this property

The Historic Elitch Theatre is a summer stock theatre located at the original Elitch Gardens site in northwest Denver, Colorado. Opened in 1890, it was Denver's first professional theatre, serving as the home to America's first and oldest summer-stock theatre company from 1893 until the 1960s. The first films in the western US were shown there in 1896. Cecil B. DeMille sent yearly telegrams wishing the theatre another successful season, calling it "one of the cradles of American drama." John Elitch and Mary Elitch Long first opened Elitch Gardens on May 1, 1890, with animals, bands, flowers, and an open-air theatre where Denver Mayor Wolfe Londoner spoke. Inspired by Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the first shows were vaudeville acts by accomplished local and national performers. In 1891, the theatre was enclosed and rebuilt for $100,000. The Boston Opera Company performed musicals and light opera, starting with The Pirates of Penzance. In 1893, the first summer stock theatre company, the Norcross Company, was organized in the East and brought to the gardens. Vaudeville shows continued until 1900. In 1896, Edison's Vitascope was exhibited at the theatre showing the first film in Colorado. The Elitch Gardens Stock Theatre Company began performing in 1897 under the management of Mary Elitch Long. Its first season in 1897 opened with leading man James O'Neill, who had promised John that he would act in the new theatre when it was ready. The first show performed there was Helene. The company became known for putting on ten plays in a ten-week summer season and attracting internationally known stars of the theatre and screen. Sarah Bernhardt came to Denver in 1906 after the San Francisco earthquake destroyed the California Theatre where she was scheduled to perform. At Elitch's, she played Camille at the matinée and LaSorcier at night. Douglas Fairbanks was hired into the same company. Prior to that, in 1905, he was hired to sweep the stage for theatre tickets. Operating the park became too costly for Mary Elitch. With the purchase of Elitch Gardens by John Mulvihill in 1916, she relinquished control of the Gardens and theatre. Two theatre boxes remained reserved for her and her friends. Mulvihill oversaw the theatre until his death in 1930 and was succeeded by his son-in-law Arnold Gurtler. In 1953, the Elitch Theatre was used to film scenes for The Glenn Miller Story. The Elitch Garden Theatre Company became its own incorporated business, separate from the Elitch Gardens Park, renting the theatre in 1963. The company stopped operating as a traditional resident summer-stock, switching to single, star-packaged shows from New York. The company had many successful years, but as time and culture changed, the theatre building was neglected.

Location

Categories

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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