The Man Who Brought the Stars to Seattle
John Maguire opens at the Seattle Theater with Maude Granger in 'Inherited.' He recalls the early days of Northwest theater, when he played at Tester's hall across from the P-I office and lost his equipment in the great fire.
John Maguire will open at the Seattle Theater this evening with the drama 'Inherited,' under the management of Maude Granger. Maguire is a veteran manager of the Pacific Northwest. He was the first manager to bring star attractions to the Pacific Northwest at a time when the population was sparse, the distances great and traveling expensive, but he never found the people of the Coast theater-going and, being from all parts of the world and having seen the best companies in all countries, they could not be put off with poor attractions. He first came to Seattle with Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean thirty years ago and is proud to be the second oldest acting manager in the United States. In talking of his experience in the theatrical business in the Pacific Northwest, Mr. Maguire said last night: 'I was the first regular manager of the new Market street Theater in Portland, and occasionally took my company out on the road. I left there in 1876 and went to Butte, where I started with a hall, and then founded Maguire's opera house in 1878. I started the Montana circuit from Miles City in 1880, and brought stars all through the Northwest. We used to play at Tester's hall, right across the street from your office, and at Olympia—there was no Tacoma then. Before I started the circuit Mr. Squire, now senator, had built a theater, where I used to play, but changed it into a hotel because there was not enough business for it. I brought out to the Northwest Mrs. Scott Siddons, Angus Dargon, Rose Ettire, John Owens, Camilla Urso, the original Haverly minstrels, Caroline Richings' opera company, the first opera company to come to the Northwest. The last attraction I played in Seattle was Modjeska the day before the fire, and all my printing and equipment for the tour were burned on The Verier wharf, as I learned by telegram while on the way to Portland.' Mr. Maguire still keeps a reputation for playing first-class attractions by taking the management of Maude Granger, who plays at the Seattle Theater tonight and tomorrow night, and of the Pyke Opera Company, which has been reorganized and strengthened by him.
“The last attraction I played in Seattle was Modjeska the day before the fire, and all my printing and equipment for the tour were burned on The Verier wharf.”
In 1895, Seattle was a young city hungry for culture, and touring theater companies brought the world to its doorstep. John Maguire's reminiscence captures the scrappy, far-flung nature of early Northwest entertainment—and the devastating impact of the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, which destroyed much of the city's cultural infrastructure. Today, Seattle's theater scene is thriving, but the stories of the people who built it are worth remembering.
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