A History of the Black Crooke Theatre
In 1880, at the peak of Lake City's booming mining days,
John Hough built an impressive brick structure at the
corner of Silver and Third Streets. From his two-story
mercantile building, Hough supplied virtually every need
of the surrounding Lake City miners.
Almost a century later, John H. Parker II arrived in Lake
City from Parkersburg, West Virginia, and purchased not
only the Hough Building, but several other downtown
buildings as well. In the 1970s, Parker performed
extensive renovation of the Hough Building including
transformation of the southwest corner of the first floor
into a theatre to house live productions. He named the
space, The Black Crooke Theatre.
The origin of the name is the source of constant
curiosity, particularly on the part of visitors. According to
Parker, the name was suggested by the late Smoky
Swanson, a longtime local character. Swanson's choice
teems with legend and history. It is a creative
combination from three sources.
The first source is one of the most significant milestones
in American theatre. In 1866, two New York producers,
Henry C. Jarrett and Harry Palmer, had imported a
Parisian ballet troupe to perform at the Academy of
Music in New York City. Before the show could open,
however, the theatre burned to the ground, and Jarrett
and Palmer were left with a high-priced company of idle
dancers. They approached the manager of Niblo's
Garden, William Wheatley, who was preparing to
produce a melodrama called The Black Crook by Charles
Barras. The playwright's need for money convinced him
to allow the combination of the two shows, even
though he objected to the desecration of his work. As
Wheatley finally produced it, The Black Crook was the
costliest, most ornate and most daring show Americans
had ever seen.
Clad in short skirts and flesh-colored tights, a hundred
women danced and leapt across the stage. Special
effects - scenes rising out of the floor, fairies flying
through the air, glistening stalagmites and stalactites in a
crystal grotto, a hurricane of gauze - dazzled audiences
unlike anything previously created on the American
stage. American theatergoers had never seen anything
like it.
Today, at the beginning of a new century, when the
media continuously bombards our senses, when images
and sounds attack us from every direction, it is hard to
compare the impact of this show to anything we've
experienced. The initial engagement ran an
unprecedented 474 performances which lasted sixteen
months. It was revived eight times in New York in the
next two decades, and touring companies performed it
constantly throughout the country. The Black Crook
was a landmark production in show business in America,
laying the groundwork for both the burlesque show and
musical comedy. Some people actually acclaim The Black
Crook as the first musical comedy.
The impact of this show is perhaps best demonstrated
by the fact that fortune-seeking miners in the wild west
gave its name to a set of mines in Hinsdale County in the
Lake San Cristobal area. In 1890, prospector J. C. “Doc”
Bothwell, together with associates, located the claims
called Precious Metals, Black Crook, Ilma and Altair, and
they called these mines “The Black Crook Group.” Thus
the second source for the theatre's curious name.
Enter name source number three. About the same time
as “The Black Crook Group” explorations, John J.
Crooke, who incidentally also invented tin foil, built and
operated Crooke's smelter at Crooke's Falls, just south of
town. In 1976, Parker chose the John J. Crooke's
spelling when naming his newly renovated theatre.
Over the next twenty years, the Black Crooke Theatre
housed a variety of community functions. In 1992, the
Lake City Arts Council leased the theatre which now
serves as a community arts center. Visiting musicians and
actors as well as local musicians and the Cabin Fever
Players perform there. The theatre space and the lobby
double as a visual arts gallery. Year-round arts
programming including Second Saturdays, a local
performing arts showcase, student performances, Friend
of the Library events and other community functions
occur there.
And so, who was “The Black Crook?” The title came
from swarthy Herzog, the lead character in the original
melodrama, the “black” having nothing to do with his
race and everything to do with his character. In this
Faustian-like plot, Herzog contracts to deliver one soul a
year to the devil in exchange for magical powers and an
additional year of life.
Unbeknownst to Herzog, his creator Barras, the
producers or the hundred skimpily clad dancers, certainly
unbeknownst to the world-wise miners, Herzog's
namesake, The Black Crooke Theatre in Lake City,
Colorado, has had many an additional year of life. Some
even believe, given the explosion of creativity that
occurs within its walls, that it even has magical powers.
© 2000 Mary Stigall, all rights reserved. This article first
appeared in The Lake City Silver World Newspaper,
October 19, 2000.
