i am trying to find references to the Grand opera house pre-1900. a newspaper article termed it "unfortunate" which may denote a tragedy??? any ideas? thanks

-- kari goglin (scarlet1221@hotmail.com), February 15, 2001

Answers

The only tragedy I know of was "poor patronage." The Grand was located on Mission Street near Third. When the center of entertainment moved north of Market it fell on hard times and was shuttered at times. It managed to barely survive but 1906 ended its problems. Bill

-- Bill Roddy (bill@americahurrah.com), March 10, 2001.

I know a great deal about the original SF Grand Opera House.

The GOH opened in January 1876. It was located across from Dr. Scudder's church. "Unfortunate"? Only in the sense that it didn't attract the patronage it needed, to be a really viable place of amusement. It was simply to unwieldy. But, in 1894, when taken over by theatrical manager Walter Morosco, it was very successful as a presenter of lurid 19th century melodrama.

What, specifically, would you like to know?

-- Greg LaLonde (greg_lalo@yahoo.com), July 30, 2001.