The History of the TheaterStep inside Omaha’s Orpheum Theater to a world of spectacular elegance. Story and photographs by Mike Whye |
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THE HISTORY OF THE THEATER in Omaha is just about as old as the city, which was settled in 1854. According to files at the Douglas County Historical Society, the first theatrical performance, actually three performances of two plays by a four-person regional troupe, occurred on May 28, 1857, inside a frame building on 9th Street.
The Omaha Nebraskian reported that bad weather kept the place from being a full house, and a person wrote later that “reviews were mixed.”
Some say Omaha’s first true professional performance was in 1860 at the Herndon House, a fashionable four-story hotel at 9th and Farnam streets.
The production (its name lost to history) had no backdrop or scenery, and a muslin sheet served as the curtain. Despite the austerity, the famous Julia Dean Hayne acted in the play.
The first stage used for professional productions in Omaha was in the city’s original courthouse, bounded by Douglas, Farnam, 15th and 16th streets. Its first production, in 1866, was The Chamber of Death. The city’s first theater was on the second floor of the J. Brown Building at 14th and Douglas.
Other theaters went up – the Academy of Music, People’s Theater, Empire Theater, Nebraska Music Hall, Star Theater, Bohemian Theater and more. The Coliseum boasted it could seat 2,000 people while 6,000 could stand on its floor.
In 1880, Omaha’s first modern opera house, the Boyd Theater, at 1420 Farnam St., saw the likes of Lillian Russell, Lillie Langtry and Edwin Booth before burning down in 1893.
The Omaha Community Playhouse, the nation’s oldest community theater, debuted with The Enchanted Cottage in April 1925 in the Mary Cooper Dance Studio at 40th and Farnam streets. Among the performers were Dodie Brando, mother of then-1-year-old Marlon Brando Jr., and Jayne Fonda, sister of the famous actor, Henry Fonda, who began performing there a year later.
Over the years, at least 236 movie theaters have brightened Omaha’s nights with their glowing marquees, although it must be noted that some theater buildings had more than one name during their lifetimes. Some also hosted live productions.
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The oldest extant theater in Omaha, the Dundee Theatre, a movie theater that is now the city’s only single-screen theater, was built in 1925 at 4952 Dodge St. The Rose Theater, originally known as the Riviera and then the Astro, opened in 1926 at 19th and Farnam streets and now houses the Performing Arts for Children and Families.
