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40-794: In 1972, the theater came under the ownership of the Academy of Music , and was owned by the University of the Arts . In November 2016, it was purchased by the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts , now The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts, and later renamed the Miller Theater. Lee and J. J. Shubert , theatrical producers, set out to build a theater memorializing their brother, Sam, who had died several years earlier in

80-415: A National Historic Landmark in 1962. The Academy of Music held an inaugural ball on January 26, 1857. Following it, The New York Times described the theater as "magnificently gorgeous, brilliantly lighted, solidly constructed, finely located, beautifully ornamented" but went on to lament "all that lacks is a few singers to render it 'the thing'." The theatre had its first opera production, and what

120-446: A bas-relief bust of Mozart . Seated on the cornice above are the figures of Poetry, on the left, and Music, on the right. The elaborate carvings and gilded wood sculpture decorations throughout the auditorium are the work of Charles Bushor and Joseph A. Bailly and the ceiling murals of allegorical figures were completed by Karl Hermann Schmolze. In the 1880s, the ceiling was enriched with additional painted decorations placed around

160-607: A railroad accident. Two theaters were built, one in Philadelphia and one in New York City . The Shubert Theatre in Philadelphia was built in 1918 on the site of the demolished Horticultural Hall that included the reuse of the hall's marble staircase in the theater's interior design. The building stands seven stories high with theater on the first level and six floors used for offices and classrooms. Herbert J. Krapp

200-483: A relatively plain brick and brownstone exterior that could be clad in marble if funds became available later. The ornate auditorium has an "open horseshoe" shape and proscenium columns with elliptical cross-sections in order to provide more direct sight lines from the seats in the side balconies. The auditorium is enclosed by a solid three-foot brick wall with studding and pine boards lining the inner sides to prevent echoes and absorb sound. The upper balconies are recessed in

240-606: A season of work in Charleston, South Carolina and his singers were headed back to Europe without contracts. Maretzek purposefully cut short a scheduled tour to Boston for performances in Charleston and Augusta, Georgia in March and April 1851 for this purpose. Also in 1851 the company had presented the New York premieres of Donizetti's Parisina and Gemma di Vergy , Rossini's Semiramide , von Weber's Der Freischütz , and

280-472: A seating capacity of 2,389 which can be expanded to 2,509 when seats are placed in the orchestra pit and proscenium boxes. An 1860 account by Runge mentioned that the full auditorium, then nearly 3,000 persons, could be emptied in four minutes in "great calmness and order" owing to the wide corridors and stairways. In 1947, it was reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer that, at the time, the venue sat up to 3,052 when 94 additional audience seats were added in

320-413: A tiered fashion and supported by 14 Corinthian columns. An unusual feature was that the boxes were originally placed against the rear wall on the second and third levels (Balcony and Family Circle). They were divided from each other by walls that curved down from the ceilings. These have since been removed and boxes created elsewhere. The front of the first balcony is highly ornamented. The hall currently has

360-581: Is a concert hall and opera house located at 240 S. Broad Street in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . Despite its name, the Academy has never contained a music school. It is located between Locust and Manning Streets in the Avenue of the Arts area of Center City . The hall was built in 1855–57 and is the oldest opera house in the United States that is still used for its original purpose. Known as

400-525: Is also a backdrop of weddings, receptions, and corporate events. An architectural competition for the Academy's design was announced in October 1854 and was won by the Philadelphia firm of Napoleon LeBrun and Gustavus Runge. A style of architecture that originated in Runge's native Germany now known as Rundbogenstil ("round arch style") was used for the exterior here and in a number of American buildings of

440-469: Is the original architect. Additions and renovations were made in 1958. In 1986, the stage and sound were modernized, and in 1991, the theatre was renamed and dedicated to John W. Merriam, a local entrepreneur, who was active for many years on the board of directors of the University of the Arts. In March 2022, the theater was renamed Miller Theater in honor of Alan B. Miller, a founding board member of

