History
Lebanon Opera House, a historic 800-seat performing arts center, is the largest proscenium theater in the Upper Connecticut River Valley. Built in 1924, LOH began life as a vaudeville theater, community gathering place and city hall. Movie Screen, Curtain Open (2)In 1951, the Lebanon Improvement Society converted the Opera House into the town movie theater with new seats, a Wurlitzer Theatre Organ, a projection system and screen. The movie theater was closed down in 1963 and the facility was relatively unused for six years until Lebanon High School music director Ralph Bowie decided to take down the old screen and start producing high school musicals on the stage. Bowie's dedicated efforts ushered in a new era in LOH's life. With the help of local impresario Jack O'Connell and in partnership with Dartmouth College, several professional productions were presented in the venue. In 1975 City Hall a City Hall and LOH were remodeled. The improvements allowed live theater to return to LOH
Specialties
Lebanon Opera House is the only community-based theater of its size in west-central New Hampshire and the cultural focal point of the greater Lebanon community. Throughout its colorful history - from meeting house, to movie house, to the active, year-round, fully renovated performing arts facility it is today - Lebanon Opera House has come a long way since it was built in 1924 but the organization still honors its rich tradition of arts, education and community every day.