Ironwood Theatre (Ironwood, Michigan)
Encyclopedia
The Historic Ironwood Theatre is a theatre
in Ironwood, Michigan
offering a variety of live theatrical, musical, and artistic performances as part of its programming. The theatre is a non-profit entertainment establishment owned by the City of Ironwood and operated by Ironwood Theatre Inc., a volunteer group of local community members.
and vaudeville
shows. The first feature film shown was "Wings" (1927) starring Clara Bow
, Charles Rogers, Richard Arlen
and Gary Cooper
. Notably, the same film was shown at the unveiling of the rededicated Barton Organ with Dr. Steven Ball performing on September 18, 2010.
The theatre continued as a movie and vaudeville
house under the direction of A.L. Pikar through the Golden Age of Hollywood
of the 1930s, '40s, and '50s - the theatre flourished during these decades. Experiencing extreme financial difficulties in the late 70s, the theatre closed its doors in the spring of 1982.
In 1982, owner Thomas Renn gave the Ironwood Theatre to the City of Ironwood through the Downtown Ironwood Development Authority (DIDA). The Ironwood Theatre reopened in 1988 as a non-profit
cultural organization featuring a wide range of programming.
style featuring hand-sculpted faux pillars and arched proscenium
style stage. The building seated 1,000 guests when it was originally built including 600 seats on the main floor and 400 seats on the balcony level.
Due to many restoration efforts and improvements of the theatre's design, many seats were removed to accommodate for added luxuries including a handicapped accessible area, light & sound booth, and concession stand. The theatre now seats 732—480 seats on the main floor and 252 seats in the balcony. The chairs found in the theatre today are exact replica replacements of the seats originally installed.
organ, happily nicknamed "The Grand Old Lady", remains in place on its pedestal where it was installed in 1928. The historic organ
is a 2-manual
, 7-rank, 499-pipe organ that is still completely playable. Restoration efforts on the organ began in 2000 under the direction of Dr. Tom Peacock. Volunteers were taught by experts on inspection and repair of the console
, pipes, valves, and wiring. Virtually all organ components were inspected and cleaned with replacements of all leather materials, which were in dire need of replacement. Much of the wire running from the switchboard to the console was replaced as required by electrical code—this included over 700 solder connections on the back of the console.
After countless hours of volunteer work and thousands of dollars from grants and donations, the Barton Organ
console returned from the Smith Pipe Organ Restoration company in June 2010, completing the restoration of the infamous organ console. The instrument is now completely playable. It was announced on Saturday, September 18, 2010 that the American Theatre Organ Society would like to open a chapter in Ironwood, Michigan.
Of the roughly 250 pipe organs built by the Barton Organ Company
, the Ironwood Theatre Barton is one of an estimated 40 that are still in their original homes and is one of only four documented Bartons that are still playable. As of 2010, the Ironwood Theatre Organ is the most recently restored Barton.
mural of the theatre displays a stunning 3-piece canvas
painting by artist William Hasenberg. The mural was painted during the finishing stages of construction in 1927 to complete the theatre's grand scale look. During a renovation
in 1973, the mural and surrounding ceiling was painted with dark blue and white paint. The repainting was thought to have destroyed the mural until restoration efforts by muralist David Strickland proved successful in removing the blue and white paint without destroying the underlying mural. The 1994 restoration project restored the mural to its original look. The mural, now perfectly restored, catches the eye of every guest who steps into the auditorium
.
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
in Ironwood, Michigan
Ironwood, Michigan
Ironwood is a city in Gogebic County in the U.S. state of Michigan, about south of Lake Superior. The population was 6,293 at the 2000 census. The city is on US 2 and is situated opposite the Montreal River from Hurley, Wisconsin. It is the westernmost city in Michigan, situated on the same line...
offering a variety of live theatrical, musical, and artistic performances as part of its programming. The theatre is a non-profit entertainment establishment owned by the City of Ironwood and operated by Ironwood Theatre Inc., a volunteer group of local community members.
History
Constructed in 1928, one of three movie houses in Ironwood at the time, the theatre presented first run filmsFirst run films
A film is said to be in its first run when it has been just released. In North America most new films earn most of their theatrical viewers in the first few weeks after their release. In North America different movie theatres pay different rates to show films depending on how recently they have...
and 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...
shows. The first feature film shown was "Wings" (1927) starring Clara Bow
Clara Bow
Clara Gordon Bow was an American actress who rose to stardom in the silent film era of the 1920s. It was her appearance as a spunky shopgirl in the film It that brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl." Bow came to personify the roaring twenties and is described as its leading sex...
, Charles Rogers, Richard Arlen
Richard Arlen
-Biography:Born Sylvanus Richard Van Mattimore in St. Paul, Minnesota, he attended the University of Pennsylvania. He served as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I. His first job after the war was with St. Paul's Athletic Club...
and Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper
Frank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
. Notably, the same film was shown at the unveiling of the rededicated Barton Organ with Dr. Steven Ball performing on September 18, 2010.
