The Grand Opening of Seattle's New Theater
A whirlwind of operatic and dramatic performances marks the unveiling of a theater still under construction.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
It can safely be said that no new house was ever opened with such a succession of strong bills as the Seattle theater last week. There were practically three openings covering almost the whole field of the dramatic art. First came the Duff Opera company, with four separate operas, all popular. 'A Trip to Africa' was fairly successful on Monday night. Then came Miss Julia Marlowe and her company in 'Much Ado About Nothing' and 'Twelfth Night,' fully sustaining her reputation. Last night the week closed with comedy by Charles Dickson in 'Incog' and 'The Half Cellar.' The performances have all gone smoothly, although the house was opened before it was really ready. A few annoyances resulted from this haste, chief among them being the draughts which blew from the many entrances. These difficulties are being removed, and this week the public will be welcomed to an entirely finished theater.
“A few annoyances naturally resulted from this haste, chief among them being the draughts which blew from the many entrances.”
The 'New Theater' (the Seattle Theatre) was located at 3rd and Cherry, a cultural cornerstone for early Seattle that eventually fell to modernization. Its early struggle with drafts and unfinished construction mirrors the perpetual 'grand opening' pains of Seattle's infrastructure projects, from early regrade efforts to modern transit station woes.
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