Rhode Opera House

www.rhodeopera.com

History of the Rhode Opera House, AKA Gateway, Lake Theatre.
1891 Original Rhode Opera House built on subject site by Peter Rhode
1891-1924 Facility host to many stars of these years, including George M. Cohan, Geraldine Farrar (Carmen), Sir Henry Lauder, Admiral Byrd (lecturer), Maude Adams (Peter Pan), Amelia Earhart (lecturer), Otis Skinner (Liars), William Howard Taft (Presidential campaign), and the John Phillip Sousa Band (several concerts).
1896 Original Rhode Opera House burned, rebuilt on same sight.
1924 Rhode Opera House turned over to Saxe Brothers Theaters, Milwaukee.
1926 Saxe Brothers tore down Rhode Opera House
1927 Saxe Brother built Gateway Theater for a half-million dollars.
Architect: George Rapp
First Manager: James J. Morrissey
Grand Opening: December 29, with seating capacity of 1250, and 30-cent tickets.
$50,000 organ featuring wide instrumentation and sound effects.
Live entertainment, plus first-run film She’s a Shiek, with Bebe Daniels.
Lobby adorned with Pearlman crystal chandeliers (still in place); six ceramic benches with scenes from Cervantes’ Don Quixote; colored ceramic tiles framing wall panes, two stories high.
1963 Standard Theaters leased theater and renamed it Lake Theater. Reopened under new operators April 28 with new red “rocker” seats (still in place), white boll carpeting, new stereo sound, and restored fountain. Gateway sign replaced by the Lake sign. Featured film was Papa’s Delicate Condition with Jackie Gleason.
1976 Lake Theater changed to duplex screens, with approximately 420 seats in each auditorium, remaining today. Balcony seats removed and projection facilities relocated from third floor to mezzanine.
1984 Lake Theater closed it’s doors in April.
1986 Esseness Theater, successor to Standard Theater, surrendered to Rhode Family Trust all interest in Remaining lease terms. Bob Irwin of Kenosha Lakeshore Business District (BID) requested the Trust’s permission to find a buyer in lieu of tearing it down. Trust advised of its interest in gifting the property to an eligible organization.
1987 December 29, Kenosha Lakeshore BID, per Rhode family request, accepted the deed for the property. In honor of the family, Lakeside Players President Gary Stamm recommended the building to be renamed the Rhode Opera House.
1988 Lakeside Players became the tenant, with Rehearsal For Murder opening in April.
1989 In September, Lakeside Players purchased the Rhode Opera House from Lakeshore BID for the cost of improvements.
1998 Lakeside Players celebrates its Silver Anniversary season.
2002 Rhode Opera House celebrates it's Diamond Anniversary

Seating capacity for the Rhode is 1250.

I'm a drama student in Kenosha, and I must say the Rhode theatre is quite beautiful. We rent costumes from them for plays at the Tremper High School Auditorium and everytime we go there I always have to stop and look. It's almost impossible to describe the beauty of the Rhode without having seen it yourself.

Haven't been there in while. I know the lobby is fantastic, but have they done anything with the interior - last I knew it was still "multiplexy".

This is a 2004 photo of the Rhode Opera House.

I wanted to note a little-known fact about this theatre related to me by a long-ago member of the projectionists' union:

He said the original entrance was to be in the 5500 block of Main Street (now Sixth Avenue) but the City wouldn't allow it so the current Market Street (now 56th Street) location was chosen instead.

It's true that if you'll look on the east side of Sixth Avenue, the upper brick and ornamental stone Spanish-deco facade is obviously a Rapp design intended to match the Saxe's Gateway facade around the corner. But I don't think the City ever stepped in; I think it's more likely it was actually designed as a secondary lobby and that Saxe Amusements decided to omit that smaller west lobby from the final design at the last moment for economy purposes. It has always been commercial space (a 1928 photograph shows it as a vacant storefront) but it does line up perfectly with the blank west inner-lobby wall at the Gateway/Rhode.

I hope the mystery will someday be unraveled, but the next time you're in downtown Kenosha, be sure to see the facade on this almost-lobby for the Saxe's Gateway Theatre.

The Rhode Opera House is now part of the Rhode Center for the Arts. It is still owned by the Lakeside Players, Inc. and now also encompases the Pollard Gallery & Gifts. The Gallery has been opened in a newly remodeled store front which was and still remains part of the Rhode Theater. A major campaign fund is under way to preserve the beautiful building and upgrade the structure. For more information check out the web site Rhodeopera.com

Syl Wetle

My husband and I recently moved to Kenosha from Chicago. We were thrilled that there is a live theater within walking distance from our home. What are the long term plans with the theater and the venue?

Mo

The amateur theater group polled its membership on September 17th, 2006 to gather information as to its members' interests. They listed five main areas of interest in 33 responses ranked in order of importance from 1 to 5, 1 being the highest.

Topping the "importance" list with 32 of 33 votes was the theatre group itself (the Lakeside Players), ranking 1 to 3 in importance.

Next in importance to 29 of 33 members (2 to 3) was promoting the Rhode as an entertainment venue.