The theatre continued as a movie and 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...
house under the direction of A.L. Pikar through the Golden Age of Hollywood
Classical Hollywood cinema
Classical Hollywood cinema or the classical Hollywood narrative, are terms used in film history which designates both a visual and sound style for making motion pictures and a mode of production used in the American film industry between roughly the 1910s and the early 1960s.Classical style is...
of the 1930s, '40s, and '50s - the theatre flourished during these decades. Experiencing extreme financial difficulties in the late 70s, the theatre closed its doors in the spring of 1982.
In 1982, owner Thomas Renn gave the Ironwood Theatre to the City of Ironwood through the Downtown Ironwood Development Authority (DIDA). The Ironwood Theatre reopened in 1988 as a non-profit
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
cultural organization featuring a wide range of programming.
Design and architecture
The theatre was designed by self-taught Ironwood architect Albert Nelson and was constructed in 1928 at a cost of $160,000 (equivalent of approximately $2 million today). The architecture was modeled after the Italian RenaissanceRenaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...
style featuring hand-sculpted faux pillars and arched proscenium
Proscenium
A proscenium theatre is a theatre space whose primary feature is a large frame or arch , which is located at or near the front of the stage...
style stage. The building seated 1,000 guests when it was originally built including 600 seats on the main floor and 400 seats on the balcony level.
Due to many restoration efforts and improvements of the theatre's design, many seats were removed to accommodate for added luxuries including a handicapped accessible area, light & sound booth, and concession stand. The theatre now seats 732—480 seats on the main floor and 252 seats in the balcony. The chairs found in the theatre today are exact replica replacements of the seats originally installed.
The Barton organ
The BartonBarton Organ Company
The Barton Organ Company was an American pipe organ manufacturer during the age of silent movies. The company was founded by Dan Barton, who was from Amherst, Wisconsin. The fifth largest builder of theater instruments in the nation, Barton focused almost exclusively on the Midwest market...
organ, happily nicknamed "The Grand Old Lady", remains in place on its pedestal where it was installed in 1928. The historic organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
is a 2-manual
Manual (music)
A manual is a keyboard designed to be played with the hands on a pipe organ, harpsichord, clavichord, electronic organ, or synthesizer. The term "manual" is used with regard to any hand keyboard on these instruments to distinguish it from the pedalboard, which is a keyboard that the organist plays...
, 7-rank, 499-pipe organ that is still completely playable. Restoration efforts on the organ began in 2000 under the direction of Dr. Tom Peacock. Volunteers were taught by experts on inspection and repair of the console
Organ console
thumb|right|250px|The console of the [[Wanamaker Organ]] in the Macy's department store in [[Philadelphia]], featuring six manuals and colour-coded stop tabs....
, pipes, valves, and wiring. Virtually all organ components were inspected and cleaned with replacements of all leather materials, which were in dire need of replacement. Much of the wire running from the switchboard to the console was replaced as required by electrical code—this included over 700 solder connections on the back of the console.
After countless hours of volunteer work and thousands of dollars from grants and donations, the Barton Organ
Barton Organ Company
The Barton Organ Company was an American pipe organ manufacturer during the age of silent movies. The company was founded by Dan Barton, who was from Amherst, Wisconsin. The fifth largest builder of theater instruments in the nation, Barton focused almost exclusively on the Midwest market...
console returned from the Smith Pipe Organ Restoration company in June 2010, completing the restoration of the infamous organ console. The instrument is now completely playable. It was announced on Saturday, September 18, 2010 that the American Theatre Organ Society would like to open a chapter in Ironwood, Michigan.
Of the roughly 250 pipe organs built by the Barton Organ Company
Barton Organ Company
The Barton Organ Company was an American pipe organ manufacturer during the age of silent movies. The company was founded by Dan Barton, who was from Amherst, Wisconsin. The fifth largest builder of theater instruments in the nation, Barton focused almost exclusively on the Midwest market...
, the Ironwood Theatre Barton is one of an estimated 40 that are still in their original homes and is one of only four documented Bartons that are still playable. As of 2010, the Ironwood Theatre Organ is the most recently restored Barton.
Proscenium Mural
The prosceniumProscenium
A proscenium theatre is a theatre space whose primary feature is a large frame or arch , which is located at or near the front of the stage...
mural of the theatre displays a stunning 3-piece canvas
Canvas
Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...
painting by artist William Hasenberg. The mural was painted during the finishing stages of construction in 1927 to complete the theatre's grand scale look. During a renovation
Renovation
Renovation is the process of improving a structure. Two prominent types of renovations are commercial and residential.-Process:The process of a renovation, however complex, can usually be broken down into several processes...
in 1973, the mural and surrounding ceiling was painted with dark blue and white paint. The repainting was thought to have destroyed the mural until restoration efforts by muralist David Strickland proved successful in removing the blue and white paint without destroying the underlying mural. The 1994 restoration project restored the mural to its original look. The mural, now perfectly restored, catches the eye of every guest who steps into the auditorium
Auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...
.
External links
- Official Site
- "Superior Chronicle," 06/09/2009 "Kucera Appointed to Lead Ironwood Theatre Into New Era"
- "TV 6 News," 06/08/2010 "Volunteers Renovate Ironwood Theatre"