Tonight - the theater everyone knew about but no one went to... supposedly. The Mayfair! Gebhart’s Opera House (1877-89), Park (1889-1906), Lyric(1907-34), Mayfair(1934-68) 22 East Fifth Street William F. Gebhart’s Opera House opened to public acclaim on March 12, 1877. The elaborately domed and galvanized iron front opera house was heralded as the finest to have been built in Dayton at the time. Gebhart had gone to a lot of trouble to build the opera house at its location on Fifth and Main Street. In June 1876, house movers began removing a group of old frame dwellings, known as Arnold Row, from the south side of Fifth Street east of Main. The location was chosen for several reasons, the main one being that plans were being made to build a new bridge across the Miami river, which would allow a horse car railway to run in front of the Opera House. Construction began in September 1876. By mid October the walls were in place and the intricate sheet metal facade began to be placed on the building. The decorative sections were made in Gebhart’s shop on East Third and St. Clair, then moved to the site by wagon. By November the roof and the large dome were in place. A pedestal was placed on the top of the dome, with plans to eventually place a statue there, possibly one representing ‘Commerce’. On December 8, 1876, over three hundred patrons perished in a theater fire in Brooklyn, New York. Construction on the Opera House was suspended while safety measures were added to the theater. Installation of sprinklers was the first of its kind in a public hall in Dayton. Large sheets of iron were suspended by chains and placed over the stage, which could be lowered at a moments notice in case of fire. The galvanized front had been painted a soft cream color and then roughed sanded to give the appearance of sandstone. The building was 95 feet wide and 73 feet deep originally. Four storerooms were on the first floor, with offices above. The auditorium was on the second floor and was reached by a center entrance staircase. The stage was on the east end of the hall. The hall seated 1,200 patrons, 500 of these in the gallery. In 1889 the theater was leased to George A. Dickson and Larry Reist and renamed Park Theater. Well known for its live entertainment, Park Theater also introduced Dayton citizens to the magic of motion pictures. On September 21, 1896, exhibitor Harry Clark brought with him a Vitascope projector and several movie reels. Unsure as to whether the movies would be enough to attract an audience to the theater, Clark played it safe by hiring the American Vaudeville Company to provide live entertainment between reels. These short films would be the first movies to be shown in Dayton. (See list on page 67). In 1906 the building was leased to Hurtig-Seaman Shows, Inc., who wanted to open a high-class vaudeville house in the Dayton area. They were granted permission to raze the old hall section, without disturbing the front, and construct the auditorium at ground level. After doing so, the theater was renamed the Lyric. The new building was extended farther back than the old Park Theater, going as far south as the alley adjoining the National Theater. The $150,000 renovation included a new seating arrangement for 1,300 patrons. The decorations of the interior of the Lyric were chosen by W. H. McElpatrick, a noted theater architect at the time. Soft shades of green and gold were used, and the pillars of the theater were covered with green plush and fastened with brass bands. After Max Hurtig began managing the Colonial Theater in 1913, he decided to promote the Lyric as a feature motion picture house. Recognizing the the theater needed something different to attract more patrons, Hurtig obtained exclusive rights to show Kinemacolor pictures. Kinemacolor was one of several efforts over the years to bring color to the movies. Although very successful at first, the process required expensive equipment that was not compatible with conventional films, rendering them useless for anything but Kinemacolor movies. Exhibitors like the Lyric had very few films to choose from. Efforts were made to bring down the price of both the film and the equipment. But when this failed to occur, Kinemacolor faded into obscurity. Still, the idea lasted long enough for the Lyric to establish a good repeat customer base. The trend of showing motion pictures continued successfully for a number of years, but as attendance began to slow in the 1920’s, burlesque began to make a comeback at the theater. Howard S. Reeves recalled the burlesque shows. Burlesque in those days was a tremendous business. It was family entertainment, good comedy, good music, not the best, but good music, and the ladies loved it. Reeves saw all the great performers like Buster Keaton, Fred Astaire and Red Skeleton after he began working at the Lyric in 1908. He also recalled that during the prohibition era thieves passed up the box office safe and blew open the one upstairs, thinking the money was there. The boss was madder than if he’d had his money taken because they blew up his bottle of whiskey. said Reeves. In 1934 the theater again changed hands and became the Mayfair. Ann Corio, one of the great strippers of burlesque and star of several B-movies, such as Swamp Woman, remembered the time when Elliott Roosevelt, son of president Franklin D. Roosevelt, caught her act at the theater. Roosevelt was stationed at Wright-Patterson at the time. The theater was sold out for the show and when the manager told me the son of the President bought standing room, I was so elated I wired my manager in New York. said Corio. The Mayfair went through several changes during the late 1940’s and into the 1950’s. In 1949 a lack of interest in burlesque led the management into changing the theater into a double-feature movie house. The first billing was Down to Earth with Rita Hayworth, and a B western starring Gene Autry. The movies didn’t pan out, however, and burlesque again filled the bill a year later. The theater almost closed for good in the late 1950’s, but the old lady got a reprieve at the last minute. I remember, on a dare, I went to the Mayfair with some friends in 1961. Leon Bey recalled. We all went down and had a good time. This was the old-time vaudeville, the old East Coast comics. If you look at some of the old comedians, a lot of them had their start in vaudeville. They were funny without being dirty. Dayton was a hot bed for comedians. But they’re all gone now. The Mayfair closed its doors for the final time in 1968. The last stripper to perform at the Mayfair was Morganna, (also known as Chesty Morganna) who made headlines for years as the Kissing Bandit who would run out onto the baseball fields and kiss the ballplayers. The opera house interior, strewn with debris and dirt, still held onto its tiered balconies to the very last. On January 19, 1969, the day before the theater was scheduled to be torn down, the building caught fire. Nine fire companies spent almost two hours controlling the blaze. The next morning Laborers Local 110 picketed in front of the old building in protest against the demolition firm of Lowendick & Son of Columbus, claiming that the firm refused to use Dayton workers, bringing his own in from Columbus instead. The razing was completed February 10, 1969. Luckily the statue of the Goddess of Liberty that stood above the theater was saved. It now has a permanent home outside the Dayton Art Institute. The Convention Center is now located on the site.
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 01:06:04 +0000