Butte Opera House

The Butte Opera House is a historic theater in Cripple Creek, Colorado, owned by the City of Cripple Creek. It premiered in 1896 as the 'Butte Concert and Beer Hall' and later re-premiered as the Butte Opera House. After a series of transformations and a period of disuse, the City of Cripple Creek refurbished it in 1999, and it now operates as The Butte Theater, presenting plays, musicals, melodramas, and special events.

Theater got an early start in the district – Cripple Creek and Victor both sported grand opera houses in the 1890s. Both are gone now, but the Butte lives on. The 'Butte Concert and Beer Hall' premiered in 1896, when proprietors Halbekann & Hertz featured nightly entertainment with a Ladies' Vienna Orchestra. Some time later the theater re-premiered as the Butte Opera House under the management of D.R. McArthur. Within two years, numerous clubs and lodges were sponsoring parties and benefits at the Butte on a regular basis. The opera house experienced limited success, and over the next several years underwent a series of makeovers; first it was transformed into the Butte Hall Dancing Academy, followed by The Watt Brothers Furniture Company, back to a theater (this time under the name Teller Hall,) on to a skating rink, a secondhand store, a weapons cache (the space was then called The Armory,) an auto garage, and eventually fell into disuse, mainly a storage facility for the fire department located below. Early in 1999, the City of Cripple Creek brushed aside some of the dust and saw a lost jewel hidden amongst the rubble. The City began extensive renovations to refurbish the Butte with fresh paint, Victorian-era wallpaper, and period chandeliers. A 1,350-square foot stage spans the main room, with seating for 184 guests. The tradition of presenting classic Victorian melodrama in Cripple Creek dates back to the late 1940s. In 1946, Wayne and Dorothy Mackin purchased the Imperial Hotel and began producing original melodramas in the basement of the hotel.

One of the last remaining theaters in the country maintaining the style of the Classical American Melodrama.

Product categories. Plays · Musicals · Melodramas · Special Events · Concerts · Comedy acts

1. 1The Butte Theater | Cripple Creek, COcityofcripplecreek.com
2. 2About | Cripple Creek, COcityofcripplecreek.com