Venue: Wieting Opera House
Town: Syracuse, US

The Wieting Opera House was a performance hall in Syracuse, New York, that hosted operas, films, and other performances from 1852 to 1930. The building's first iteration was funded by John Wieting and known as Wieting Hall. It burnt down after four years, in 1856. Wieting rebuilt the hall that year, and in 1870 renovated it into an opera house. Towards the end of the 19th century, the opera house was a major theater in the Eastern United States and held test performances of shows that were bound for performance on Broadway in New York City. The opera house burnt down in 1881 and 1896, and was rebuilt both times, the second time by Wieting's wife, Mary Elizabeth Wieting. The opera house began showing movies in the early 20th century, and closed in 1930, when it was replaced with a parking garage. The block in Syracuse on which the Wieting Opera House was located, near Clinton Square, was initially a hardware store, shoe store, and "granite hall", a performance hall. The block burnt in 1849 or 1851, and was rebuilt shortly afterwards, as a large building with a hall on top by Charles A. Wheaton and Horace Wheaton. Their hall was the city's first to have a gallery. The building was purchased by John Wieting in 1850. Wieting, who had made a fortune in lecturing, felt that Syracuse did not have a public hall that was proportionally large enough for the city. He either funded improvements or the building of a new hall in 1852. The hall was opened on December 16, 1852. Wieting had plans to develop his building further, but before he could, it burnt down on January 5, 1856. The fire almost razed the whole building; just the left wall was left standing. Firefighters who responded were unable to contain the fire at first as the water they were attempting to use froze. The damages were estimated at $200,000. No notable performances had been held in the hall at that point. Wieting oversaw the building of the second Wieting Hall in its place. Construction was completed in around