Lexington Opera House is always one of the most popular places for concert tours in Lexington.

Tom Thumb, Will Rogers, Mae West, and the Marx Brothers.Lexington Opera House Concert Information Many notables have performed in the opera house including: John Phillip Sousa, Mrs. These plays alone should attest to the popularity of opera and the lavish performances that took place in the building.

In 1893, approximately 100 animals and a mile-long parade were used for the performance of 'A Country Circus.' In 1904 a production of 'Ben Hur' involved an on-stage chariot race. A production of the 'Henley Regatta' in 1890 required a flooding of the stage.

Over the years the opera house hosted many large and elaborate performances. The building was restored during the early 1980s and is now used again for theatrical and musical performances.Īrt Work of the Blue Grass Region of Kentucky, courtesy of the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation An 1893 article in The Kentucky Leader describes the house as one of the 'costliest, handsomest and most convenient Thespian temples in the South, an object of cherished pride in the city.' Following the advent of motion pictures the opera house fell into decline. The interior of the opera house was lavishly decorated in Turkish morocco and each box was equipped with its own hat rack, cane and umbrella holder, and springs to help people enter their seats.

The three-story building originally seated 1,250 people and had two balconies and two boxes on either side of the stage. Designed by the noted theatrical architect Oscar Cobb of Chicago, the opera house was opened on Augwith a production of 'Our Angel' by the Lizzie Evans Stock Company. From The Lexington Opera House was built in 1886 following the destruction by fire of the earlier opera house.

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