The highlight of the 1900 season was the appearance of a leading lady of the day, Blanche Bates. She was vacationing in Europe, but Mary Elitch recounted that “special inducements” were made to bring her to Denver.
Bates performed in shows including As You Like It and A Doll’s House. For As You Like It, the rear wall of the theatre building was removed so that the stage could extend out beneath the trees.
Additionally, on July 17, 1900, Elitch Theatre celebrated its fifteen-hundredth performance by a stock company. It was estimated that 12,000 people attended the celebration.
[Borrillo, T. A. (2012). Denver’s historic Elitch Theatre: A nostalgic journey (a history of its times). Colorado. p. 45.]
Theatre Staff:
- Mary Elitch Long, Proprietor and Manager
- T. D. Long, Business Manager
- Walter Clarke Bellows, Stage Director
Resident Company:
- Jessie Izett
- Blanche Kelleher
- Louise MacIntosh
- Stella Stewart
- Katherine Field
- John T. Sullivan
- Frederick Perry
- George Soule Spencer
- J. Brandon Tynan
- William F. Owen
- Harry Stubbs
Productions:
- Week of May 26: The Wife, by David Belasco and Henry C. DeMille. Herbert Kelcey and Effie Shannon were guest stars with the company for this play and the next three productions.
- Week of June 3: The Idler, by C. Haddon Chambers.
- Week of June 10: A Coat of Many Colors, by Madeleine L. Ryley.
- Week of June 17: The Moth and the Flame, by Clyde Fitch.
- Week of June 24:The Country Fair by Charles Bernard and Nail Burgess, featuring Mr. Burgess.
- Week of July 1: A Social Highwayman, by Mary Stone, featuring Robert Drouet, Frederick Perry, and Mary Hampton.
- Week of July 8: The Dancing Girl, by Henry Arthur Jones, featuring Blanche Bates and Robert Drouet (1891).
- Week of July 15: The Last Word, adapted by Augustin Daly, featuring Blanche Bates (Oct. 28, 1890).
- Week of July 22: The Countess Valeska, adapted from the German of Rudolph Stratz, featuring Blanche Bates (1898).
- Week of July 29: The Masqueraders, by Henry Arthur Jones, featuring Blanche Bates (1894).”
- Week of Aug. 5: As You Like It, by William Shakespeare, featuring Blanche Bates and Eugene Ormonde (1794).
- Week of Aug. 12: The First Born, by Francis Powers and Comedy and Tragedy by W. S. Gilbert, featuring Blanche Bates and Eugene Ormonde (1897).
- Week of Aug. 19: The Great Ruby, by Raleigh Hamilton, through Tuesday evening, August 28, featuring Blanche Bates (1900).
- Tuesday Matinee, Aug. 28: A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, featuring Blanche Bates (Dec. 21, 1889).
- Week of Aug. 29: The Prince of the world, by Hal. Reid, featuring Hal Reid and Bertha Westbrook.
