Central City Opera House

The Central City Opera House was built in 1878 by Welsh and Cornish miners. This National Historic Landmark, centerpiece of the historic gold mining town of Central City, has hosted performances of the nation’s fifth-oldest opera company (after the Metropolitan Opera, Cincinnati Opera, San Francisco Opera and Chautauqua Opera) since 1932. As the second oldest summer opera company (following Chautauqua Opera), Central City Opera’s national summer festival attracts patrons from all over the country and abroad to enjoy intimate opera in its 550-seat opera house.

In 1877, the citizens of Central City organized a fundraising drive for a grand new opera house befitting the gold mining town’s reputation as “the richest square mile on earth.” Many of the town’s residents were miners from Wales and Cornwall, who brought with them a rich tradition of music from their homeland. Prominent Denver architect Robert S. Roeschlaub provided an elegant, understated design for the stone structure of the Opera House, and San Francisco artist John C. Massman added elaborate trompe l’oeil murals to the interior.

Her early glory years following the 1878 grand opening were short-lived. When the Central City mines were played out, the Opera House fell into disrepair. Fortunately, a volunteer-driven effort led by Ida Kruse McFarlane, Edna Chappell and Anne Evans led to an extensive restoration of the Opera House in 1932. That summer, the legendary actress Lillian Gish opened the newly restored opera house with Camille, launching an annual tradition of summer festivals in Central City that continues to this day.