This fall, the Fox West Theatre on Main Street in Trinidad will be hosting a season of performances for the first time in nearly a century. Right now, the theatre’s Project Manager Christopher Smith and videographer Elizabeth Holloway are capturing stage performances and beginning October 31 will be releasing some of them to raise awareness about the historically significant structure on their YouTube channel.
“The famous Rapp Brothers architects from Chicago were very likely involved in the design of the theatre and when it was built in 1908 served as a Vaudeville venue on what was known as the Orpheus Circuit until movies became the next big thing,” said Smith. “After that, the idea of having performances here was kind of forgotten in favor of higher grossing movies that were shown in the theatre until 2013.”
In the 1930s, the stage’s mezzanine was covered with a projector screen and the great performance venue became a movie theatre for the rest of the 20th Century and a bit into the 21st; the stage (and many rooms) were covered or built over — frozen in time.
Smith said they are also working to capture the unveiling of a few places that haven’t had people in them since the 1930’s as well as filming several other unique and rarely seen areas of the theatre in hopes of raising the public’s interest and curiosity.
“I want people to get as excited about this project as I am,” said Smith. “The amount of history and lore around this place is fascinating and we’re always finding more. We hope that by filming a lot of this in a kind of This Old House style, more people will realize what an asset this theatre is and why it’s important to bring performances back here.”
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