The Old Opera House

The Old Opera House is a live theatre house located in the heart of Charles Town, West Virginia. The theatre presents six main stage productions, a summer youth production, a one-act play festival, and a ballet every other year. The Old Opera House Arts Centre teaches classes in Acting, Dance (ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, and Broadway-style dance), and Voice. In 1910, Annie G. Packett raised $50,000 and employed Washington, D.C. architects A.B. Mullett & Co. to construct the New Opera House. Designed in a classical revival style, this theatre included a proscenium stage complete with fly-space for hanging scenery, an orchestra pit, a curved balcony and seating for 500 people. The theatre remained open through two wars, the Depression and the advent of radio, but in 1948 its stage went dark. In 1973 the building was donated to a local theatre group and in 1976 the “new” Old Opera House opened to the public. The season now offers six main stage productions, a summer children’s program, art shows and classes in dance and acting.