A History of Leadville Theater: Opera Houses, Variety Acts and Burlesque Shows

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INTRODUCTION

Theaters were found in Williamsburg, Virginia; New York City; and Charleston, South Carolina, in the early 1700s. After the Revolutionary War, the government relaxed its laws regarding theaters, causing a mass expansion, and by the early 1800s, there was one in most sizable towns in the East.

Variety theaters, commonly referred to as wine or illegitimate theaters, were the first type offered. Usually, they did not charge admission—attendees were expected to visit the bar. They offered a diverse selection of performances: singing, comedy sketches, gymnastics, boxing, tightrope walking and trapeze acts. It was as though you were watching a circus on a small scale, with monkeys and dogs as part of the show. The theaters employed a band or orchestra to accompany the acts, and the musicians stayed with the theaters while the troupes moved on to the next town after a few months.

The legitimate theaters offered classic plays by famous authors such as Shakespeare, typically run by a stock company, and put on a different play every few days. This presented a challenge for those learning lines for a new show during the day and performing a different show at night. Companies usually had a leading lady and man, popular in that particular town but not well known elsewhere. Many actors got their start with a stock company; as their fame grew, they left the company and signed on with traveling shows. Many child actors were discovered when they were put on the stage by a parent who was in the cast.

The Leadville theater group in about 1880. Courtesy of the Colorado Mountain History Collection, Lake County Public Library.

With the expansion of the railroad, stock companies were pushed into smaller, less popular theaters and were almost eliminated by the 1900s. In order to survive, they took their show on the road, where they played at one theater for a few weeks, performing five or six different plays. They did not travel as far as the larger companies but rather stayed in small regions.

Companies traveled west before the railroad, but the trip was costly, and few were willing to foot the bill for such a venture. They traveled by wagon, bringing all the necessary scenery and props. Other actors would travel by themselves, booking a theater for a few weeks as a guest with the stock company and then moving on.

The earliest theaters in Lake County were in Oro City and Sacramento City, but little is known of those early playhouses. Jack Langrishe and J.M. Dougherty were actors who joined forces in 1861 to bring the theater to small mining camps in Colorado. Langrishe’s troupe arrived in Oro City and rented a small log cabin, calling it the People’s Theater. J.M. Dougherty, Jack Langrishe and Jack’s wife, Jeanette, were the principal actors and brought plays such as Othello, Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Hamlet to the booming mining town.

Jack Langrishe.

Oro City. Courtesy of the Colorado Mountain History Collection, Lake County Public Library.

An article in the Rocky Mountain News reported that Oro City had three theaters in 1862. Troupes continued coming to Oro City over the next several years, setting up a stage in a tent or in the back of a bar for the summer, leaving town during the harsh winter and returning the following spring.

THEATERS OF THE CARBONATE CAMP

Leadville, the county seat of Lake County, Colorado, sits at 10,152 feet above sea level and is the highest incorporated city in the United States. In the 1880s, it was one of the richest silver camps in the nation and the second-largest city in the state, with more than thirty thousand people. Established in 1878, it had several nicknames: Carbonate Camp, Two Mile-High City, Cloud City and Magic City.

State Street was known as the wickedest street in the nation, with bordellos, cribs, saloons, dance halls and variety theaters. Brass bands paraded up and down the street drumming up patrons. Chestnut Street, the original main thoroughfare, housed the majority of businesses; due to many fires, most of the buildings are gone. Harrison Avenue was the location of the more legitimate businesses and is now the main street.

One of the first people to offer entertainment in the Carbonate Camp was William Nye. He opened a saloon early in 1877, a small frame building twenty-four by sixty feet. He was well known in California Gulch, opening saloons in Oro City in the early ’60s, returning in ’74 and the following year in Malta. Nye saw the potential of Malta, purchased all the un-owned lots, improved the roads and built a saloon and a city pavilion—a place to hold dances.

One of the most famous lecturers at Nye’s Saloon was Susan B. Anthony, who visited in the fall of 1877. Before her lecture, Nye purchased yards of calico fabric to cover the liquor supplies behind the bar. The saloon was packed to capacity, and people lined the street to hear the famous suffragist. Governor John Routt and his wife were in town for Mrs. Anthony’s lecture—he even stood by her side as she spoke. Other then Routt’s wife, Eliza, only a few women attended.

A brass band playing in Leadville in about 1885. Courtesy of the Colorado Mountain History Collection, Lake County Public Library.

Depiction of Leadville Dance Hall. Courtesy of the Colorado Mountain History Collection, Lake County Public Library.

Susan B. Anthony was in Colorado to speak to voters about the ballot issue that would allow women the right to vote. She said that the crowd that night was the roughest group she had ever encountered—although when the men noticed that the smoke was making her cough, they happily snuffed out their pipes. Mrs. Anthony asked for donations; a hat was passed around the room and soon overflowed with gold dust and nuggets.

Although the miners seemed to enjoy her elegant speech, the vote was defeated in October. Sixteen years later, Colorado was the first state to adopt an amendment giving women the right to vote.

