Goebel’s Opera House

Gayle Faulkner Kosalko May 2020

Every city in Northwest Indiana yearned to be more than just an industrial hub. Each was striving to be thought of as a bastion of culture. Residents needed to be intellectually challenged and just downright entertained. For many cities, this meant the building of a local opera house which could help provide class to the masses.

Valparaiso had its Memorial Opera House, probably the oldest in the area, being built in 1892. East Chicago had its Todd Opera House and Hammond had the Towle Opera House. But Whiting had its own opera house too named Goebel’s Opera House after its owner Mr. Henry Goebel. Newspaper clippings on the happenings at the Goebel’s go back as far as 1885.

Now as far as “opera houses” go, today we think of the Met or the Lyric. Perhaps “opera house” is somewhat of an exaggeration to those built around the turn of the last century.

Probably the closest to a real opera house is the Memorial Opera House. Today it is still home to theatre. It was built by the Grand Army of the Republic, a very patriotic group of Union soldiers from the Confederate War. This building was to be their meeting place. Built in 1892, it housed an audience of 100.

Until the time picture shows took over popularity of live entertainment, the Opera House did well. But during the 1920’s its use went downhill and by WWII it became an abandoned building. With the help of a local theatre group who wanted to perform there in 1955, the Memorial Opera House came back to life. The MOH still stands at 104 Indiana Street and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Hammond’s answer to the cultivation of class was with the 1887 opening of the Hohman Opera House created by Caroline Hohman. Next came the Towle Opera House built by Hammond’s first Mayor Marcus Towle. Like the Memorial, it was quite ornate having two tiers of box seats and a beautiful proscenium stage. Today the building still stands on Hohman Avenue. And like Valpo’s building, the Towle Opera House went through a number of changes over the years. And like all other houses, when movies came into fashion, the Towle’s audience numbers declined. Managers did try to maintain by becoming a movie house named The Hammond Theatre and later, calling it the Deluxe Theatre. Eventually it was rented out for retail during the 1950’s and 1960’s. But as malls became popular, the building, like so many other familiar businesses on what was once such a busy Hohman Avenue stood empty. Luckily in the late 1990’s the Towle (just the bare bones of a building) was redone and became the popular smaller black box Towle Theatre, which has, in a sense, brought the “opera house” back to its original purpose.

Perhaps right after Whiting’s Goebel’s opened, East Chicago built its first opera house called The Todd Opera House Theatre in 1889. The edifice stood four stories high and covered four lots. The building also housed the National Bank and a number of professional and business offices too. Unfortunately the Todd didn’t last long as it burned to the ground along with the other stores there only eight years later, in 1907. East Chicagoans were horrified since the Todd block where the opera house stood was “the largest and most imposing block in the city.” The fire was caused by a defective furnace.

Each hall served its community eight months a year. Because of the heat, all were closed during the summer months and then reopened during Labor Day week. In the meantime Todd, Towle and Goebels also booked ahead for the Fall for the first road shows out of New York. Many of the shows performed one night stands before engagements in the Loop. Secondary traveling shows came to East Chicago and Whiting.

Now Goebel’s Opera House was not fancy or ornate.  It did have a proscenium stage with an oleo curtain as a fire and main curtain.  Businesses would pay to have their ads painted on it just like ones we see in the movies.  It originally was lit with gas lights and only heated with a big stove.  There were chairs for people to sit on as opposed to theatre seats.   This proved handy because so many dances would be held there and making room was as easy as moving chairs.   Remember at this point there were no movie theatres and no community center auditorium.  There was basically just Goebels at 410 John Street and people flocked to it. (after the address conversion, the address today would be 1538 John Street)  And It had some of the best entertainment around and was always written about in the local newspapers.  More importantly it served the community in other capacities as well.

The first meeting held to discuss the building of our Andrew Carnegie Library was held at Goebel’s. And when Whiting High School had its first graduating class in 1900, Goebel’s was where the commencement for the five seniors was held. Groups such as the Knights of Pythias gave their annual ball at GOH. The Royal Neighbors (an early organization not unlike the Jednota except its members were probably English, German or Irish) created a Masquerade Ball held there for the evening where it was reported in the newspaper that many of the attendees did arrive in costumes. Sigma Delta Chi, a sorority of “a number of popular Whiting girls” would hold dancing parties there.

GOH was even was used by The Ladies’ Aid Society of the Congregational Church who gave a social and Thanksgiving dinner there, all in one day, with all the proceeds going to their church building fund.

Goebels presented shows during the week as well as on weekends. Some of the performers were local talent such pianist and soprano, Misses Della DeBriae and Cecilia Ingham in 1898. Their upcoming program was called a “program of exceptional merit that will produce an entertainment of especial attractiveness, giving as it does, a variety that cannot help but please those who are fortunate enough to hear them.” All seats in the house went for a quarter.