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480-532: The Academy of Music in Philadelphia from 1857 to 1873, in addition to touring throughout the United States and to Cuba and Mexico. Musicologist George Whitney Martin described the company as the only opera company in the United States to perform with a full opera orchestra during the Civil War era and as "possibly the country's strongest" opera company in its day. The Max Maretzek Italian Opera Company

520-544: The Astor Place Riot on May 10, 1849, Maretzek struck out on his own with his hand picked company. The company initially tried to continue staging operas at the Astor Opera House, including the New York premiere of Anna Bolena on January 7, 1850 with soprano Apollonia Bertucca (Maretzek's future wife) in the title role. However, bad feelings from the riot kept audiences away and the company moved to

560-1121: The Castle Garden Theater in the summer of 1850. There the company notably staged the New York premieres of Gaetano Donizetti 's Marino Faliero on June 17, 1851 and Giuseppe Verdi 's Luisa Miller on July 20, 1854. The company also began touring outside of New York in 1850 making stops at the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, the Holliday Street Theater in Baltimore, and to theaters in Boston. The company continued to tour throughout its history. In 1851 Maretzek lost Parodi to his rival, Max Strakosch (brother of Maurice Strakosch ). He counteracted by poaching several singers (including soprano Angiolina Bosio , bass Ignazio Marini , and tenor Domenico Lorini) from another rival, Jaime Nunó , whose Havana Italian Opera Troupe had just completed

600-527: The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts , who donated an undisclosed amount of money toward restorations and upgrades. The theater opened in 1918 with a road production of a musical from London and New York called Chu Chin Chow , featuring Florence Reed . In the early years, George Gershwin musicals and Al Jolson reviews graced the Shubert stage. John Barrymore played Hamlet in the 1920s and burlesque

640-411: The orchestra pit . . The interior might be considered an early example of American Baroque Revival architecture. The auditorium is graced by a large crystal chandelier, which measures 16 ft (4.9 m) in diameter, and weighs 5,000 lb (2,300 kg). When installed, the chandelier contained 240 gas jets, which were converted to electricity in 1900, and rewired in 1957. That same year, it

680-553: The "Grand Old Lady of Locust Street," the venue is the home of the Philadelphia Ballet and Opera Philadelphia . It was also home to the Philadelphia Orchestra from its inception in 1900 until 2001, when the orchestra moved to the new Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts . The Philadelphia Orchestra still retains ownership of the Academy, in partnership with Ensemble Arts. The hall was designated

720-416: The Academy as having excellent acoustics that were wrongly attributed to a circular brick chamber under the floor of the auditorium. [1] It was intended by the architects that sound penetrating the "elastic floor" would reverberate in this chamber and emerge into the auditorium. [2] Unfortunately, this device was ineffective as little sound could pass through the floor in either direction. The ceiling of

760-639: The Academy of Music in Philadelphia through 1873. Due to his association with both the Philadelphia and New York City Academy of Music venues, his company was sometimes referred to as the Academy of Music Opera Company. The Academy has been in continuous use since 1857, hosting many world-famous performers, conductors and composers, and a significant number of American premieres of works in the standard operatic and classical repertoire. Noted operas that had their American premieres there include Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos , Gounod's Faust , and Wagner's The Flying Dutchman . In 1916, Leopold Stokowski conducted

800-621: The Academy. Various voice and instrumental competitions have taken place there, including the Pavarotti competition. In the 21st century, after the Philadelphia Orchestra moved to the Kimmel Center, many non-classical artists performed at the Academy. Managed today by The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts, the space is used for a myriad of events, including Broadway, comedy, dance, family, jazz, and much more. It

840-520: The Astor Opera House. Maretzek described his hand picked group of European artists as vastly superior to the resident artists that were currently engaged at the Astor Opera House, and it was this group that ultimately became the Max Maretzek Italian Opera Company. The group of singers was led by soprano Teresa Parodi , whom Maretzek selected in hopes of rivaling P. T. Barnum 's prima donna, soprano Jenny Lind . After

