Italian opera it reached the republic of Venice. It was here that the first public opera house, the Teatro di San Cassiano, was opened in 1637 by Benedetto Ferrari and Francesco Manelli. Its success moved opera away from aristocratic patronage and into the commercial world. In Venice, musical drama was no longer aimed at an elite of aristocrats and intellectuals and acquired the character of entertainment. Soon many other opera houses had sprung up in the city, performing works for a paying public during the Carnival season. The opera houses employed a very small orchestra to save money. A large part of
Stoughton Opera House Stoughton Opera House Stoughton Opera House is a theater in Stoughton, Wisconsin. It is on the second floor of the Stoughton City Hall. The Stoughton Opera House was originally known as the City Auditorium. It opened on February 22, 1901 with Ullie Akerstrom's comic play, "The Doctor's Warm Reception". During the next 50 years, the Opera House was used for plays, political rallies, temperance speeches, boxing and wrestling matches, high school graduations, and class plays. From 1910 to the late 1920s, it also served as a movie theater. In the 1950s the theater was closed and fell into ruin. In