History
The building was originally called The St. Louis Theater. It was built in 1925, designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Rapp & Rapp. The theater spent the first 40 years of its existence as a stage for live vaudeville performances as well as motion pictures. The last movie shown in the old theater was The Sound of Music in 1966. At that time, the building was acquired by the Symphony Society for $500,000, through a gift from Oscar Johnson, Jr.. After spending an additional $2 million to update and renovate the theater, the hall re-opened in January 1968 as the new home of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
The building is said to be haunted by the ghost of a man named George. He is supposedly seen in a white suit and white hat and is thought to be that of a former vaudevillian. He is said to play with the lights and the elevators.
Carl Stalling, famous for providing the music to Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes animated series, began his musical career as an organist at the St Louis Theater.
The St. Louis Children's Choirs is the official children's choir of the St. Louis Symphony.
Read more about this topic: Powell Hall
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“I am ashamed to see what a shallow village tale our so-called History is. How many times must we say Rome, and Paris, and Constantinople! What does Rome know of rat and lizard? What are Olympiads and Consulates to these neighboring systems of being? Nay, what food or experience or succor have they for the Esquimaux seal-hunter, or the Kanaka in his canoe, for the fisherman, the stevedore, the porter?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“American time has stretched around the world. It has become the dominant tempo of modern history, especially of the history of Europe.”
—Harold Rosenberg (1906–1978)
“Yet poetry, though the last and finest result, is a natural fruit. As naturally as the oak bears an acorn, and the vine a gourd, man bears a poem, either spoken or done. It is the chief and most memorable success, for history is but a prose narrative of poetic deeds.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)