Crosby's Opera House: Symbol of Chicago's Cultural Awakening - Hardcover

Cropsey, Eugene H.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0838638228 ISBN 13: 9780838638224

Publisher: UNKNO, 1999

Synopsis

In the context of Chicago's economic and cultural climate, social milieu, and the scramble for prominence and refinement among the newly rich, Eugene Cropsey presents an illuminating chronicle of the city's first great cultural awakening, with Crosby's Opera House as the central focus. It is also the story of Albert and Uranus Crosby, who migrated from Cape Cod to Chicago where, as successful entrepreneurs, they made their fortunes and later sacrificed it all in their efforts to bring a new musical and artistic enlightenment to their adopted city.

The Crosbys' struggle to enhance the cultural climate out on the urban frontier of the 1860s was a turbulent one, vividly brought to life in this book through a gallery of colorful characters, including many of Chicago's prominent citizens, as well as the numerous impresarios, artists, musicians, and other entertainers who visited or settled in Chicago.

For the large number of fortune seekers migrating from the east, Chicago in the mid-nineteenth century presented boundless commercial opportunities. While their cultural life had been left behind, eventual prosperity and the lessening of physical hardships inevitably led to longings for refinement and the restoration of cultural amenities.

The musical and artistic life of Chicago had lagged far behind other cities, but by 1865, Chicago's population contained a substantial coterie of aristocratic elite who yearned for the higher forms of musical entertainment. In response, Uranus Crosby built a magnificent opera house as his gift to the city of Chicago.

America's premier opera troupes, once having consciously avoided Chicago, were now booking extensive seasons at Crosby's. The response of Chicago's audiences and critics was so enthusiastic that the country's most famous impresarios preferred to open the fall season each year in Chicago, rather than in New York, causing a bitter cultural rivalry to play itself out in the leading newspapers of both cities.

Uranus Crosby naively envisioned the opera house as solely an artistic venture. But it soon became commercially unavoidable to fill the non-operatic periods with other entertainments. Eventually, however, Uranus Crosby became so overwhelmed by his financial obligations that, in his effort to save the opera house, there followed a series of extraordinary events that threw the city into bitter controversy and drew unprecedented national attention.

The Crosbys continued to bring in the country's best opera troupes. But when the bawdy burlesque arrived from New York as an off-season filler, its outrageous antics brought forth a storm of protest from the press, charging that the performers were prostitutes and that the opera house should now be called Chicago's "assignation house." Unrelenting criticism plagued the Crosbys for years until the decision was made to convert the opera house to an office building. Outraged patrons of the opera, however, quickly! ! convinced the Crosbys to keep the opera house and refurbish it over the summer of 1871. The Great Chicago Fire occurred, however, on the planned re-opening date of 8 October. With the fate of the opera house in the balance and a dramatic rescue, we are given an unforgettable and vivid picture of that tragic day.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Critical Acclaim for Crosby's Opera House

"Through his evocative prose and wide-ranging research, E. H. Cropsey has recreated one of the most fascinating yet overlooked periods in the cultural evolvement of the Midwest: the rise and fall of Crosby's Opera House, the majestic Chicago theater that once threatened the supremacy of New York City's operatic palaces. The mercurial story of the theater and its founder, industrialist-entrepreneur Uranus Crosby (the 'Beau Brummel' of Chicago, as he was once described) is interwoven with the history of Reconstruction-era Chicago--an era which Cropsey captures in a book that reads like a well-crafted novel." JAMES A. DRAKE, Award-Winning Author and Music Biographer

"As a descendant of Albert Crosby, Cropsey has produced a scholarly work, drawn lovingly and compassionately, but with the wrinkles painted in for all to see. The book is crisply written, with a fine sense of style. Descriptions are vivid, particularly the cha! pter dealing with the great Chicago fire. We are there, we can smell the smoke, hear the crackle of the flames, see the desperation in the streets. Anecdotes abound throughout and quotations from contemporary newspaper reviews give each chapter an air of immediacy. Cropsey has given us a book that clearly fills a void in the available literature." VICTOR RANGEL-RIBEIRO, Noted Author and Musicologist

About the Author:

Eugene H. Cropsey is a great-great-grandson of Albert Crosby, owner of Crosby's Opera House. He was for many years an administrator and adjunct professor of economics at The University of Tampa. He received his B.S. from Trinity University (Texas) and his M.A. from the University of South Florida. Now retired, he is a freelance writer, continuing to pursue his life-long interest in opera and the history of opera. He and his wife live in Tampa, Florida, and can be contacted at ecropsey@gte.net.

About this edition

• Publisher: UNKNO
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0838638228
• ISBN 13: 9780838638224
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 452