Grand Opera House

With its opening in January 1895, the Grand Opera House in Galveston replaced a smaller theater, the Tremont Opera House, and provided the city with the best in opera and various dramatic performances at the height of theatrical popularity in the United States. The theater only served its original purpose a short time before the emergence of the motion picture. The story of this theater, however, did not end with the rise of film entertainment as did similar performance theaters. The Grand Opera House, now called the State, adapted to the changes of the time and remains a record of the transition from a stage theater to a movie theater.

As Texas's leading city in the mid-nineteenth century, Galveston wanted to begin to provide its citizens with cultural entertainment. Neitsch's Theater, a three-story structure built in 1854, was Galveston's first theater. The people failed to support this initial attempt to provide dramatic performances, however, and the building was converted into a livery stable. Mrs. Harry Hunter, an actress interested in revitalizing the building to its original purpose, restored and reopened the third floor of Neitsch's in 1866.

A few weeks after the completion of its restoration, Mrs. Hunter rented the theater to an opera troupe, who brought the first opera performance to Texas. Not until the Greenwall brothers took over management of Neitsch's in 1867, however, did it finally begin to attract audiences. The theater continued successfully until the building burned in 1869.

A second theater, the Tremont Opera House, modeled after Booth's Theater in New York, opened its doors to the public in February 1871. February 1871. Henry Greenwall, one of the brothers who had reopened Neitsch's, became the lessee of the Tremont. For twenty-three years the Tremont staged opera, plays, vaudeville and musical comedies as dramatic performances continued to gain popularity within Texas.

By the 1890s the Tremont had become overcrowded and needed extensive renovation. Henry Greenwall, widely known throughout the country as one of the leading theatrical magnates, began to call for a larger and more adequate structure. Greenwall had now extended his fame and influence throughout the United States. He established the Greenwall Theatrical Circuit, which had theaters located in many states. He controlled opera houses in New Orleans, Galveston, Waco, San Antonio, Nashville, Louisville, Memphis, Atlanta, Ft. Worth, Dallas, Houston, Austin, and Little Rock. He was also the manager of the Texas Circuit including Galveston, Ft. Worth, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and Waco. Thus, when Greenwall threatened to cancel the Galveston circuit unless safer and more deserving facilities were provided, the citizens of Galveston responded quickly. Being one of Texas's major cities, Galveston businessmen were eager to encourage people to seek amusement in their city instead of going to New Orleans. Greenwall concentrated his efforts on securing funds for a new theater by selling stock. Leading businessmen and financiers of Galveston--Leon Blum, C. H. Moore, R. B. Hawley, John Sealy, George Sealy, Charles Fowler, David Fahey-- invested in the Grand Opera House Company and enthusiastically gave their support to the new theater.

Frank Cox, the architect of the Grand Opera House, designed the structure and the interior decorations and scenery. Barnes and Palliser of Galveston began construction of the building in 1894. The completed structure was four stories on the front side where a hotel was located. The ground floor had a hotel office, cafe, and space for other stores. The theater was located behind the front section with an entrance from the street at the west end of the building. The auditorium had all the latest improvements and equipment and was one of the first theaters to use modern theories of acoustics. The basic structure remains intact today. The original
decorations are painted over and the boxes have been removed, but the building as a whole remains the same as it was originally. The rebuilding after the 1900 storm did not alter it except for minor changes in the decorations.

From its opening in January 1895, the popular Grand Opera House staged melodrama, musical comedy, operettas, operas, plays, and concert artists with continued success for twenty-four years. However, a new form of entertainment, the motion picture, began exceeding the popularity of theatrical performances in the early part of the Twentieth century. The Grand Opera House actually showed its first film, a bullfight, in 1896 in addition to the production of Carmen. In 1897 stock companies at the Grand used the early forms of motion pictures as entertainment between acts.

By 1908 the moving pictures were causing a revolution in entertainment and several movie houses had sprung up in Galveston. At the Grand Opera House, however, films continued to be shown only in addition to the featured theatrical performances. This began to change in 1915 when the motion picture was improved. In Galveston, the new form of motion picture arrived in October 1915, when the Grand Opera House exhibited D. W. Griffith's, The Birth of a Nation accompanied by a symphony orchestra playing the special score written for the picture.

Despite the fact that the Grand Opera House began to book an increasing number of films and fewer theatrical performances, the theater retained its original name until 1924 when its new owner Mr. A. Martini gave his name to it. At this time the building was remodeled, an organ was added to provide music for silent films, and two modern picture machines were installed. The theater still booked vaudeville as well as feature pictures. Martini claimed that he had the only theater in the South equipped to handle "feature pictures, majestic vaudeville, and traveling road shows." In 1937 Martini built a new theater and he gave the former Grand Opera House its present name, the State.

The Grand Opera House was the only theater in Galveston that offered legitimate drama around the turn of the century. As the motion picture became popular several movie houses began to open. Instead of trying to compete with the films and failing as did many theaters throughout the United States, the Grand Opera House joined the movement. Thus, it represents the evolution of an old building that has maintained its original integrity as a theater by adapting to the changing times.