Elitch Theatre, Historic theatre in Northwest Denver, United States.
Elitch Theatre is a two-story wooden building featuring classical architectural details including white painted columns and ornate trim work. The structure was extensively restored to recover its original appearance and now hosts cultural events and screenings.
Elitch Gardens opened on May 1, 1890, with an open-air theatre where Denver Mayor Wolfe Londoner spoke. In 1891 the theatre was enclosed and rebuilt for $100,000. The Norcross Company, America's first summer stock company, arrived in 1893, and in 1896 Edison's Vitascope showed Colorado's first film there.
The theatre served as a gathering place where Denver residents experienced live performances and early cinema together. These shared moments shaped the entertainment traditions of the neighborhood and the broader community.
The theatre stands at the original Elitch Gardens site in northwest Denver, at the corner of West 38th Avenue and Tennyson Street. It reopened to the public after a volunteer cleanup in April 2012, when it took part in Doors Open Denver. The building is a Colorado landmark, and the surrounding property was sold with the condition that the theatre never be demolished.
The theatre's hand-painted "Ann Hathaway" curtain, an oil on canvas from 1894, hung on its original wooden battens until it was taken down for construction work; after years of neglect and water damage it was rolled up and stored in a backstage room. The name on it is spelled "Ann", not Anne.
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