CEDARVILLE OPERA HOUSE

   Before Television or even radio, the major entertainment for the residents of Greene County was offered by troupes entertainers who traveled from one site to another for performances.

   Actors, usicians, orators, all earned their living by traveling on the "circuits".   In order to accommodate this form of entertainment, many local comunities wanted to have a building which could be used for these traveling shows, and for local activities as well.

     Such was the case in the village of Cedarville.  The residents desired a meeting place to be located in the center of town, where everyone could enjoy the provided programs.  The building would also provide a good place for city offices, police and fire departments.  Perhaps the library could be located in that building as well.

   Then, of course, there was the local entertainment, such as the plays and musical shows which featured friends and neighbors, which were well attended.  Friends and relatives of the "actors" would pack the theater night after night, to encourage their neighbors.

   School graduations and baccalaureates were held in the theater, elementary school students performed for adoring parents and grandparents.  The theater building would be used for many different activities.

   Broadstone's 1918 History of Greene County states that "the one public building of Cedarville is owned jointly by the town and township, although it is usually referred to locally as the opera house.  The original opera house was built in 1884, and was apparently about the size of the present building.  However, its use was shortlived.

   On October 29, 1887, the  building and one next door were completely destroyed by fire.   A nearby livery stable caught fire which spread to the wooden opera house.   Lacking modern fire equipment at the time, there was no way to save the two buildings, and so, after only three years, the town was again without a place for entertainment.

   However, the residents of Cedarville were not to be daunted.  Once again, on the same site an opera house was constructed, this time of brick.  The building, which stands at the corner of State route 42 and 72, in the center of town, was constructed and completed in 1888, at a cost of sixteen thousand dollars.

   The majority of the expense was borne by the township.  The village bore the expense of the rear part of the building, which then contained the town clerks's offices, the council chamber and mayor's office as well as the "lock-up."  The township clerk occupied a room near the front of the building, along with the Exchange Bank.  Later, the Post Office was also in this building.

   The auditorium boasted a seating capacity of nearly six hundred, one of the largest in the county.  The stage was well-equipped for any program that might be offered.   Whitelaw Reid, Cedarville native and later Ambassador to Great Britain was instrumental in securing hand painted backdrops for the stage.  In the late 1990's an oil painting of Mr. Reid was commissioned and donated to hand in the Opera House.

   Hal Keid, also a local personality, had earned a great deal of success as a playwrite and author.  After his play "Christmas Eve" received critical acclaim on Broadway, he brought it "home" to the Cedarville Opera House.

   After a tornado damaged the roof in 1956, the building ws condemned, but then the majority of the building was found to be structurally sound.  The Opera House on the upper level was closed, however.  Vandals provided further damage.  After windows were broken out, pigeons claimed that portion of the building.  The nearly one hundred year old Opera House was a forlorn sight.  No one came to thrill audiences with the sounds of music, no plays were presented and graduating classes no longer walked across the stage.

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