प्लॉट

From humble beginnings as a County Hall to an unlikely showcase for vaudeville talent from New York and Chicago in the roaring twenties, the Mitchell Opera House undergoes a transformation from forgotten building to Indiana treasure.

1906 America. Teddy Roosevelt was President, railroads were king, and the markets for coal, petroleum, limestone and concrete were booming in Indiana.

Americas upper class loved vaudeville, a new art genre called moving pictures had become popular among the masses, and Roosevelts Square Deal had energized a host of young entrepreneurs interested in the level playing field brought on by anti-trust legislation.

The Monon and the B&O Railroad lines intersected in southern Indiana in a town named for one of the railroad surveyors: Mitchell. One could hop a train in Chicago or St. Louis and get to New York City via Mitchell, Indiana.

As a result of this new intersection, the town of Mitchell bustled, seeing its share of whistle-stop political speeches, famous vaudeville actors, musicians, and businessmen of all flavors enjoying their new found wealth in the Southern Indiana economy.

The County Hall opened on April 17, 1906. The Mitchell Cadet band provided entertainment, and a host of city and civic leaders spoke. The Mitchell Commercial reported, It was indeed a treat and we all feel a fitting christening of the County Hall, of which we are justly proud.

At first, the County Hall was merely a place for local minstrel acts, fundraisers, and political rallies. While nearly every small Indiana town had a County Hall, Mitchell was unique in the respect that famous vaudeville and musical acts traveling from New York to Los Angeles or Baltimore to Chicago would find their company stopping in Mitchell for respite after a long train excursion. This arrangement was in part due to the foresight and business acumen of a man who became known as one the leading vaudeville, motion picture, and theatrical producers in the United States Menlo E. Moore.

Born in Mitchell, Indiana and a grandson of the Bank of Mitchell founder and railroad aficionado Milton Moore, Menlo had studied art at the University of Chicago, was a painter and editorial cartoonist, was involved in the early moving picture industry, and had ties to both George M. Cohan and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

In 1908, Menlo took over the operation of the County Hall and rebranded it as the Opera House. Menlo operated four Opera Houses on a Southern Indiana circuit Mitchell, Vincennes, his new wife Arnas home of Washington, and Bedford. It was Menlos notion to use his Chicago connections to bring talent from New York to Chicago by way of Southern Indiana. And bring talent he did!

As a result of Menlos tireless work, audiences in rural Indiana were treated to lyric and vaudevillian talent only the most elite families in New York and Chicago might be able afford. These performances were considered by talent to be barnstorming trips, rehearsals of sorts where actors and singers could keep their skills sharp while resting from the smoke-filled railroad cars of the era.

In 2014, at the urging of the citizens of Mitchell, the City of Mitchell tasked community organization Hoosier Uplands with the historical renovation and preservation of the Mitchell Opera House, a return to its former glory as the crown jewel of entertainment in Southern Indiana.