Despite a series of setbacks — such as a decline in public interest and reconstruction — Stuart’s Opera House has been the cornerstone of Nelsonville since 1879.
“It wasn’t just the kind of place where you would go see a show,” Brian Koscho, the marketing director at Stuart’s Opera house, said. “It was also a place where it was the centerpiece of the community.”
Stuart’s Opera House, 52 Public Square, will be hosting a behind the scenes experience, where guests will receive a historical tour of the facility Wednesday at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
The open house is part of Ohio’s Open Doors Week, which is a statewide event where hosts of prominent buildings and landmarks provide exclusive tours, according to Ohio History Connection's website.
“One of the things I’m looking forward to is sharing my passion for the history of this place with the public,” Koscho said.
The theater closed its doors for the first time in 1924 because of the transition from live performances to broadcast, Koscho said. It reopened in the '70s, but soon closed in 1980 because of a fire. Stuart’s Opera House opened for the third time in 1997 and has continued to be a staple aspect of life in Nelsonville, holding about 75 events a year, Koscho said.
“It’s really kind of grown quite a bit since we’ve reopened,” Koscho said.
The open house will showcase the old and new aspects of the theater. Koscho will be pointing out some of the original features that are still intact, he said. Some of those features include the chairs in the stage area, the balcony, dressing rooms and places in the wall where original brickwork meets new brickwork.
“Those are not things the public tends to see,” Koscho said. “The building itself (will be) telling the history of Stuart’s.”
Koscho said old handbills, tickets, posters and photo albums will be available for patrons to view. He added that there are not many artifacts to look at because the theater has endured two fires and has been standing for almost 140 years.
Bobby Rosenstock, owner of Just A Jar Design Press, will also be at the open house so people can create their own flyers with a hand-cranked, tabletop printing press that is 100 years old.
“(People will) get a taste (of handmade printing) and see how old printing was done and get their hands dirty,” Rosenstock said.
Just A Jar, located in Marietta, makes all of the flyers for Stuart’s Opera House and the Nelsonville Music Festival and uses the same processes that were used when the theater first opened, Rosenstock said.
Koscho said he is excited to give tours to the public and show everyone the importance of Stuart’s Opera House.
“It is so important to (Stuart’s Opera House) to be a financial and economic impact in our community and to just have a positive impact across the board,” Koscho said. “(The events are) bringing people down here to see how great Nelsonville and Athens county are and it’s getting them to return.”