Further down in importance was the renovation and historic preservation of the Rhode, with only 21 of 33 members giving it a 2-to-3 importance ratio.

Promoting the Rhode for private rentals was of 3 to 5 importance.

And the adjacent Pollard Gallery was last in interest, with 30 of 33 members voting it 4 to 5 in importance.

Oh here it is! I just submitted this theater because when I looked under the Rapp and Rapp designed theaters it wasn't listed! From what I understand about that 6th Ave. Entry, it was designed as another entry and was used for a few years as such until sometime in the 1940s when it was sold off. It was known as either the "gentleman's entrance" or the "ladies' entrance". Apparently pics of this do exist, tho, I've yet to see them!

Also, it should be stated the original seating was 1250, it seats no where near that now, with the auditorium unfortunately split in half and the balcony no longer being used for seating.

"Haven't been there in while. I know the lobby is fantastic, but have they done anything with the interior - last I knew it was still "multiplexy"."

Unfortunatly its still got the same multiplex look to it. There are, bigger fish to fry, so to speak. However, on the east wall, under that multplex looking wall, is the original artwork, however, its damaged, but still there, it will be quite the sight if that can ever be uncovered again, some day perhaps, someday.

Here is a recent close-up view of the Rhode Opera House.

I recently saw the blueprints for the theater and made some interesting discoveries! On the original plans the theater was referred to as "Saxe's Kenosha Theater". The original plans called for the front sign to say that as well, a rather large vertical sign. Also, though the site just credits George Rapp with the design (for years, we thought it was just George Rapp as well!), the blueprints themselves actually credit both George Rapp and C.W. Rapp for the design on the theater. However, the blueprints don't seem to include the "gentleman's entrance". Perhaps since it wasn't part of the finished building those plans were not kept. Too bad the design firm itself is long since gone as its very possible copies of those blueprints would have been kept by the design firm itself!

The most exciting thing currently going on in the building is a total renovation of the heating and cooling systems that will utilize the original plenum chambers and basic heating/cooling design of the theater with modern energy-efficient equipment being used. That should all be finished and in place by the end of Sept. 2007. Best part of the whole thing is the building will not need to be damaged in any way for this to occur as original elements of the original system (existing ductwork, etc.) will be used.

It's an exciting time at the theater right now.

A Barton theater organ size 3/10 was installed in the Gateway (Lake) Theater in 1927.

The original Rhode Opera House is listed under Kenosha in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. The manager and orchestra leader was Joseph G. Rhode. The theatre was on the ground floor, had 795 seats, and both gas and electric illumination. Ticket prices ranged from 25 cents to 75 cents. The proscenium opening was 27 feet wide X 20 feet high, and the stage was 32 feet deep. There were 4 to 10 members of the house orchestra. Local newspapers were the Gazette, F.C. Cully, critic; News; Telegraph-Courier; Independent; and Volk Freund. Hotels for show folk were the Grand, Commercial, Garfield and Maple. Railroad was the Chicago and Northwestern. The 1897 population of Kenosha was 10,000.

Wow! Thanks for the great information. I have been trying to hunt down info. on the original Rhode Opera House but not have had much luck. This info. would have covered the 2nd Rhode Opera House, the first burned down in a fire in 1896.

In unrelated news, I just noticed that the website info. listed here is no longer accurate. The current website is now located at rhodeopera.org

PHONE 262.657.PLAY
FIRM Rapp & Rapp
They are doing a "West Auditorium renovation" so it looks like they are keeping the theater twined.
The 2 websites above don't work, go to Rhodeopera.org

A Barton Pipe Organ, a 3 Manual/10 Rank was installed in 1927. It was made in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. I also have in my notes that a $50,000 organ featuring wide instrumentation and sound effects was installed in 1927. I assume this is the same organ, but one never knows, do one? At any rate, what happened to the organ or organs is unknown. If you know anything about the organ, please email us!

"Gee Dad, it "WAS" a Barton!"

Well, we really don't have a choice about keeping it twinned, to put it back as one theatre would literally take millions to remove the center wall (as it extends from the floor all the way to the domed ceiling) then to remove the drop ceiling, then repair the damage to the domed ceiling, then to remove the fabric on both outside walls and then to restore the walls back to original and then attempt to repair the damage/restore the fake box seats that were tore out from just a couple feet above the drop ceiling years ago.

Then, on top of all that, our scene shop currently occupies half the stage, if it was untwinned, the stage would be fully restored as well, we would need a new home for that. Then, there is the incredibly difficult task of figuring out HOW to fill and make profitable what would then be about an 800 seat venue.

In short, its a very difficult and, at this point, impossible task. However, retaining the 2 venues and making those profitable and viable is much more of an obtainable goal at this point.

In a perfect world, the Rhode Opera House would be restored to its Gateway Theatre glory, this is not, unfortunately, a perfect world.

Milton-Gosh, I just made a comment, wasn't being critical, (what do I know, I'm down in Manteno, south of Chicago, Illinois) seems your a little defensive, but the information is very interesting, just the kind of stuff to be put on Cinema Treasures.
Do I understand that the West Auditorium is to be a childrens theater? How many seats in each auditorium? What other "stuff" can you fill us in on? THANKS!

