The Dock Street Theater Charleston South Carolina - Essay Example

However, the main entrance to the building was built about 46 years later by J.W. Gamble in 1855 Just like it had been named, the hotel was mostly the preserve of planters who travelled to Charleston from South Carolina to take part in horse-racing activities. The hotel was reputable for its classy food and drinks during this period. It is also believed that South Carolina's famous punch was first made here. One peculiarity about this hotel was that in those early days guests passed through the recessed porch with brownstone columns.

This led into a lobby that gave access to a grand staircase that ascended to a drawing room. Despite signs of considerable alteration to the interior, the elements of the antebellum hotel remained and were reintegrated for reuse in the building. Following these years of renovation works, a series of additions to the hotel spanning the entire 19th and 20th centuries can be readily identified by the different colorations of the bricks. The history of the Dock Street Theatre also brings to mind the story of Charleston's theater history.

In the 1930s, the building had some restoration work carried out by the City of Charleston as a Works Progress Administration project. It was under this project that a large a large section was constructed behind the hotel containing a stage and auditorium characteristic of the 18th century. After this building was finally renovated, it was named after a 1730s theater which stood on the Queen Street side of the building.On the other hand, the theater is said to have been the first building purposefully constructed for theatrical performances in the USA.

In the course of this, Planter's Hotel sporadically housed one of the city's theatrical bands, which performed at the nearby New Theatre during the mid-19th century. The most prominent actor of this band was Junius. B. Booth. He was the patriarch of an exceptional group of actors, which included J. W. Booth; the guy who assassinated President Lincoln. Junius Booth, stayed at the Planter's Hotel, and was alleged to have attempted killing his manager in 1838. Today the Dock Street Theatre is home to a community theater group called the Charleston Stage Company, and houses the city's Cultural Affairs office as well as The City Gallery, which is an exhibition space for local artists.

Another interesting story about the history of the theater reveals that an announcement in the South Carolina Gazette in 1736 read that a new theater would open in Dock Street. The house later became known as the Dock Street Theatre for the two years it was in operation. It closed in 1738 and got burned in the great Charleston fire of 1740. Two more playhouses were built on or near its site, one in 1754 and a second in 1766, and then a hotel was built in its place.Before becoming a community theater, the city made a move to restore the original theatre, and they rebuilt the building using plaster and woodwork for historic buildings that were being torn down.

In 1937, using funds and people from the Works Progress Administration, a same-model of the original eighteenth century interior was constructed inside the crumbling hotel. Owned by the city, the restored theatre opened, as its ancestor had, with a production of The Recruiting Officer. The Dock Street Theatre was an outgrowth of the little theatre movement. So, in 1937, the theater reopened and is today home to the Charleston