Hartford Theatre
895 Main Street,
Hartford,
CT
06103
895 Main Street,
Hartford,
CT
06103
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There is a Hartford Opera House listed under Hartford in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. Is it this theater? There are no street addresses in this Guide. It had 2,150 seats and was supposedly on the second floor. Managed by H. Jennings and E. Graves; ticket prices 25 cents to $1. The proscenium opening was 41 feet wide X 40 feet high, and the stage was 38 feet deep. There were 8 in the house orchestra, led by “Professor” Dooley. Another theater listed for Hartford was the Parsons Theatre, 1817 seats. The 1897 population of Hartford was 75,000.
According to Cinematour there should be an aka name of Hartford Opera House. Status is demolished. Address:
895 Main Street
Hartford, CT 06103
A picture of the Hartford Theatre can be found on this page. http://www.hogriver.org/issues/v01n03/palaces.htm
There was a mention of this publication in today’s NYTimes CT Section, and they included a blurb on the theatres.
I’ve looked at that story about the swing bridge in the NYT of 8/26/07, and I think there might have been a misunderstanding of the quoted statement. The reference to “the Hartford Theater” could have meant the theatre industry in Hartford, and not a specific theatre. Surely by June, 1913, when the East Haddam Swing Bridge first went into service, Hartford had numerous theatres presenting vaudeville and/or movies. Why would only one called the Hartford Theatre benefit?
It seems possible that this theatre is already listed here under a different name, since no specific address is provided. I would not consider such an offhand comment in that NYT article as the basis for starting a new entry until I had done further research.