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880-668: The Boston Theatre in 1863–1864 to perform another season of opera which included the Boston premieres of Verdi's I due Foscari and Gounod's Faust . On September 24, 1856 the company performed the United States premiere of Meyerbeer's L'étoile du nord at the New York Academy of Music. In 1868 Maretzek's company merged with rival touring company, the Max Strakosch Italian Opera Company. Other notable artists who performed with

920-606: The Civil War Era. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on June 18, 1855, with President Franklin Pierce in attendance and the venue opened with a grand ball on January 26, 1857. The first opera performed there was the Western Hemisphere premiere of Giuseppe Verdi 's Il Trovatore , on February 25 of the same year. In order to reserve as much of the budget for the interior as possible, the architects designed

960-519: The Philadelphia Orchestra in the American premiere of Mahler's Eighth Symphony (the Symphony of a Thousand ). Outside of arts events, it hosted various public meetings, including the 1872 Republican National Convention . An indoor football game took place here in 1889 between the University of Pennsylvania and a club from Princeton University , resulting in a 0-0 tie, appears to have been only

1000-407: The auditorium was deliberately designed not to be a sound reflector for fear of echoes. Some have found the Academy's sound problematic for orchestra: "The Academy of Music in Philadelphia is a beautiful, historic, charming building with wholly unsuitable acoustics for orchestra...The dry, unreverberant acoustics results from the roughly 2,900 audience members, who completely surround the volume of

1040-563: The auditorium, soaking up sound as they sit." The Academy was built as an opera house which typically has a lower reverberation than a concert hall, the venue's primary use for many years. The reverberation time has been measured at 1.4 seconds compared to 1.2 at La Scala, Milan, and 1.75 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Consequently, the "Philadelphia Sound" of the Philadelphia Orchestra was, at least in part,

1080-403: The first important companies in the United States, it had a long association with the Academy of Music in New York City where it presented an annual season of opera from 1854 until the company's demise in 1878. There the company performed the United States premieres of Rigoletto , Il trovatore , and La traviata among other works. The company also presented an annual season of opera at

1120-698: The hall's native acoustics, alongside Broadway presentations, jazz, comedy, family-friendly programs, and much more. Max Maretzek Italian Opera Company The Max Maretzek Italian Opera Company (sometimes referred to as the Italian Opera Company , the Italian Grand Opera Company , or Academy of Music Opera Company ) was a touring American opera company that performed throughout the United States from 1849 to 1878. The first major opera company in Manhattan and one of

1160-515: The inauguration of the Academy of Music in New York City with Giulia Grisi in the title role and Giuseppe Mario as Pollione headlining the performance with Maretzek conducting. This theater remained the principal base for the company when they were not touring until the group disbanded in 1878. The company notably presented three classic Verdi operas in their United States premieres at that house: Rigoletto (1855), Il trovatore (1855), and La traviata (1866). The company also performed for

1200-417: The inauguration of the Academy of Music in Philadelphia on February 25, 1857, and presented an annual season of opera at that theater as well through 1873. In 1855 Maretzek's company toured to The Boston Theatre to perform a season of opera which included the Boston premiere of Rigoletto on June 8, 1855. The company also performed that work for its San Francisco premiere in 1860. The company returned to

1240-517: The original murals. The original front stage curtain was a painted representation of draped crimson fabric with heavy golden fringe, ropes, tassels, etc. by J. R. Martin of Berlin. A secondary curtain had a scene of Lake Como, Italy, painted by Russell Smith of Philadelphia. The original seating on the Parquet and first balcony had arms and upholstery with springs and a covering of dark red plush fabric. The second balcony had "sofas without arms" and

