Page 36 - Summer 2022 inLEAGUE with 46th National Conference Program

performing arts has disqualified it as a contender for
OLDEST America’s oldest theater.

(continued from page 33) One term that is commonly used as a superlative by
performing arts to some other use. For theaters which I many historic theaters is “continuously operating”.
believed were performing arts-dark for 20 years or less, Unfortunately, “continuously operating” seems to
I emailed each theater for confirmation and heard mean different things to different institutions. In most
back from many, though not all. cases I could find, “continuously operating” is used in
a very general sense to communicate that the ven-
Looking at how many years a theater has been per- ue has only been a theater, though no distinction is
forming arts-dark over its existence is a helpful gauge made between “movie theater” and “performing arts
of its business legitimacy and success. Fires, hurricanes, theater”. The only example I found of “continuously
floods, and earthquakes have taken their toll on even operating” meaning “never closed” is for Gates Hall in
the most robust and financially viable theatrical insti- Pultneyville, New York which does indeed appear to
tutions. But closures from natural disasters seem to last have been in operation every calendar year since its
only a few years for these types of theaters. For the- founding in 1867.
aters which are more tenuous and financially fragile,
collapsing roofs and rotting walls seem to result in My research concludes that only 28 (11%) of Amer-
closures which last decades. ica’s pre-1900 theaters have been performing arts-
dark for 10 or less years. The average pre-1900 Amer-
A good example of the importance of factoring in ican theater has not presented performing arts for 68
“number of calendar years performing arts-dark” is years.
the Dock Street Theatre in Charleston, South Carolina.
The Dock Street Theatre was founded in 1736, 70 years Number of calendar years performing arts-active
earlier than its next competitor, Thalian Hall (Innes
Academy) in Wilmington, North Carolina (1806). How- An alternative to years-dark is years-active, and this
ever, the Dock Street Theatre burned down in 1740, is how I built top 10 lists of America’s longest running
and wasn’t reopened as a performing arts theater theaters. Years-active (counting each calendar year
again until 1937. The Dock Street Theatre has certain- that a venue has existed primarily as a performing arts
ly earned its accolade as America’s first performing theater) is certainly an easier measure than “oldest”
arts theater, but I would argue that 195 years of no as it does not require additional filters. Still, without ac-
cess to comprehensive archives it’s sometimes difficult