Historic Elks Opera House, Florence Roberts, ZaZa, Prescott AZ

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Parker Anderson
Official Historian

IN THE BEGINNING...

A request published in the 1904 Prescott
Daily Journal Miner urged businessmen of
the city to attend a meeting on Feb. 12 to
discuss a proposal from the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks Lodge #330 to
include an opera house, at an estimated
cost of $15,000, to the building they were
erecting on East Gurley Street.

“Prescott should have a good opera house
and there never was a good chance before
to have one for the money that this will cost,
and if this chance is lost it will be a good
long time before another such opportunity is
offered,” the newspaper notice stated.

The Elks Lodge’s original plans did not call
for a theatre. Entertainment-hungry
residents raised the necessary funds and it
was incorporated into the plans for the
three-story building housing the lodge on
the top floor, offices on the second floor and
retail space on the ground floor.

The granite cornerstone of the building was
laid on April 3, 1904, with an excited crowd
in attendance. Architecturally, the building
represents a transition from the Victorian
commercial styles of the 19th century to the
Sullivanesque and New-Classical designs of
the early 20th century.

The February 10, 1905, Prescott Weekly
Courier reported:

“The peer of that theatre is not found east
of San Francisco until the great cities of
the Mississippi Valley are reached, and
even there
our theatre is outclassed only as to size,
for our theatre is about as perfect as the
handiwork of man generally gets to be.”

Florence 'ZaZa' Roberts

The grand opening of the Elks Opera House
was Monday, Feb. 20, 1905. Actress
Florence 'ZaZa' Roberts acted in the
opening-night play, Marta of the Lowlands,
written by Angel Guimera and billed as a
romance of old Spain.

The Weekly Arizona Journal headline
asserted:
“Opening of Elks Theater Last Night
Brilliant Social Event.”

Prescott was a convenient stopover for
companies traveling between the larger
cities to the east and west. Famed
performers Sir Harry Lauder and John
Phillip Sousa were among the notables who
appeared at the Elks. Tom Mix and Tony the
Wonder Horse were repeat performers at
the theater.

Major physical changes started at the Elks
Opera House in the 1940s, when the opera
boxes and ornamental finishes were
removed to accommodate wide-screen
movies. The copper elk statue atop the roof
and an inside box office also eventually
disappeared as did a second set of balcony
stairs.

Under New Management.

The Arizona Community Foundation
purchased the Elks Opera House in 1982.
That same year the building was listed on
the National Register of Historic Places.
Yavapai College managed the theater from
the mid-1980s until 1992, when the
college’s performing arts center was built.
Prescott College succeeded as Elks
manager and during its stewardship, the
building benefited from many grant-funded
structural repairs and equipment upgrades.

The Advent of Cinema Comes Early...

The 1915 film masterpiece, Birth of a
Nation, was shown at the Elks in 1916.
During the silent film era, the theater had
a small orchestra to provide the
accompanying music. By 1929, the silent
movie days were over, their demise owing
to the Western Electric sound system.
Movies were a mainstay of the Elks Opera
House through the 1970s, with live
performances returning in the 1980s.

The City of Prescott acquired the Elks Opera
House from the Arizona Community
Foundation in February 2001, paying
$250,000 in a bid to preserve the historic
landmark and ensure its continued use as a
community gathering place. The Elks Opera
House Foundation was organized by a group
of Prescott citizens in late 2002 as a non-
profit, tax exempt Arizona corporation.

The Foundation continues, in partnership
with the City of Prescott which owns the
theater space, to plan rehabilitation,
renovation and restoration and to enhance
the use of the opera house by marketing to
all producing and performing entities as well
as to meeting and convention planners.

On Friday, December 9, 2006 “Bill”, the
much beloved elk made of Arizona copper
which adorned the top of the Elks Opera
House from June 5, 1905 to 1971 was
returned to the top of the Elks Opera House
following its restoration and rehabilitation.
“Bill” had been moved in 1971 and taken to
the Elks Club, B.P.O.E. #330 when they
moved to their new building.

The next phase of the renovation included
the inner (2nd) lobby, concessions
upgrades, and the installation of a new,
state-of-the-art sound system. The City of
Prescott contributed over $135,000 to the
sound system and concessions. An Arizona
Heritage fund grant and a match by the
Arizona Questers funded the $40,000 lobby
renovation.

On July 1, 2009, the theater went dark and
the ‘house’ will be restored to its 1905
grandeur, bringing back the box seats, the
three dimensional elk heads, the ornate
proscenium arch, light ring, new seats and
much more.

The theater continues to serve the
community of Prescott and its environs with
free movies, talent and variety shows,
amateur and professional theater
productions, concerts, lectures, graduations
and still the occasional wedding.