Summer History Tours – June through September

Denver’s Oldest Stage Has Stories You Won’t Believe

Step through the doors of the oldest theatre in Denver and step back into 1891 — a rustic, shingle-style playhouse built on the grounds of a wild zoological garden that once housed lions, bears, camels, and an ostrich Mary Elitch herself hitched to her cart. This is the birthplace of American summer stock theatre, the very first of its kind in the country, and the woman who built it, “The Lady of the Gardens”.  Your guide will walk you through the same auditorium where that history still lives in the walls.

Then the real magic begins: this stage launched Douglas Fairbanks (who scrubbed floors as a boy just to earn a ticket), gave Robert Redford his first-ever role as an unbilled spear-carrier, and watched a young Grace Kelly get the telegram that would make her a movie star opposite Gary Cooper in High Noon. Sarah Bernhardt charmed a lioness through the bars of her cage. Cecil B. DeMille and Fredric March trod these same boards. And just up the path, the legendary Trocadero Ballroom once shook to the sound of Tommy Dorsey, Lawrence Welk, and Benny Goodman. Your guides don’t just recite dates; they hand you the gossip, the near-misses, and the ghost stories nobody puts in the history books.

For 90 unforgettable minutes and just $15, you’ll walk the same floorboards as Hollywood legends, hear the tales that made Time magazine call this “the great-grandfather of all U.S. summer stock companies,” and understand why generations of Denverites still say “not to see Elitch’s is not to see Denver.” Tours run through mid-September and space is limited — the last building of its kind in America won’t wait, and neither should you. Reserve your spot today.

Public tours are typically offered monthly and last about 90-minutes, with tickets priced at just $15 per person. (For groups of 10 or more, private tours can be arranged, subject to the availability of volunteer guides.)

Tour Times vary by date. Please check the listings below.