The Fife Opera House Comes to Life!

PALESTINE, Ill. - Dec. 10, 2014 - PRLog -- December 27th at 7:00pm, the historic grand-reopening of the Fife Opera house auditorium, the event of the century will occur!  A concert by Crawford County’s own Teri Obst will be held, breaking 102 years of silence in the Fife Opera House auditorium.

Bob King and the Kingpin Band of Peoria will accompany Ms. Obst.  The band will include Robinson native, Steve Correll. Local musicians sitting in with the band include Don Correll on trumpet, Ken Strieby playing the sax, and former Robinson resident, Stan Dunlap, who now lives in Virginia, will be home for the holidays will play trombone.  Other special guests will help celebrate the re-opening as well.

Teri studied voice for a year at LTC and has performed in the Indianapolis musical theater.  Founded and sang with Hot Flash for 6 years.  Ms. Obst also formed the Treasa LaVon Band and is still performing in her latest band Dicks and Jane.

About The Fife ...

Construction of the David Fife Opera House at 123 S Main St. Palestine, IL began in 1898 and was completed in 1901.  David Fife operated a hardware store on the ground floor.  The opera house operated during the historic oil boom in Crawford County, IL.  The Fife was the venue for band concerts, minstrel shows, stock traveling shows, comedies, a lyceum series, and more until its closing in 1912.

In the first decade of the 20^th century, electricity was spreading through the country and the distribution systems were not very robust.  It is said that lights all over town dimmed as David Fife threw the switches, illuminating his fabulous opera house on opening night.

Exceptional pieces of the scenery used in the original theater have survived.  In the auditorium is a canvas fire curtain depicting a Venice canal scene.  It was hand painted by artists from the Chicago company of Sosman & Landes. The curtain was repaired in November and placed back in its original position above the stage.  Side and top panels depict beautiful draperies surrounding a peaceful, tree-lined river.  Recently, additional painted scenes have been discovered including gardens, waterfalls, and a turn of the century street scene.  Fife's prudish mother, displeased with one of the five interior scene panels which featured cherubs, demanded the artists return to cover their nakedness

SORRY, THIS EVENT HAS SOLD OUT!
Festival seating, tickets $10 in advance.  A maximum of 230 seats are available. Call 618-554-6233 the Village Framery for tickets.  Only cash or checks accepted.

The Fife, located in Palestine, Illinois, is on the National Registry of Historical Places.  More information on the Fife Opera House, its history and the preservation effort can be found on the web site http://fifeoperahouse.org.