When the Theatre Came to Town

The Old Colonial Theatre, Bethlehem

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

The White Mountain region of New Hampshire is quiet in winter, and it was even more remote 100-plus years ago. In those days, when a concert or play came to town, it brightened long, cold winters. Such pastimes were few because bringing plays, movies and concerts north was a major production in the early to mid 1800s.

But all that was to change when outside producers and others set their sights on offering vaudeville and movies to the north country of New Hampshire.

This was a time when opera houses were springing up in cities and also in small towns. Some of the opera house buildings were part town halls with offices for local government and part theatre. Often, there was a meeting hall large enough – often with a stage – for performances.

In Conway, Bethlehem, Plymouth and Littleton, among other towns, opera houses brought the world of music and movies to the region.

North of the Conway area, Gorham was incorporated in 1836, but settlers lived there long before that date. At its start, Gorham was dubbed Shelburne Addition, according to “Some Highlights From Gorham’s History” by Guy Gosselin. It served as a stop-over spot for travelers headed elsewhere.

In the early days of Gorham the town was a small community of about 30 houses, a grist mill and a general store and inn. The community grew fast once the railroad arrived, and Gorham was a place to stop, rest, perhaps get something to eat at the inn and continue on to the northern White Mountain hotels that were the destination for tourists from the south.

As the 1900s began, electricity came to Gorham, and this attracted the many area millworkers to settle their. The area was thriving, with railroad travel, a high school and an ever-increasing population and many shops and businesses.

It seemed natural to provide entertainment and the Gorham Opera House was built in 1915. Locals must have been excited when work began on the Gorham Opera House. Construction was quick and by June or July, citizens flocked to the new theatre to see something they might have never experienced before: watching a motion picture. The thrilling first movies were “The Count of Monte Cristo” with James O’Neil and mega-star Mary Pickford in “The Eagles Mate.” The price to attend was ten cents for children and fifteen cents for adults.

Sadly, in 1917 the Opera House was destroyed by fire. A new building opened in 1918, and many vaudeville acts came to the stage at the time, as well as theatrical productions.

The Gorham Opera House featured thrilling acts brought to town via the railroad at the time. The building remains in our current day and offers concerts and musical acts and is now known as the Medallion Opera House.

The bustling Mt. Washington Valley town of Conway offered movies and theatricals for many years. In October of 1919, Leon Bolduc purchased a local Bijou Theatre and began to show movies in Conway village.

Bolduc made a business of showing films to others and he  had experience running a movie house.  He had worked for a few winters at the famed Rockefeller family estate, overseeing a private movie theatre. Bolduc also ran early movies in such small towns as Tamworth and Jackson as well, likely in town halls or other spaces.

When talking pictures arrived and took the country by storm, Bolduc offered “The Broadway Melody” in 1929, according to historical information at www.conwaymajestic.com (in an article by Adrian E. Hurd).

With movies becoming more and more desirable, the theatre must have been quite popular. In 1930 Bolduc purchased a vacant lot and built the Bolduc Block on Main Street in Conway village. The construction, according to Hurd’s historical article at www.conwaymajestic.com, included brick facing for the exterior of the building.

The Bolduc Block can be likened to an early mall of sorts long before malls came into vogue. The block offered not only the movie theater, but Frank Allard’s Grocery Store, Tony Labnon’s Store, W. Langlais the Jeweler, and the local post office. Residents had access to stores in one block within easy walking distance.

But the big excitement was the opening of the New Conway Theatre (or Majestic Theatre as it was later called) in the spring of 1931. On opening night, the Conway Band played in front of the theatre and moviegoers were treated to the main feature, “Stepping Out.”

With outdoor music before the show, it was like a Hollywood movie premiere right in the village. Guests must have thrilled to see the new, spacious theatre, the comfortable seats and the beautiful theatre curtain.

Bolduc stood on stage and welcomed the excited guests before the movie began. This was a time when going to a movie was a big event and great entertainment. Give-aways of fine China pleased many moviegoers and short films with cartoons and newsreels before the main feature were all part of a Saturday night (or afternoon) at the movies. Bolduc’s Conway theatre certainly fit the bill and was a popular place for locals to see their favorite actors and actresses on the big screen..

The theatre was the site of parties and other events as well, and during World War II a key drive was held to obtain metal for the war effort.

Eventually, it was renamed the Majestic Theatre, a fitting name for the elevated place the theatre held in the community. Movies were shown there for many years, and plays were performed as well.

On the other side of the region, a new theatre opened around 1915. It was built by Karl Abbott and “Doc” Clark, according to “Open for the Season” a memoir by K. Abbott. The new entertainment venue was called The Colonial Theatre. It was built on a vacant lot in Bethlehem and opened for business on July 1, 1915. The first feature shown was Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Girl of The Golden West.”

Bethlehem was a good choice for the new theatre due to the town’s booming summer population. The area had many fine hotels that attracted wealthy vacationers. Thus, Hollywood moguls saw the theatre as a good place to premier new movies. They could test  market films to a sophisticated audience far away from Hollywood and get a reaction for each movie. It also brought entertainment to the town at a time when it was much appreciated.

After changing hands it was purchased by The Friends of the Colonial.

The Littleton Opera House is a fine example of late Victorian architecture and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. It is situated on Main Street.

Completed in 1895, according to information at www.littletonareachamber.com, the building was used as a police station, library and other town offices. Part of the building was used as an opera house. It boasted a multi-galleried auditorium and could seat a large audience. Concerts and plays were held in the theatre section of the building, much to the delight of townspeople.

The Flying Monkey Movie House and Performance Center has been a bit part of downtown Plymouth for many years. When first opened in the 1920s, it was known as the New Plymouth Theater. Like many other opera houses and theatres in the White Mountains, it presented vaudeville and silent films. Many of its shows and movies were sold out, attracting locals for a few hours of entertainment.

Technology was evolving fast in the 1930s, and entertainment houses like the New Plymouth Theatre enjoyed some of those new devices. It was a state-of-the-art facility, with modern amenities like the “only Western Electric Mirrophonic Sound System” in the region, “air-cooling” and an inclined floor, with 700 comfortable upholstered seats…just for the cost of a 25 cent admission.

With changing times, the theatre was empty for quite some time until The Common Man family in New Hampshire purchased and renovated the theater in 2010, re-launching it as The Flying Monkey Movie House & Performance Center. 

Old-time opera houses and movie theatres brought entertainment and a taste of the outside world to New Hampshire’s north country and changed each town when entertainment arrived.