The Brown Grand Theater
Monday, February 23, 2009
A CENTURY ago, every small town in the Midwest probably saw itself as the nucleus of a booming city. But whether they did or not, each was aware of the importance of education and culture. The institutions that caused a town to grow and prosper were law enforcement, followed closely by churches and schools. Culture. Many early settlers were illiterate, of course, but some were highly educated. Cowboys often had access to paperback editions of classic literature, distributed as premiums by Arbuckle Coffee. Some of the mountain men of the fur trade were even known to quote Shakespeare.
So, it should not be unexpected that many Kansas towns had a theater. This was long before movie theaters. We’re talking about stage plays and concerts and recitals. In a lot of towns this was known as the Opera House.
A few years back, I was in Concordia helping with a writing seminar at Cloud County Community College, one of the fine two-year colleges in the state. The people with whom I was working insisted that I must tour the Brown Grand Theater. They even picked me up at the bed and breakfast where I stayed (another great experience) to take me downtown to the theater.
I was really impressed. It was like stepping back through time about a century to the Victorian elegance that we’ve allowed to slip away. The Brown Grand Theater was built in 1906 and 1907, by a prominent citizen, Col. Napoleon Bonaparte Brown. Actual supervision of the construction was carried out by the Colonel’s son, Earl. Total cost was $40,000, a major expenditure at the time. The architecture and decor are French Renaissance. The theater seats 650 people, with two large balconies and eight box seats, which are on two levels. There were private entrances for the box seats, so that the holders of the first class tickets didn’t even have to mingle with the public.
A magnificent reproduction of a famous painting by Horace Vernet, “Napoleon at Austerlitz,” adorned the grand drape stage curtain. Earl Brown commissioned the curtain as a surprise gift for his father, Napoleon.
The opening performance was on Sept. 17, 1907, a play entitled, “The Vanderbilt Cup.” From that time until 1925, the theater provided not only legitimate theater by touring companies, but also local talent, lectures, vaudeville and even “wrestling and boxing exhibitions.”
In 1925, the theater was sold to the Concordia Amusement Co. Live theater was being threatened by a new entity, the “moving picture.” A projection booth was constructed in the rear of the second balcony and a new era had begun. Silent films with Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin and Rudolph Valentino graced the screen. It was not until four years later that movies began to talk.
Meanwhile, the Brown Grand continued to be used for live entertainment, too. Like many theaters, they sometimes had live acts between movies or during an “intermission.” After half a century as a movie house, the last movie was shown there in 1974.
A renovation and restoration was begun shortly after. There had been a lot of water damage after a tornado tore off a part of the roof in 1967. The grand drape curtain was destroyed. It was discovered, however, that the same company who had painted Napoleon in 1907 was still in business in Minneapolis. They painted another like it for a new grand drape in the late 1970s.
After the restoration, at more than 10 times the total cost of the original construction, the Brown Grand Theater held a new grand opening on Sept. 17, 1980, exactly 73 years after the original. Fittingly, the same play, “The Vanderbilt Cup,” was the featured offering. Guests of honor were three local ladies who had attended the original opening in 1907, as small children. This time they had box seats.
The Brown Grand is used, too. There are more than 70 events annually — a variety of local and regional events, the schools and the college, church and other organizations — it’s a great performing arts center as well as a tourist attraction. Well worth the time for a guided tour. (A dollar donation requested, hours 9-12 and 1-4 daily, Sundays 1-4).
See you down the road.
Author and columnist Don Coldsmith lives in Emporia.