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The Victorian Theater (Bungalow Theater)

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Bungalow Theater
1911, George Swartz. 4201 Hooker St.

The basement of this bungalow was converted to a theater by a tuberculosis victim who found solace in Shakespeare. His daily recitations attracted a neighborhood audience to whom his wife and daughters served grape juice and homemade cookies. As audiences grew, Swartz accommodated them by building his 150-seat basement theater. Among 800 plays produced during Swartz's twenty-year occupation were every one of Shakespeare's dramas. In the 1950s R. Paul Willett reopened the space as the Gaslight Theater, which staged plays in an informal atmosphere, a tradition continued by The Victorian Theater.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Thomas J. Noel
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Data

What's Nearby

Walker House
Cox “Gargoyle” House
Milton House
Potter Highlands Historic District
Woodbury Branch Library

Citation

Thomas J. Noel, "The Victorian Theater (Bungalow Theater)", [Denver, Colorado], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/CO-01-DV184.

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