THE ‘NEW TEMPLE OF THESPIS’ OPENS IN 1891
Vancouver World lauds the Vancouver Opera House
When the Canadian Pacific Railway chose to build its western terminus in Vancouver the city was centred in Gastown.
Unfortunately for the CPR, its land holdings were further west. So the company built the first Hotel Vancouver at Georgia and Granville in 1886-87, hoping to spur development its way.
In 1890, the railway announced it would add culture to its portfolio with the Vancouver Opera House.
It opened on Feb. 9, 1891 at 731 Granville, next door to the CPR’s hotel. And it was quite the place, a 1,300-seat theatre for a city of only 15,000 people.
The Vancouver World dubbed it “Our New Temple of Thespis,” after the first Greek actor to appear in a drama onstage.
“When completed, no more thoroughly equipped or better appointed theatre will be found on the Pacific Coast,” said the World, “and few outside of Chicago and New York can equal it.”
The words “when completed” were key, because the Opera House was opened before it was finished, in order to stage a show by the internationally renowned opera singer Emma Juch.
The $100,000 building was still quite impressive, even if it wasn’t finished.
“The building possesses the special advantage of standing alone and of having wide passages on either side,” said an anonymous World reporter.
“The entrance to the building is wide, so that all fear from undue crowding is allayed. It is surmounted by a large window of cathedral glass which throws a beautiful tinted light upon the quadrangle.” The interior was beautiful. “Above the proscenium arch will be an elaborate design in plaster representing an aggregation of musical instruments on a background of flags,” said the World.
“Already four sets of stock scenery have been painted, all that is required for a regular play, but before the supply is considered complete there will be 18 sets — almost as many as are found in the bestequipped theatres in metropolitan centres.
“The act drop curtain is being painted in New York and will be a picturesque British Columbia view.”
The building would be “well heated,” have “artistic” electric light fixtures, and was designed to be easily emptied in case of fire, a big concern in the 1890s.
An engraving of Emma Juch ran with the story identifying her as “the little dedicator,” because the 29-year-old had opened so many opera houses with her travelling company of 125.
Juch sounds like quite the singer: the World said she was in “possession of an unfailing even tone, birdlike execution, intelligent phrasing, distinct pronunciation, pathos, passionate declamation and charming stage manner.”
Opening night was a smashing success.
“Never in the history of Vancouver, short though it may be, has there been gathered under one roof such a magnificent audience, never was there so brilliant an assembly, and it is safe to say, too, that never has there been seen here such a splendid production as Lohengrin last night by the Emma Juch Grand English Opera Company in the C.P.R. Opera House,” said the World.
“It was truly an auspicious event, the formal opening and dedication of a new play house by a prima donna.”
The night wasn’t perfect, though. On Feb. 11 the World carried a story about three men who were smoking “in the parquet, much to the annoyance of ladies and gentlemen in full dress who were in the immediate vicinity. Not only that, but they were tittering and laughing, much to the annoyance of everybody.”
A policeman was called in, but when the three louts continued to smoke and joke, “a well-known and prominent gentleman” was angered enough to “dash a cigar out of the mouth of one of the individuals.”
In 1913, the Opera House was taken over by the Sullivan and Considine vaudeville circuit, expanded to 2,000 seats and renamed the Orpheum.
When the New Orpheum (the current one) opened in 1927 it became the Vancouver Theatre, then the Lyric, and finally the International Cinema. It was demolished in 1969 for the Pacific Centre Mall.