The Napa Valley Opera House is a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

Napa, California Napa is the largest city and county seat of Napa County and a principal city of Wine Country in Northern California. Located in the North Bay region of the Bay Area, the city had a population of 77,480 as of the end of 2021. Napa is a major t ...

, it opened on February 13, 1880, with a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's ''

HMS Pinafore ''H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which ...

''. At the time, the town had a population of 5,000 people.

Early days

The original owner was George Crowey and Charles Levansaler managed the facility. The building was designed in the

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

style by Newsom and Newsom ( Samuel Newsom and Joseph C. Newsom). Newsom and Newsom were the renowned architects of the 19th century, who also built the

Carson Mansion The Carson Mansion is a large Victorian house located in Old Town, Eureka, California. Regarded as one of the premier examples of Queen Anne style architecture in the United States, the house is "considered the most grand Victorian home in Amer ...

Eureka, California Eureka (Wiyot: ''Jaroujiji'', Hupa: ''do'-wi-lotl-ding'', Karuk: ''uuth'') is the principal city and county seat of Humboldt County in the Redwood Empire region of California. The city is located on U.S. Route 101 on the shores of Humboldt Ba ...

, in addition to many public and private buildings throughout the State. Construction of the theater featuring a stained glass skylight, brass chandeliers and a curved staircase leading to the balcony started in 1879. The building had stores and restaurants on the first floor while the stage occupied the second and third floor. The floor of the auditorium was uniquely constructed with a flat floor in order to accommodate local dances and pageants. The theater had an advertising curtain where local businesses were promoted. During the height of

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

, the theatre flourished with the presentation of music and variety acts. In 1896

John L. Sullivan John Lawrence Sullivan (October 15, 1858 – February 2, 1918), known simply as John L. among his admirers, and dubbed the "Boston Strong Boy" by the press, was an American boxer recognized as the first heavyweight champion of gloved boxing ...

fought an exhibition match and

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dis ...

brought his brass band to the venue. In 1905, following her debut in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

Luisa Tetrazzini Luisa Tetrazzini (June 29, 1871 in Florence – April 28, 1940 in Milan) was an Italian dramatic coloratura soprano of great international fame. Tetrazzini "had a scintillating voice with a brilliant timbre and a range and agility well b ...

performed on stage and in the same year,

Jack London John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...

read from his works. The theatre closed in 1914 due to damage from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the decline of vaudeville, and the advent of film. During the following seventy years, the building was used for a variety of commercial purposes.

Revival and restoration

The structure was added to 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 ...

in 1973; however, it was not until 1985 that a non-profit group was set up to restore the theatre. In 1997,

Robert Mondavi Robert Gerald Mondavi (June 18, 1913 – May 16, 2008) was an American winemaker. His technical and marketing strategies brought worldwide recognition for the wines of the Napa Valley in California. From an early period, Mondavi promoted label ...

and his wife Margrit issued a challenge grant of $2.2 million to spur the theatre's reconstruction towards the total cost of $13.7 million for the project.

Reopening

The bottom floor of the building was converted to an intimate venue with seating for 200 people. It was named the Cafe Theatre and it opened in June 2002 with a performance by jazz singer

Dianne Reeves Dianne Elizabeth Reeves (born October 23, 1956) is an American jazz singer. Biography Dianne Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan, into a musical family. Her father sang, her mother played trumpet, her uncle is bassist Charles Burrell, and h ...

. The larger upstairs venue opened on July 31, 2003, with an opening-night performance by Rita Moreno followed by a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's ''

'', the same show that opened the original venue 123 years prior. The upstairs theatre has seating for an audience of 500, modern lighting and sound system with an orchestra pit large enough for 40 musicians. The venue now hosts several headline entertainment acts every month including plays, musical performances and dance. In June 2011, the City Council of Napa voted to grant a $1.5 million

forgivable loan A forgivable loan, also called a soft second, is a form of loan in which its entirety, or a portion of it, can be forgiven or deferred for a period of time by the lender when certain conditions are met. It is more like a grant with conditions rath ...

to help retire the $3.4 million debt remaining on the facility. Funds for the grant came from existing redevelopment funds that had not been committed to other projects. The terms of the loan included several conditions that would benefit the city and its citizens by allowing the city to use the building for up to 24 days per year at cost and requiring the facility to be rented twice per year to nonprofit organizations at a discounted rate. By 2011, the facility was booking over 100 events per year with a goal of increasing this number to 200 events. In August 2011, the Board of Directors hired Peter Williams as the new Executive / Artistic Director. He came to Napa from Yoshi's jazz club in Oakland where he was Artistic Director from May 1999 until July 2011. Peter Williams left City Winery in May 2014 to move back to booking Yoshi's San Francisco, which was sold to new owners. After a $2.5 million renovation, Michael Dorf's 300-seat venue, City Winery, opened on April 10, 2014. City Winery ceased operating the venue in late 2015.

References

External links

*
Napa Valley Opera House website

Napa Valley Opera House – Venue Technical Specs

Napa Valley Opera House – Venue Map

Blue Note Napa website
{{National Register of Historic Places History of Napa County, California Italianate architecture in California Buildings and structures in Napa County, California California culture Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in Napa County, California Opera houses in California Tourist attractions in Napa County, California Music venues completed in 1880 Performing arts centers in California Dance venues in the United States Music venues in the San Francisco Bay Area Theatres in California Napa, California Opera houses on the National Register of Historic Places in California 1879 establishments in California