Dock Street Theatre
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The Dock Street Theatre is a theater in the historic
French Quarter The French Quarter, also known as the , is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans (french: La Nouvelle-Orléans) was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Squ ...
neighborhood of downtown
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
.


History

The structure, which was built as a hotel in 1809 and converted to a theater in 1935, occupies the site of the first building in the
Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of Kingdom of Great Britain, British Colony, colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Fo ...
designed for use as a theater. It has been on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
since 1973. On February 12, 1736 the original Dock Street Theatre opened with a performance of
George Farquhar George Farquhar (1677The explanation for the dual birth year appears in Louis A. Strauss, ed., A Discourse Upon Comedy, The Recruiting Officer, and The Beaux’ Stratagem by George Farquhar' (Boston: D.C. Heath & Co., 1914), p. v. Strauss notes ...
's play ''
The Recruiting Officer ''The Recruiting Officer'' is a 1706 play by the Irish writer George Farquhar, which follows the social and sexual exploits of two officers, the womanising Plume and the cowardly Brazen, in the town of Shrewsbury (the town where Farquhar himse ...
''. Built on the corner of Church Street and Dock Street (now known as Queen Street), the Historic Dock Street Theatre was the first building in America built exclusively to be used for theatrical performances. ''Flora'', the first opera performance in America, took place at the Historic Dock Street Theatre.


1740 Rebuilding

The original Dock Street Theatre was probably destroyed by the Great Fire of 1740 which destroyed many of the buildings in Charleston's French Quarter. In 1809, the current building was built on the site as the Planter's Hotel and in 1835 the wrought iron balcony and sandstone columns of the Church Street facade were added. A number of notable persons worked and patronized the Planter's Hotel including the noted 19th Century actor
Junius Brutus Booth Junius Brutus Booth (1 May 1796 – 30 November 1852) was an English stage actor. He was the father of actor John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. His other children included Edwin Booth, the foremost tragedian of ...
(father of actors
Edwin The name Edwin means "rich friend". It comes from the Old English elements "ead" (rich, blessed) and "ƿine" (friend). The original Anglo-Saxon form is Eadƿine, which is also found for Anglo-Saxon figures. People * Edwin of Northumbria (died ...
and
John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838 – April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who assassinated United States President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the prominent 19th-century Booth th ...
). African-American Civil War naval hero and U.S. Congressman
Robert Smalls Robert Smalls (April 5, 1839 – February 23, 1915) was an American politician, publisher, businessman, and maritime pilot. Born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina, he freed himself, his crew, and their families during the American Civil W ...
, who stole a steamboat in the harbor and sailed it out past the Confederate held
Fort Sumter Fort Sumter is a sea fort built on an artificial island protecting Charleston, South Carolina from naval invasion. Its origin dates to the War of 1812 when the British invaded Washington by sea. It was still incomplete in 1861 when the Battl ...
and turned it over to the blockading Union Fleet, served as a waiter in the hotel's dining room before the war. Charleston's famed Planter's Punch was first introduced here.


1935 Renovations

After the Civil War, the Planter's Hotel fell into disrepair and was slated for demolition. However, in 1935, at the height of the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, after Milton Pearlstine made the property available to the City of Charleston and at the urging of Mayor Burnet Maybank and other notable citizens, the original building became a
Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
project. At that time, the present theatre was constructed within the shell of the Planter's Hotel. The hotel's grand foyer became the grand foyer of the theatre, and the hotel's dining room now serves as the box-office lobby.
Douglas Ellington Douglas Dobell Ellington (26 June 1886 – 27 August 1960) was an American architect who is noted for his work in the Art Deco style. Biography Ellington studied architecture at the Drexel Institute in Philadelphia, the University of Pennsy ...
served as the architectural advisor for the project; Charleston architects Simons & Lapham then supervised the daily work while Ellington was in Washington, D.C. The woodwork and mantels of the second floor drawing room were salvaged from the Radcliffe-King Mansion (circa 1799), which stood at the corner of George and Meeting streets and was razed to build the College of Charleston gymnasium, another WPA project. Modeled on 18th century London playhouses by Charleston architect and pioneering preservationist
Albert Simons Albert Simons (1890 – 1980), had a sixty-year career as an architect and preservationist in Charleston, South Carolina, where he is known for his preservation work and architectural design. He played a key role in the Charleston Renaissance. ...
, the present Dock Street Theatre's stage house and auditorium were built in the hotel's courtyard. The local carpenters, who were put to work as a part of this Depression-era relief effort, used locally grown and milled native black cypress for the wooden interior. Following this $350,000 renovation, The Historic Dock Street Theatre's second grand opening took place on November 26, 1937. Notables in the audience included author DuBose Heyward ('' Porgy''), who was named writer-in-residence.


2010 Renovations

The Historic Dock Street Theatre reopened for the third time on March 18, 2010 after a three-year, $19 million renovation by the City of Charleston. This extensive full-scale renovation brought the historic theatre into the 21st century with state-of-the-art lighting and sound, modern heating and air conditioning, and new restrooms and seating. In addition the theatre was made seismically secure and fully handicapped accessible. Extensive sound-proofing was added to ensure that outside noises no longer intruded on performances inside. Now owned and managed by the City of Charleston, The Historic Dock Street Theatre is home to many of the City's cultural institutions including
Spoleto Festival USA Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, is one of America's major performing arts festivals. It was founded in 1977 by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who sought to establish a counterpart to the Festival dei Due ...
. Charleston Stage, which became the resident professional theatre at the Dock Street Theatre in 1978, produces over 120 performances each season and plays to more than 40,000 patrons annually. In addition more than 15,000 South Carolina students enjoy special school day performances offered by Charleston Stage each year at the Historic Dock Street Theatre.


See also

*
Charleston Theatre Charleston Theatre, also called Broad Street Theatre was a theatre in Charleston, South Carolina between 1794 and 1833. It was the first permanent theatre in Charleston, the first with a permanent staff, and the only theater for much of its durati ...


References

Notes Bibliography *Edgar, Walter (2006) ''The South Carolina Encyclopedia'' p. 269.


External links


Dock Street Theatre , South Carolina Picture Project



Historic Charleston's Religious and Community Buildings, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary


{{Authority control Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Charleston, South Carolina 18th-century in Charleston, South Carolina