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1280-425: The quality of the orchestral sound in the hall, as collected by Leo L. Beranek in his book Music, Acoustics & Architecture : Extensive renovations beginning in 1994 have maintained the building's architecture and made acoustic improvements. Although many programs at the hall are amplified and the Academy is no longer home to the Philadelphia Orchestra, the opera, ballet and other classical concerts still rely on

1320-450: The result of long-term efforts by Stokowski, later sustained by Eugene Ormandy , to compensate for this weakness. After some remodeling in the mid-1950s that included concrete under the stage to support a pipe organ, Ormandy refused to make recordings with the Philadelphia Orchestra in the Academy. Riccardo Muti , Ormandy's successor, also made his commercial recordings with the orchestra elsewhere. Various conductors have commented on

1360-909: The second football game ever played indoors at the time. During the Philadelphia Phillies 1895 baseball season , the Academy offered an electric play by play scoreboard for all of the team's road games. The list of artists who have performed at the Academy of Music, from the 20th century, includes such figures as Marian Anderson , Maria Callas , Enrico Caruso , Aaron Copland , Vladimir Horowitz , Gustav Mahler , Anna Pavlova , Edith Piaf , Luciano Pavarotti , Tony Bennett (in 1962), Itzhak Perlman , Leontyne Price , Sergei Rachmaninoff , Artur Rubinstein , Isaac Stern , Richard Strauss , Igor Stravinsky , Joan Sutherland , and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , and others. Parts of Martin Scorsese 's 1993 film The Age of Innocence were filmed in

1400-432: The third, pew-like seating. These were mostly replaced with more typical theater seating. The installation of more spacious seating began in 2018. A 2007 donation of $ 5.3 million by Leonore Annenberg was designated for restoration of the Academy's ballroom. This was part of the almost $ 12 million (USD) in donations raised at the 150th anniversary concert for the Academy of Music. For many decades, Philadelphia regarded

1440-465: The world premiere of Maurice Strakosch 's Giovanna Prima di Napoli . In 1852 the company toured for the first time to Mexico City where they performed the Mexico premiere of I Lombardi alla prima crociata . The company later returned to perform the Mexico premieres of Attila (1854) and Nabucco (1856). On October 2, 1854 the Max Maretzek Italian Opera Company performed Bellini's Norma for

1480-583: Was billed as its formal opening, a month later on February 25, 1857, with a performance by the Max Maretzek Italian Opera Company of Verdi's Il trovatore starring Marietta Gazzaniga as Leonora, Alessandro Amodio as Count di Luna, Pasquale Brignoli as Manrico, and Max Maretzek conducting. Maretzek, who was already presenting operas at the Academy of Music in New York City and at the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia since 1850, brought his company back annually to

1520-496: Was featured in the 1930s. Other performers included: Helen Hayes , Katharine Hepburn , Sammy Davis Jr. , Angela Lansbury , and Laurence Olivier . Through the decades, a number of highly acclaimed Broadway, off-Broadway and one-night performances have been performed at the theater. Pre- and Post-Broadway engagements at the Shubert : Notes Academy of Music (Philadelphia) 12th–13th & Locust The Academy of Music , also known as American Academy of Music ,

1560-400: Was fitted with an electric-powered winch. It previously required 12 people working four-hours to lower it by hand. The fixture was restored to its original form and missing crystals replaced in 2008. The heat produced by the original gas fixtures helped to ventilate the hall by causing air to rise to various vents along the back walls and in the center of the ceiling. Atop the proscenium is

1600-714: Was founded in 1849 by impresario Max Maretzek , a Czech violinist and composer who had previously served as the chorus master and an assistant conductor at the Royal Opera House in London from 1844 to 1848, and had come to America in 1848 to become the music director of the Astor Opera House in New York City. Dissatisfied with the singers at Astor, Maretzek went to Europe to create a second company of singers, initially to provide one season of operatic entertainment in 1849–1850 for performances in Boston and at

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