Venue: Woodstock Opera House
Town: Illinois, US

The Woodstock Opera House is a historical venue for performing arts and receptions located in Woodstock, Illinois. It was built in 1889 and designed as a multi-use facility with space for city administration offices as well as police and fire departments. The building was planned by architect Smith Hoag and built by contractor Simon Brink for a cost of $25,000. Today, the City of Woodstock still owns the building, but the building is used exclusively as a performance space. In 2013, the stage was dedicated to Orson Welles, who grew up in Woodstock and performed at the venue during his formative years. The Opera House was built in 1889 to house the library, council room, justice court, fire department and second floor auditorium for the City of Woodstock. The Patti Rosa Company provided the inaugural performance of Margery Daw on Thursday, September 4, 1890. The Opera House became McHenry County’s center for entertainment hosting touring vaudeville, minstrel and dramatic companies. When the traveling circuits disappeared in the early 20th century, the Opera House became the site for the Chicago-area's first, however short-lived, summer stock theatre. Presented by the Todd School for Boys, The Todd Theatre Festival of 1934 was a six-week summer festival organized by Orson Welles, a 1931 graduate of the school. Three plays were presented - Trilby, Hamlet and Tsar Paul - featuring Welles, Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir of Dublin's Gate Theatre, Louise Prussing, Charles O'Neal and Constance Heron. The stage of the Woodstock Opera House was dedicated to Welles in 2013, and the Woodstock Opera House hosted an 80th anniversary celebration of the Todd Theatre Festival. In 1947, a group of citizens formed and supported the Woodstock Players. For several years the Players provided acting experience for students after graduating from the Goodman School. Paul Newman, Tom Bosley, Betsy Palmer, Geraldine Page, Shelley Berman and Lois Nettleton were among the more notable p