Deertrees Theatre facts for kids
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| Address | Deertrees Road Harrison, Maine United States |
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| Coordinates | 44°7′3″N 70°39′54″W / 44.11750°N 70.66500°W |
| Owner | Deertrees Foundation |
| Designation | National Register of Historic Places |
| Type | Summer Theatre |
| Capacity | 299 |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1935 |
| Opened | August 15, 1936 |
| Architect | Harrison G. Wiseman |
| Builder | George Locke |
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Deertrees Theatre
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| Architectural style | Late 19th And Early 20th Century American Movements, Rustic |
| NRHP reference No. | 88003002 |
| Added to NRHP | January 5, 1989 |
The Deertrees Theatre is a special place for performing arts in Harrison, Maine, United States. It's a historic building where people can enjoy plays, music, and other shows.
A famous opera director named Enrica Clay Dillon started the theatre in 1936. Today, a group called the Deertrees Foundation runs it. They are a non-profit organization, which means they use any money they make to keep the theatre going.
Deertrees Theatre is known as one of the busiest "summer theatres" in the Northeast. This means it's especially active during the summer months. It hosts the Deertrees Theatre Festival and the Sebago-Long Lake Music Festival. It also has an art gallery and a cafe.
The theatre is so important that it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This means it's a building with special historical value.
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The Unique Theatre Building
The Deertrees Theatre was designed in a style called Adirondack Architecture. This style uses natural materials, often from the local area. The architect was Harrison G. Wiseman, and George Locke built it.
The theatre was built using rose hemlock wood that came right from the property. The main arch over the stage, called the proscenium arch, was made from whole tree trunks. Even the beams, doors, and light fixtures were carved by hand!
A cool fact about the building is that the audience seating area could be moved. It was designed so it could be detached from the stage. This allowed an extra section of seats to be added if needed.
The theatre also had a large space for a thirty-member orchestra. Its stage was the same size as the famous Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. It had some of the best technical equipment outside of New York.
Behind the stage, there were two big barn doors. These doors could be opened to show the real forest as a backdrop for a play! The theatre also has amazing acoustics, meaning sound travels perfectly without echoes. Experts think this is because of the way the wood was used in its construction.
A Look Back: Deertrees Theatre's History
The Deertrees Theatre first opened with a big celebration on August 15, 1936. A famous actor, Walter Hampden, performed a reading from a play called Cyrano de Bergerac.
The next year, the theatre became a regular stop on the "straw hat circuit." This was a group of summer theatres where professional actors performed. Ms. Dillon directed many different plays and musicals.
In 1939, a new producer from Broadway, Bela Blau, took over. He brought in famous actors from New York City every week. Stars like Ethel Barrymore and Tallulah Bankhead performed there. A young David Merrick, who later became a very famous producer, worked as an assistant.
After Bela Blau passed away, Ms. Dillon returned to her love of opera. She started The Deertrees Opera Company. Young singers, including Astrid Varnay, trained and performed there. This company was a very early example of opera training programs in America.
The theatre closed for a while during World War II. It tried to reopen in 1946, but Ms. Dillon became too ill to continue. The theatre then closed again.
In 1949, a New York lawyer named A. L. Sainer reopened Deertrees. His brother-in-law, actor Robert H. Harris, managed it. They brought in actors from Broadway and Hollywood. They performed mostly comedies, but also some serious plays like The Glass Menagerie. The theatre closed again in 1951.
The theatre changed hands a few more times over the years. In 1953, the Boothbay Playhouse Corporation bought it. They tried to use local community theatre groups. Later, Mrs. Aya Sholley owned it and brought in a small group of actors. They even had special shows for children.
However, attendance sometimes dropped, and expenses went up. This caused the theatre to close for short periods in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
In 1962, the theatre became popular again. New managers brought in actors who were famous from television. Stars like Ann B. Davis and Fabian performed there. But this excitement didn't last, and the theatre closed again for two years.
In 1965, Mrs. Sholley gave the theatre to Emerson College in Boston. Students from the college ran the theatre as part of their studies. Future famous actors like Andrea Martin were involved during these years. Emerson College sold the theatre in 1969 to a former student, David Maturi.
Maturi continued to use Emerson students for shows. They put on popular comedies and musicals like The Odd Couple and Mame. But once again, the theatre closed in 1971 due to low attendance and rising costs.
After being closed for three years, a former student of Enrica Clay Dillon, Judith Ritter, bought the theatre. In 1975, an opera company performed Mozart's Così fan tutte. This was the last opera Ms. Dillon had produced. For the next few years, the theatre had both plays and operas. The Maine Opera Association even made Deertrees its official home.
In 1979, Frank Best tried to run the theatre as a non-profit group. But his plans for many different shows didn't work out, and the theatre closed again.
By the mid-1980s, the theatre was almost forgotten. The town of Harrison even thought about burning the building down for fire department practice! Luckily, a group of people, led by Dr. Al Mills and Sally MacAuslan, stepped in. They formed the Deertrees Foundation to save and restore the theatre. In 1990, the theatre finally opened its doors once more.
What Deertrees Theatre Does Today
The main goal of Deertrees Theatre is to offer many different kinds of cultural events. They want to present high-quality shows at prices that everyone can afford. They also work to keep the theatre's amazing history alive.
Today, Deertrees Theatre is open every year from late June to early September. They present a wide variety of shows. You can see plays, opera, different types of music, comedy, and special programs just for children.
See also
