Opera house Opera house An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building. While some venues are constructed specifically for operas, other opera houses are part of larger performing arts centers. Indeed the term "opera house" itself is often used as a term of prestige for any large performing-arts center. The first public opera house was the Teatro San Cassiano in Venice, opened in 1637. Italy is a country where opera has been popular through the centuries among ordinary people as well
Newberry Opera House "The Outlaw", the Opera House was closed as a movie theater. During the movie era, the original horseshoe-shaped balcony was reduced in size, this restricted seating across the back of the auditorium to blacks only; the state had racial segregation in facilities. The city added an outdoor open stairway which they required blacks to use for entry. Since the mid-1960s, such public facilities have been integrated. By 1959, there was talk about tearing the building down, but the hall was still used for community purposes, and the city used the first floor. In 1969, the Newberry Historical Society promoted the