History
The Opera House was built in 1889 to house the library, council room, justice court, fire department and second floor auditorium for the City of Woodstock. The Patti Rosa Company provided the inaugural performance of "Margery Daw" on Thursday, September 4, 1890.
The Opera House became McHenry County’s center for entertainment hosting touring vaudeville, minstrel and dramatic companies.
When the traveling circuits disappeared in the early twentieth century, the Opera House became the site for the Chicago-area’s first, however short-lived, summer stock theatre. Produced in 1934 by Roger Hill, headmaster of Woodstock’s Todd School for Boys, the Shakespeare plays starred his young student, Orson Welles. Welles was joined by Michael MacLiammoir and Louise Prussing, who also established international reputation as classical actors.
In 1947, a group of citizens formed and supported the Woodstock Players. For several years the Players, provided acting experience for students graduation from the Goodman School. Now-famous personalities Paul Newman, Tom Bosley, Betsy Palmer, Geraldine Page, Shelley Berman and Lois Nettleton were among the more notable personalities.
In 1968, the Town Square Players was established. They were incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1973. In 1974, the Woodstock Musical Theatre Company was founded and made the Opera House their home. Both companies still perform regular seasons at the Opera House every year.
Read more about this topic: Woodstock Opera House
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—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)
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“I believe that history has shape, order, and meaning; that exceptional men, as much as economic forces, produce change; and that passé abstractions like beauty, nobility, and greatness have a shifting but continuing validity.”
—Camille Paglia (b. 1947)