The Struggle for a Proper Stage
A popular movement takes off to build Seattle its first dedicated grand opera house as performers complain about the city’s cramped, inadequate venues.
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Last evening the movement for the building of a new opera-house received a fresh impetus. At the close of the first act of 'Tannhauser,' the ushers distributed among the audience envelopes inviting every resident to co-operate in the immediate building of a new opera-house. Inside was a subscription blank for stock at $100 a share. Charles E. Locke, director of the Juch company, stepped before the footlights and made a plea: 'I submit in all fairness that Seattle deserves a better theater. As an illustration of what you miss, I will say that we have lying at your railway station some twenty tons of scenery for mounting these operas which we have not been able to set up on this stage. You are sitting in not very comfortable seats. Add to these discomforts the fact that the choruses and solos cannot be properly sung here, and that the orchestral effects are spoiled by this low ceiling, and you can easily see that you are paying for what you do not get.' Manager Locke and Miss Juch are pushing for a structure worthy of a city of 50,000 people, with sites being considered near Third and Cherry or the old courthouse.
“You can easily see that you are paying for what you do not get. That you do not receive the benefit of a first-class performance is in no way the fault of the company, but rather of the citizens of Seattle.”
The turn-of-the-century struggle to provide proper infrastructure for the arts mirrors modern Seattle's ongoing debates over the funding and maintenance of cultural landmarks. While the city grew to eventually support grand venues, the pressure to turn 'amusement' into a sound municipal investment remains a familiar refrain in local politics.
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