Farewell to Lebanon Opera House For The Moment. Revels North on Tour at Latchis Theater.
Lebanon Opera House, part of the heart of downtown Lebanon NH, is closing for renovations on August 14. Sounds like a stem-to-stern project that will update and refurbish the stage, backstage, dressing rooms, green room, and lighting. Aside from promised cup holders, they had me at the mention of new and “wider” seats, and more legroom. Ah, comfort.
LOH is hosting FINAL BOW . . . FOR NOW on August 9. From 4:00 to 6:00 pm, the public is invited to go on a self-guided tour of the theater, including backstage areas, to add a favorite LOH story to the archive, take a selfie on stage, meet the LOH staff, and mingle over light refreshments. From 6:00 to 6:30 pm, Executive Director Joe Clifford will take the stage and reveal LOH’s plans for the future, on the eve of its 100th anniversary.
In the interim, LOH programming will continue at other venues around the Upper Valley. If all goes as planned, LOH will reopen in February, 2024.
Meanwhile, Revels North, who might otherwise have been on stage at LOH, will be taking their Midwinter Revels show to the amazing Latchis Theater in Brattleboro, Vermont (also to Claremont Opera House and Mascoma High School). A personal anecdote: a few years ago, I spent the night at the Latchis Hotel. It’s historic, a little worn, still proud and rightfully so. Tiny Art Deco lobby, then with a shy dog and a popcorn machine for guests. My memory is of unease as I made my way through what seemed like Brutalist concrete corridors. The window in my suite was cracked and awkwardly repaired, the furniture quirky. It took mere minutes to fall in love with the entire place.
At some point we were asked if we wanted to see the theater, which is housed in the hotel building. We obliged and when we walked through the theater doors—well, words would fail you, too. (See photo, above. Better ones are available here if you care to poke around on the website.) Styled for both live performances and cinema, it has seen historic vaudeville shows and now hosts performances and contemporary films. But it’s the decor that is unforgettable. From its website:
“ . . . where Cupid and Eros meet Clio, in our Greco Deco Theatre. The Latchis Main Theatre has stood as is since 1938 and is a member of the League of Historic American Theatres. Bedecked with Greek murals by the Hungarian-American painter Louis Jambor, swaddled in velvet curtains, and accented with a panoramic view of the Zodiac on the ceiling . . .”
The performance space has welcomed Rosanne Cash, Collegiate A Capella champions, and the New England Center for Circus Arts.” Not to mention actor and Hollywood siren Dorothy Lamour, who showed up at the Latchis in the 1940s to sell war bonds. More recent events? Last April Lez Zeppelin, a Led Zeppelin tribute band, rocked the Latchis stage.
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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.