Live at the Olympia

Curtain at the Olympia / Strawbery Banke Archive
Strawbery Banke Presents
HISTORIC PORTSMOUTH #67

Live performances were the rage when the ornate Olympia Theatre opened on Vaughan Street in 1916. The painted asbestos safety curtain shows a view of Mount Olympus. Its proscenium arch encircled by gilded leaves offered serious competition to the nearby Music Hall. But vaudeville died quickly with the advent of "talkies". The Olympia showed films, closed in 1950 and has since been concerted to office space.

HISTORIC PHOTOS of the Greater Portsmouth Area appear here weekly

1916 Olympia THeater in Portsmouth, NH (c) Strawbery Banke Archives

From HISTORIC PORTSMOUTH
Early Photographs from the Collections of Strawbery Banke
by James L. Garvin & Susan Grigg, Peter Randall Publisher
(c) Strawbery Banke Museum . All rights reserved

BONUS CLOSE-UP DETAILS

Painted flag near ceilng / Strawbery Banke

Arch with carved figure / Strawbery Banke

Detail of painted asbestos theatre screen 1916. Strawbery Banke

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