In 1880, at the peak of Lake City's booming mining days,
John Hough built an impressive brick structure at the
corner of Silver and Third Streets. From his two-story
mercantile building, Hough supplied virtually every need
of the surrounding Lake City miners.
Almost a century later, John H. Parker II arrived in Lake
City from Parkersburg, West Virginia, and purchased not
only the Hough Building, but several other downtown
buildings as well. In the 1970s, Parker performed
extensive renovation of the Hough Building including
transformation of the southwest corner of the first floor
into a theatre to house live productions. He named the
space, The Black Crooke Theatre.
The origin of the name is the source of constant
curiosity, particularly on the part of visitors. According to
Parker, the name was suggested by the late Smoky
Swanson, a longtime local character. Swanson's choice
teems with legend and history. It is a creative
combination from three sources.
The first source is one of the most significant milestones
in American theatre. In 1866, two New York producers,
Henry C. Jarrett and Harry Palmer, had imported a
Parisian ballet troupe to perform at the Academy of
Music in New York City. Before the show could open,
however, the theatre burned to the ground, and Jarrett
and Palmer were left with a high-priced company of idle
dancers. They approached the manager of Niblo's
Garden, William Wheatley, who was preparing to
produce a melodrama called The Black Crook by Charles
Barras. The playwright's need for money convinced him
to allow the combination of the two shows, even
though he objected to the desecration of his work. As
Wheatley finally produced it, The Black Crook was the
costliest, most ornate and most daring show Americans
had ever seen.
Clad in short skirts and flesh-colored tights, a hundred
women danced and leapt across the stage. Special
effects - scenes rising out of the floor, fairies flying
through the air, glistening stalagmites and stalactites in a
crystal grotto, a hurricane of gauze - dazzled audiences
unlike anything previously created on the American
stage. American theatergoers had never seen anything
like it.
Today, at the beginning of a new century, when the
media continuously bombards our senses, when images
and sounds attack us from every direction, it is hard to
compare the impact of this show to anything we've
experienced. The initial engagement ran an
unprecedented 474 performances which lasted sixteen
months. It was revived eight times in New York in the
next two decades, and touring companies performed it
constantly throughout the country. The Black Crook
was a landmark production in show business in America,
laying the groundwork for both the burlesque show and
musical comedy. Some people actually acclaim The Black
Crook as the first musical comedy.
The impact of this show is perhaps best demonstrated
by the fact that fortune-seeking miners in the wild west
gave its name to a set of mines in Hinsdale County in the
Lake San Cristobal area. In 1890, prospector J. C. “Doc”
Bothwell, together with associates, located the claims
called Precious Metals, Black Crook, Ilma and Altair, and
they called these mines “The Black Crook Group.” Thus
the second source for the theatre's curious name.
Enter name source number three. About the same time
as “The Black Crook Group” explorations, John J.
Crooke, who incidentally also invented tin foil, built and
operated Crooke's smelter at Crooke's Falls, just south of
town. In 1976, Parker chose the John J. Crooke's
spelling when naming his newly renovated theatre.
Over the next twenty years, the Black Crooke Theatre
housed a variety of community functions. In 1992, the
Lake City Arts Council leased the theatre which now
serves as a community arts center. Visiting musicians and
actors as well as local musicians and the Cabin Fever
Players perform there. The theatre space and the lobby
double as a visual arts gallery. Year-round arts
programming including Second Saturdays, a local
performing arts showcase, student performances, Friend
of the Library events and other community functions
occur there.
And so, who was “The Black Crook?” The title came
from swarthy Herzog, the lead character in the original
melodrama, the “black” having nothing to do with his
race and everything to do with his character. In this
Faustian-like plot, Herzog contracts to deliver one soul a
year to the devil in exchange for magical powers and an
additional year of life.
Unbeknownst to Herzog, his creator Barras, the
producers or the hundred skimpily clad dancers, certainly
unbeknownst to the world-wise miners, Herzog's
namesake, The Black Crooke Theatre in Lake City,
Colorado, has had many an additional year of life. Some
even believe, given the explosion of creativity that
occurs within its walls, that it even has magical powers.
© 2000 Mary Stigall, all rights reserved. This article first
appeared in The Lake City Silver World Newspaper,
October 19, 2000.
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Dance
Music
Storytelling & Writing
Theatre
Visual Arts
Youth
Support local arts programs
for youth & adults in Lake
City! Join Us!
The Black Crooke Theatre
Community Links
Mission/About Us
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