December 27th at 7:00pm, the historic grand-reopening of the Fife Opera house auditorium, the event of the decade, will occur! A concert by Crawford County’s own Teri Obst will be held, breaking 102 years of silence in the Fife Opera House auditorium. From Peoria, the KingPin band featuring Bob King will provide the core rhythm section for the evening. Back-up will include Robinson native, Steve Correll on drums a member of the Kingpin. Steve’s brother, Don Correll of Robinson will play trumpet. Ken Strieby, an area music teacher, will play sax. Former Robinson residence, Stan Dunlap, who now lives in Virginia, will be home for the holidays and play trombone. Other special guests will celebrate the re-opening as well. A repertoire of the 60s, 70s and blues will shatter the silence… Teri studied voice for a year at LTC and has performed in the Indianapolis musical theater. Teri founded and sang with Hot Flash for 6 years. She also formed the Treasa LaVon Band and is still performing in her latest band Dicks and Jane. Construction of the David Fife Opera House at 123 S Main St. Palestine, IL began in 1898 and was completed in 1901. David Fife operated a hardware store on the ground floor. The Fife Opera House auditorium was the venue for band concerts, minstrel shows, stock traveling shows, comedies, a lyceum series, and more until 1912 when it closed. The opera house operated during the historic oil boom in Crawford County, IL. In the first decade of the 20th century, electricity was spreading through the country and the distribution systems were not very robust. It is said that lights all over town dimmed as David Fife threw the switches, illuminating his fabulous opera house on opening night. Exceptional pieces of the scenery used have survived. In the auditorium is a recently restored, rolled canvas fire curtain, hand painted by artists from the Chicago company of Sosman and Landes, depicting a Venice canal scene. Side and top panels depict beautiful draperies surrounding a peaceful, tree-lined river. Recently, additional painted scenes have been discovered including gardens, waterfalls, and a turn of the century street scene. Fifes prudish mother, displeased with one of the five interior scene panels which featured cherubs, demanded the artists return to cover their nakedness. Festival seating, tickets $10 in advance, $12 at the door. A maximum of 230 seats are available. Call 618-554-6233 the Village Framery for tickets. Only cash or checks accepted.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 02:31:35 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015