In 1879, the newly formed City of Leadville enacted a business fee. Certain businesses were required to pay a licensing fee, including saloons, ball alleys (early bowling alleys), billiard rooms, hacks, peddlers, lumberyards, brewers, theaters and so on. Theaters were broken into two groups, variety or legitimate. The price for a variety theater was $150 per quarter, and a legitimate theater was $10 per performance or $50 per quarter. In addition, most served alcohol and had to have a liquor license, which cost $500 per year.

The Carbonate Chronicle ran an article on wages in February, 1880, reporting that good waitresses made $15 to $25 per week; variety-actor couples made $100 to $175 per week, and good leading singles ranged from $50 to $125 per week. The lowest-paid actors made $15 to $35 per week.

THE COLISEUM NOVELTY THEATER

The Coliseum Novelty Theater was the first theater to open in the Carbonate Camp, in 1877. It was a small wood-frame building at 134 West Chestnut Street and had sleeping rooms upstairs that rented for a nightly rate. Many ladies employed as waitresses and dance hall girls at the house rented these rooms. Entering the building, you passed through the gaming rooms on your way to the theater in the back. Tiered box seats lined the walls on either side of this magnificent theater. Anyone who bought a drink could enter, but there was an extra charge for a box seat.

When the Coliseum opened, it was a variety theater, with dancing girls, dogfights, cockfights, wrestling and boxing matches. It had a promotional wagon, covered in advertising posters and the band loaded in the back, while high-stepping horses pulled it though the streets.

On June 15, 1879, there was a fire at the Coliseum set by an arsonist. Two other adjoining buildings were also destroyed; one was the Miners’ Arms Saloon. Curly Mack, a fireman, contracted pneumonia from exposure and died a few days later.

J.B. Overman, half-owner of Overman and McCarthy Produce on Chestnut Street, was looking for an investment, and in the winter of 1880, he leased the Coliseum. It was in need of repair, so he shut it down for renovations.

On April 16, 1880, two days after it was reopened, shots were heard coming from the theater, and a rush of men exited the building, hoping not to get hit with a flying bullet. J.B. Overman shot and killed Thomas Nugent. He told police that earlier in the evening, Mr. Nugent and his friends were drinking in one of the boxes. They got into an altercation with a waitress and Nugent slapped the waitress, pushing her out of the box. She was unhurt, but this made Overman angry; he saw the men at the bar and confronted them, telling them to leave his theater. Nugent refused, making some remark that he would leave when he wanted. Overman replied, This is my house and I am running it. Laughing, Nugent pointed to his friends and replied, Me and my gang plan to run it from here on, then backed Overman into a corner and told him, I will fix you. When he thought that Nugent started reaching for a gun, Overman fired several shots, hitting Nugent in the chest. Falling to the floor, Nugent said to his men, I am gone, boys. The shooting was found to be in self-defense, but Overman was done with the theater business, leasing it to Con Caddigan and Charlie Search.

The Coliseum Theater in about 1878. Courtesy of the Colorado Mountain History Collection, Lake County Public Library.

While Caddigan was the manager, evenings ended with a performance called Female Bathers, an act described as naughty but nice that was designed to get men in the door. Once they had a drink in hand, it was easy to keep them there for more imbibing. Caddigan ran the theater along with the Grand Central Theater for a few months, but then his duties at Grand Central began to take too much of his time.

JEFF WINNEY’S CALIFORNIA FREE CONCERT HALL

Caddigan leased the theater to Jeff Winney in November 1880, renaming it Jeff Winney’s California Free Concert Hall; it quickly became known as one of Leadville’s notorious dives. Newspapers were littered with tales of young men looking for the wilder side. They wandered into the hall and were offered drinks until they passed out. The next day, they usually woke up in an alley with their possessions gone.

One of Winney’s advertisements for hiring read, Waiter Girls Wanted; must appear in short clothes or no engagement. Once, Winney was arrested for using women to serve beer and entice men into his house of sin. He demanded a jury trial, and after the evidence was heard, the jury came back with a not guilty verdict. Possibly one or more of the men on jury had patronized Winney’s place.

One night, one of the most popular ladies at Winney’s was seated at a table in the gaming rooms. Kitty Crawhurst, a dark-eyed, dark-haired beauty, whose hair reached the hem of her dress, was Leadville’s well-known lady gambler. She played a game called Rolling Faro. Asked why she chose to become a gambler, she explained, My husband owned a restaurant in Chicago, and heard of the fortunes being made in Leadville; he sold the restaurant and came here to make his own fortune. Soon after he arrived, he took ill, and the cost of the nurse used all the money. Fearing I would never see him again, I came to Leadville, but could not find a job to pay the bills. My husband began to gamble but his luck was not good; I joined him at the tables, and found I was a very good gambler.

Gambling limits in most towns ranged from about $20 to $50. Bat Masterson came here in 1880, where single hands could go from $1 to $1,000. He wandered into Winney’s