Article on Pike's Opera House

Event Information

Venue(s):
Pike's Opera House

Record Information

Status:
Published

Last Updated:
13 February 2016

Performance Date(s) and Time(s)

18 Sep 1867

Citations

1)
Article: New York Herald, 18 September 1867, 4.

Description of the New Temple of Music on Eighth Avenue – The Dome, Vestibule and Ballroom – The Largest Stage and the Finest Opera House in America.

            “At the corner of Eighth avenue and Twenty-third street an opera house worthy of the metropolis is fast approaching completion. Mr. Pike, of Cincinnati fame, is now preparing his magnificent temple of music and the drama for public inspection. It will be probably two months before the scaffolding is all down and the last finishing touches of the architect, carpenter, painter, 7c., are given to the new establishment. It stands in the middle of the block extending toward Ninth avenue, and has three grand entrances on Eighth avenue, Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth streets. These entrances open into long passages twenty-two feet in width and sixty-eight in length, all three meeting in a splendid vestibule in front of the opera house. On Twenty-third street and Eighth avenue the entrances are flanked on either side with immense fluted iron columns, above which towers a white marble structure. Large variegated lamps will light up the entrances and paintings will adorn the passages leading to the vestibule. This is a hall seventy-eight feet in length, forty-two in width and fifty-four in height. A marble floor reflects the glare of the rich chandeliers, and statues point from their niches on every side. A grand black walnut staircase leads to the dress circle, to a large ballroom and to a promenade balcony, which looks down upon the floor of the vestibule. The ballroom is on the left as we ascend the staircase, and is ninety-two feet in length, sixty in width and thirty-two in height. It will be finished in the best style, and will be adorned with statuary and painting. There are four exit passages from the house into Twenty-fourth street besides the entrance to the family circle, so that in case of accident the opera house can be emptied of its audience in an inconceivably short space of time. As for the opera house proper, it is 185 in length and 90 in breadth. The height from the parquet to the dome is 70 feet. It will seat 2,700 persons comfortably, and as for the standees, their name may be legion. The auditorium consists of six proscenium boxes, parquet, parquet-circle, dress circle and family circle.  The last mentioned is not placed near the roof, as is the case with many of our theatres, but there is a considerable distance between its seats and the frescoed ceiling. The front row of the dress circle consists of twenty-seven handsome boxes. The roof and dome are frescoed in large medallions in blue, drab and gold, and have a very brilliant appearance. The nine muses, artistically painted, occupy the medallions beneath the dome. The latter is the most attractive feature in the house. A broad, glittering border of gold surround its base, and from an octagonal balustrade within, its eight statues look down on the audience. Each bears a gleaming torch in its grasp. The dome proper is of stained glass, worked in handsome devices. A row of gas jets lights the house from the base of the dome, and another row gleams at the feet of the eight statues. The proscenium arch of the stage is very handsomely finished and the orchestra is larger than ordinary, being forty feet long and ten wide. The stage is seventy feet in depth, eighty in width and fifty-four in height. In summer the doors can be thrown open in the rear, and in a spectacle a perspective of one hundred and ninety feet may be obtained. The yard behind the stage is walled and may be brought into requisition, if necessary, in fine weather. Regarding the working of the scenery on the stage, there are some interesting features in this establishment. The grooves extend across the stage, and the gas, with the accompanying reflectors, can be raised or lowered at pleasure. The flats are twenty-two feet high and thirty feet wide. The stage, made after the design of Benson Sherwood, is a section one, and can be taken apart in the smallest sections with the most perfect ease. The depth from the stage to the sub-cellar is thirty-three feet. The entire building will be heated by steam, the engine being located in front of the house. Every precaution will be taken against fire, and a hose may be attached to the steam engine and throw a stream of water on any part of the building at a moment’s notice. The green room will be in one of the houses on Twenty-third street. The entire cost of this magnificent opera house is probably close in the neighborhood of a million dollars. It will be ready for opening about November, and then, we may the pleasure of hearing the great La Grange and the silvery voiced Brignoli in the Pike opera house on the American continent.”