Bardavon theater thrives

Sam Bloch Staff Writer

The oldest operating theater in New York state is not an ornate ballroom tucked away in Westchester County or a nightclub du jour in Brooklyn; it’s actually only a few minutes from Vassar.
The venerable Bardavon 1869 Opera House, located at 35 Market Street in Poughkeepsie, has hosted the Vassar Repertory Dance Theater (VRDT) Opera House Gala for 23 years, and will mark the twenty-fourth when its doors open for the VRDT March 3 and 4. According to VRDT Director Paul Mosley, these performances help the dance troupe reach a wider audience.

“The Sunday matinees...allow us to expand our audience base, particularly to young audiences and families in the community,” said Mosley. “The dancers relish the challenge of leaving the insular comfort of dancing on campus...to risk performing for the general public.”
Mosley was also enthusiastic about the performance space. “What I love most about the venue is its historical character,” he said. “Performing there is like going on tour to another city.”

The Bardavon has recently hosted big-name shows. In addition to Billy Idol, Rufus Wainwright, and Pixies shows held this year, the theater was set to host Lou Reed on Feb. 11. Although Reed ended up canceling all American shows, the performance was only one of two that Reed was set to play before a European tour and a stop at the Olympics in Turin. Earlier this month, Bob Dylan and a five-person band also spent four days at the Bardavon privately rehearsing material for a new album.

According to the Poughkeepsie Journal, getting Dylan to appear at the theater had long been a dream of Bardavon Executive Director Chris Silva. “Whenever I play that CD, which will be out in the next few months, I'll know some aspect of that was created in the Bardavon,” said Silva.
The Bardavon has been a place for such creativity since its days as the Collingwood Opera House, named in honor of its owner, Poughkeepsie coal and lumber merchant James Collingwood. The theater opened on Feb. 1, 1869. According to the Poughkeepsie Journal, the theater was one of the first of its kind, “constructed in accordance with the then-new principle of doing away with...pillars and thus obstruction of the view of the stage.” It seated 900 people by the orchestra, 600 in the first balcony and 500 on upper-level benches.

Though it was conceived as an opera house, the theater hosted a variety of professional and community events, including town meetings, graduation ceremonies, an annual lecture series once attended by Mark Twain, and political rallies held for Presidents Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt, as well as William Jennings Bryan.

In 1918, the theater was sold to a group of Poughkeepsie businessmen. After extensive renovations, the theater reopened as the Bardavon Theater, named after William Shakespeare (the “Bard of Avon”). The theater hosted a number of entertainers, including Milton Berle, Cab Calloway, and Frank Sinatra, until it was threatened with closing in 1975. After strong public support to save the theater, it was renamed the Bardavon 1869 Opera House and established as a nonprofit organization meant to provide professional and local art groups for the community. In 1978, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, preventing any future demolition.

Since then, the Bardavon has hosted dance performances choreographed by Merce Cunningham and Bob Fosse; concerts by pop and jazz acts, including Herbie Hancock, Bela Fleck, and the Talking Heads.

Elizabeth Tartaglio, Director of Network Administration and Archives/Playbill Sales, said that she was glad to hear of more Vassar interest, and plans to coordinate more projects with the campus are in the works. In the future, students may soon get a chance to see Dylan again, as Silva said he was enthusiastic about returning to the theater for a concert.