Grand Opera House (Macon, Georgia)
Encyclopedia
The Grand Opera House, often called The Grand and also known as Academy of Music, is a historic opera house
located in Macon, Georgia
, United States
. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
, it is currently operated as a performing arts
center of Mercer University
.
Originally known as the Academy of Music, the Grand was built in 1883 and 1884 with the largest stage
in the southeastern United States
, outstanding lines-of sight and acoustics (both still notable today), and seats for 2,418, nearly a fifth of Macon's population at the time. The facade, a building located on Mulberry Street, was renovated in 1902, and the present seven-story office building facade opened in 1905.
Since that time, the stage has seen numerous historic uses. Live horse
s and chariot
s appeared in an 1908 production of Ben-Hur
. During World War I
, actor Charlie Chaplin
led the John Phillip Sousa band for a fundraising effort. According to the Grand's website, the theater has also hosted, among others, Sarah Bernhardt
, Will Rogers
, and George Burns
and Gracie Allen
. Some other famous performers to appear there include Lionel Barrymore
, Ethel Barrymore
, Bob Hope
, the Allman Brothers Band, and Ray Charles
.
Magician Harry Houdini
was also a featured player at the Grand, leaving a well-known legacy: the stage sports a number of trap doors, one of which remains operational and is used occasionally today in performances such as annual production of The Nutcracker
ballet
. Local lore claims that the trap doors were installed specifically for Houdini.
In 1936, as the popularity of vaudeville
waned, the Grand changed to a movie theater
, hosting Macon's only Hollywood premiere
, 1945's God is My Co-Pilot
. However, by the 1960s, the Grand had ceased showing movies and plans were made to replace it with a parking lot
.
Those plans were blocked in 1967 by the Macon Arts Council, a group formed to save and restore the Grand. By 1970, the group had held a gala featuring the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
, and had the property placed on the National Register of Historic Places
. (It was listed on the National Register in 1970.) The Opera House was renovated and reopened as a live theater in 1969. (The second balcony, or peanut gallery
, remained closed to the public and was dedicated to lighting equipment at this time, reducing the maximum seating to its current number of 1,030). Fund-raising efforts continued through the next several decade
s, with ongoing physical plant upgrades, with another renovation taking place in 1985.
In 1995, Mercer University
signed a lease
with Bibb County
to manage the Grand. Subsequently, Mercer has invested in upgrading the facility to modern standards as well as making it a fixture for community events. Today, the Grand hosts many Broadway
touring companies, concert
s (such as those of the Macon Symphony Orchestra, community theatre
productions (including the aforementioned Nutcracker holiday show), and other performances and events.
Opera house
An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building...
located in Macon, Georgia
Macon, Georgia
Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
, it is currently operated as a performing arts
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
center of Mercer University
Mercer University
Mercer University is an independent, private, coeducational university with a Baptist heritage located in the U.S. state of Georgia. Mercer is the only university of its size in the United States that offers programs in eleven diversified fields of study: liberal arts, business, education, music,...
.
Originally known as the Academy of Music, the Grand was built in 1883 and 1884 with the largest stage
Stage (theatre)
In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...
in the southeastern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, outstanding lines-of sight and acoustics (both still notable today), and seats for 2,418, nearly a fifth of Macon's population at the time. The facade, a building located on Mulberry Street, was renovated in 1902, and the present seven-story office building facade opened in 1905.
Since that time, the stage has seen numerous historic uses. Live horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s and chariot
Chariot
The chariot is a type of horse carriage used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Ox carts, proto-chariots, were built by the Proto-Indo-Europeans and also built in Mesopotamia as early as 3000 BC. The original horse chariot was a fast, light, open, two wheeled...
s appeared in an 1908 production of Ben-Hur
Ben-Hur (play)
Ben Hur was an 1899 dramatization of the 1880 novel Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace. It was dramatized by William W. Young and produced by Marc Klaw and A. L. Erlanger. Inspired by the popular equestrian dramas of nineteenth century London, the production was notable for its elaborate...
. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, actor Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
led the John Phillip Sousa band for a fundraising effort. According to the Grand's website, the theater has also hosted, among others, Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt was a French stage and early film actress, and has been referred to as "the most famous actress the world has ever known". Bernhardt made her fame on the stages of France in the 1870s, and was soon in demand in Europe and the Americas...
, Will Rogers
Will Rogers
William "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....
, and George Burns
George Burns
George Burns , born Nathan Birnbaum, was an American comedian, actor, and writer.He was one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, film, radio, television and movies, with and without his wife, Gracie Allen. His arched eyebrow and cigar smoke punctuation became...
and Gracie Allen
Gracie Allen
Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen , known as Gracie Allen, was an American comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns...
. Some other famous performers to appear there include Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...
, Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors.-Early life:Ethel Barrymore was born Ethel Mae Blythe in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second child of the actors Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Drew...
, Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, the Allman Brothers Band, and Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
.
Magician Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer noted for his sensational escape acts...
was also a featured player at the Grand, leaving a well-known legacy: the stage sports a number of trap doors, one of which remains operational and is used occasionally today in performances such as annual production of The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
. Local lore claims that the trap doors were installed specifically for Houdini.
In 1936, as the popularity of vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
waned, the Grand changed to a movie theater
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
, hosting Macon's only Hollywood premiere
Premiere
A premiere is generally "a first performance". This can refer to plays, films, television programs, operas, symphonies, ballets and so on. Premieres for theatrical, musical and other cultural presentations can become extravagant affairs, attracting large numbers of socialites and much media...
, 1945's God is My Co-Pilot
God is My Co-Pilot (film)
God is My Co-Pilot is a 1945 American propaganda film based on the autobiography of the same name by Robert Lee Scott, Jr. The film tells the story of Scott's association with the Flying Tigers and the United States Army Air Forces in China and Burma during World War II.-Plot:God Is My Co-Pilot was...
. However, by the 1960s, the Grand had ceased showing movies and plans were made to replace it with a parking lot
Parking lot
A parking lot , also known as car lot, is a cleared area that is intended for parking vehicles. Usually, the term refers to a dedicated area that has been provided with a durable or semi-durable surface....
.
Those plans were blocked in 1967 by the Macon Arts Council, a group formed to save and restore the Grand. By 1970, the group had held a gala featuring the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Robert Spano has been its music director since 2001...
, and had the property placed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. (It was listed on the National Register in 1970.) The Opera House was renovated and reopened as a live theater in 1969. (The second balcony, or peanut gallery
Peanut gallery
A peanut gallery is an audience that heckles the performer. The term originated in the days of vaudeville as a nickname for the cheapest seats in the theater; the least expensive snack served at the theater would often be peanuts, which the patrons would sometimes throw at the performers on stage...
, remained closed to the public and was dedicated to lighting equipment at this time, reducing the maximum seating to its current number of 1,030). Fund-raising efforts continued through the next several decade
Decade
A decade is a period of 10 years. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek dekas which means ten. This etymology is sometime confused with the Latin decas and dies , which is not correct....
s, with ongoing physical plant upgrades, with another renovation taking place in 1985.
In 1995, Mercer University
Mercer University
Mercer University is an independent, private, coeducational university with a Baptist heritage located in the U.S. state of Georgia. Mercer is the only university of its size in the United States that offers programs in eleven diversified fields of study: liberal arts, business, education, music,...
signed a lease
Lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property...
with Bibb County
Bibb County, Georgia
Bibb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 153,887. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 154,709...
to manage the Grand. Subsequently, Mercer has invested in upgrading the facility to modern standards as well as making it a fixture for community events. Today, the Grand hosts many Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
touring companies, concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
s (such as those of the Macon Symphony Orchestra, community theatre
Community theatre
Community theatre refers to theatrical performance made in relation to particular communities—its usage includes theatre made by, with, and for a community...
productions (including the aforementioned Nutcracker holiday show), and other performances and events.