"I don't sell tickets to movies. I sell tickets to theatres." Marcus Loew

Sorry if that came across as defensive. Wasn't the intent at all. Just wanted to clarify the situation as it stands. Previous owners were not very kind to the place and did a lot of damage in the name of "renovation". The renovations we are doing in there now are easily reversed should the possibility for restoration ever occur.

The West Auditorium is to be mixed-use. Children's theatre, stand-up comedy, musical acts, and eventually the ability to show movies again. Seating in the West Auditorium right now is about 250 permanent seats with open space between the seats and stage that could be used for cabaret seating, open space for rugs for children to sit on, dancing space, etc.

Seating in the Donna Wolf Steigerwaldt auditorium is about 400. That is our main auditorium mostly for live theatre productions.

As for the organ? I wish I knew what happened to it, but there are really no signs it ever had one, from what I seen, there is nothing left behind of it, just an empty organ loft. Is there anything I should be looking for that might indicate where it migth have resided or any of its parts?

This photo shows a little more of the building.

Here is another photo of the Rhode Opera House.

Those are some nice photos. I hope to have the time sometime soon to put up a collection of photos someone took of the lobby a few months back up on the website. Also, as of now the West Auditorium is now open and its been named Skinner Hall after the guy that designed the stage, Ed Skinner. We've been having Comedysportz in there on a regular basis, more to come in the future, things looks bright for the old theatre.

A July 2008 photo can be seen here.

Yes it is a July 2008 photo and from the looks of it, only about a week or so old. I'd place the date of that photo to be about July 14th, 2008. Very nice pic, to boot!

As the Lake I remember the fountain in the lobby with a pink light on it. Does anyone know when that was installed originally and why it was removed.

I believe it was installed when the theater first opened in Dec. 1927. I'm not sure the exact date it was removed but my understanding is that it was badly damaged and would have been very costly to repair. I was saddened to hear that as from what I have seen in pictures, it was a very unique piece, I wish it was still there.

Milton, thanks for your response. Could you or someone post a picture of the lobby fountain if one is available. It would be great to see if it matches my memory. Also if anyone has any pictures of the interior before the theatre was split up it would be great to see. It was always nice to see first run movies there when I was young as it was such a classy place.

Been finding some interesting things. I found a book called "Kenosha on the Go" I believe is the name and it had a picture of the 6th Ave. (Main St.) entrance. The picture was taken in the early 30s and at that time it WAS being used for that purpose as on both sides of the door in the center you could see movie posters on the walls. Also, within the auditorium on the west side you can find a wall that seems to be hollow indicating it was added after the original construction and would indicate the entry to that part of the building. Still trying to track down more information as to when it was split off from the theater and sold.

Also, while going over some old articles. I was shown an article talking about the building of what was to be the Gateway Theatre and it made mention of plans to put in a rooftop garden, to my knowledge, that never came to pass. The company also at that time was called the "Kenosha New Orpheum Theater Company".

I plan to make a trip to the library to dig through the old newspapers soon! See what else I can find!

As for pics of the fountain and the interior of the intact auditorium, the ONLY pictures I currently have access to is the pics from around the time of the grand opening.

Speaking of! Here is an article I found from Dec. 27, 1927. http://www.flickr.com/photos/60993177@N00/2940065031/ talking about the grand opening of the Gateway.

"... you can find a wall that seems to be hollow indicating it was added after the original construction and would indicate the entry to that part of the building. Still trying to track down more information ..." No one seems to know what that was all about, but it never opened into the theatre although I've seen the poster photo. The Saxe Brothers chain may have been posting one-sheets there pending leasing or selling that portion of the property. That Rapp & Rapp-designed storefront is still there on Sixth Avenue and it may have been designed as the original entrance with the actual entrance added later, or as an auxiliary entrance and exit that was omitted at the last moment for economic reasons. A local story said that building codes prohibited a Sixth Avenue entrance, though that's illogical as the KENOSHA, ORPHEUM and earler MAJESTIC all had Sixth Avenue entrances. There's a storefront to the west of the Gateway also designed by Rapp & Rapp. A rooftop garden is still possible above the 56th Street entrance as there's a door leading directly to it.

<img src=\"http://thumb12.webshots.net/t/73/73/5/0/1/2981500010087069752qgYohO_th.jpg\" alt=\"1927 - Gateway Theatre\">This is the opening-week ad in the Kenosha Evening News:

URL=http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2981500010087069752qgYohO][/URL]

Peter Rhode was my great-great-grandfather. I just want to say thank you to everyone who has such affection for the Rhode Opera House. I only saw it once, on a cross country family vacation trip, but I'm really happy to see that the Rhode is still going strong!

(Friday, June 18, 1926) One of the largest business deals in the history of modern Kenosha was completed Friday with the signing of a long term lease whereby the Kenosha Orpheum Theatre company takes over the present site of the old Rhode Opera House and the vacant lot in the rear of it for the erection of the new $500,000 Gateway Theatre.