Bellows Falls Opera House
7 The Square,
Bellows Falls,
VT
05101
7 The Square,
Bellows Falls,
VT
05101
No one has favorited this theater yet
Showing 8 comments
This theater is a rebuild of the original Bellows Falls Opera House which was destroyed by fire in 1925. The original Opera House had been showing movies since 1914.
The Theatre Historical Society archive has the MGM Theatre Report for the Bellows Falls Opera House. It’s Card # 569. It has an exterior photo taken in March 1941, showing a marquee over the entrance. The Report says it’s on Main Street, is in Good condition, Built about 1925, shows MGM product, and has 686 seats on the main floor and 250 balcony, total: 936 seats. The 1941 population was 4,200.
The renovation to the Bellows Falls Opera House was completed in 2007, it is now a 550 seat theater showing 2nd run movies at discount prices Thursdays thru Tuesdays. The renovation included restoring the the hemp rigging, wooden gridiron, modern lighting and sound, new seating. In addition to movies we host live performances. For more information please go to:
http://www.bfoperahouse.com
Any news on this theater
Hello all!
I am curious as to if anyone knows how the Bellows Falls Opera House is coming along in terms of live performances. Last year I visited Bellows Falls, but the theatre was still only showing movies. They mentioned they were going to work on the stage areas to handle live shows. That was about a year ago, so I am wondering where they stand now with this project. Regardless I am planning a trip to go back to Bellows Falls in a couple weeks primarily to look for a place to live (yeah I am relocating to Vermont)…so I am probably going to poke my head into the Opera House to see what’s cookin' myself.
In the 1942-43 edition of the Motion Picture Almanac, the Opera House in Bellows Falls VT is listed as being operated by Interstate Theatre Corp. of Boston.
There is a Bellows Falls Opera House listed under Bellows Falls VT in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. I don’t know if it is the same as the present building. It is listed as having 1,000 seats. Ticket prices range from 35 cents to 75 cents. It had electric illumination. The proscenium was 35 feet wide x 30 feet high,and the stage was 33 feet deep. The theatre was on the second floor and there were 5 members in the house orchestra. J.E. Brosnahan was Manager. Local hotels include the Rockingham, Commercial and the Fall Mountain House. The local newspaper was the Bellows Falls Times, W.C. Belknap critic.
Listed in the Film Daily Yearbook;1950 edition as the Opera House with a seating capacity of 946.
Originally opened as the Opera House. Later operating as the Falls Cinema & New Falls Cinema for many years, it has now been refurbished and re-named the Bellows Falls Opera House. Plans are going ahead to refurbish the stage and backstage areas so that live perfomances will be able to take place again to complement to film performances.