To have a place like Goebel’s in Whiting engendered creativity in the arts. Locals had a place to perform and perform they did. The Whiting Home Talent dramatic company took the town by storm when they presented “The Boys of 98” in 1898 to an audience that filled every available foot of space in the hall. Its review said that “seldom has a crowd at a show in Whiting equaled the one that applauded the initial effort of the home talent company. The gallery was one solid mass of humanity and downstairs it was necessary to set extra chairs in the aisles long before the curtain went up on the first act.”

The first performance of the Whiting Musical Association was held at GOH. And a performance of “Tom Thumb’s Wedding” was put on by locals starring Judge Roy Green as Tom Thumb himself.

But then GOH started to lose customers. Perhaps it was for a lack of heat in the house. GOH had always just used a stove for heating. A comment was that the Opera House was like being in the Klondike. Again the newspaper headline read what tremendous shows were coming to GOH but that their audience numbers were steadily declining. To make his point about the lack of heat not talent, the writer wrote “The breezy summer costumes of the players contrasted strangely with the temperature of the room where chattering teeth (in the audience) were hushed long enough to give place to a good hearty laugh at the comedy.”

By 1902 Goebel’s had a house pianist named Harry Walsh and local merchant S.P. Squier opened a liquor store on the main floor…and soon was arrested for selling liquor to a minor. In 1902 GOH had a new manager J.P. Garretson. Editor of the Whiting Call said that when he met Garretson, he felt at once that if anybody could “wake up the old opera house, put life into it and give us a taste of the old days,” here was a young man that would come pretty near it, anyway.

It was now the GOH modernized, having electric lights installed. Unfortunately at one performance, all the electricity went out and it was reported that they ran up and down John Street looking to borrow old-fashioned oil lamps from neighbors so that the audience could actually see the last two acts of the show.

With time, GOH made other improvements to the building. They added a stone foundation around 1905. And it was said the Goebel boys were sparring no pains to make their hall attractive for the coming season. Workmen came in to plane and smooth the floor, sandpapering into an even finish.

Now by 1906 a thoroughly repaired and rededicated Opera House emerged. Advertisements were taken out in local newspapers by the new managers Smelser and Ingham (perhaps a relative of Miss Cecilia). The ad boasted that Goebel’s Opera House has the best audience room and dancing floor in Whiting!

Goebel’s brought in many traveling show dramas and musicals. Many were based on Irish heritage which appealed to the early Irish here such as the musical “My Geraldine.” It was popular with its Irish tunes and when secondary characters “plain peasants” Kitty and Denny danced a traditional Irish jig and a reel.

Another Irish based treat was “Maloney’s Wedding Co” who had a change in the bill every night. The company brought something new with them as well, the latest wonder of all wonders, the MAGNISCOPE, which threw pictures on a canvas piece. All this was yours for a dime, two dimes or three for the best seats.

Children’s dance parties and classes for boys who wished to learn dancing were held on Saturday afternoons. There were traveling minstrel shows, such classics as Gilbert & Sullivan’s “The Mikado” and Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Field and Mark’s Burlesque Comedy played there as well as variety shows with singers and dancers and even comedy teams. Some traveling companies brought in giant scenery pieces and beautiful costumes which wowed their Whiting audiences. There were lectures on the life of Christopher Columbus by Professor Turner of Boston. And while many of these professional shows held the “key” to winning over an audience, none was probably more prepared than “Sleepy Burke” the professional safecracker, whose act was to show how it was done. He arrived tools and all in August of 1896 and for a ten-cent admission, the show was a “steal.”

An extra added treat, especially for those who could not afford that ten cents, was coming to watch an advertising parade given by whatever troupe was performing that Saturday night. One imagines the performers would have been in costume and traveled through 119th Street with dancing and music as well.

But soon across the country it was obvious that vaudeville acts were taking the place of traveling shows. So by 1905, it was announced that there was a “new vaudeville theatre” in Whiting.

The Opera House was again remodeled and then known as the New Colonial Theatre which opened June 10. (the New Colonial Theatre name didn’t seem to stick as any reference made to the operation was still noted as Goebel’s Opera House).

Promoters W. A. Rice and Thomas F. Mulheran had gotten a lease on the building. Both had worked in Chicago managing vaudeville acts and felt bringing it to nearby Whiting would be a success.

“We are going to overhaul the theatre thoroughly and make all necessary changes and repairs. We have come here to stay and are going to give the public real refined up to date vaudeville at the popular prices of 10, 20 30,” Mulheran said. “We expect to draw large crowds from E. C., Indiana Harbor, Robertsdale and East Side and even South Chicago for the fact that we are booking our acts in connection with the big houses in Chicago, which is sufficient in itself to insure nothing but high class vaudeville.”

Vaudeville acts were performed twice each evening at 7:15 and 8:30 and on weekends at 2:30. Admission was 10 cents, or you could reserve a seat for a nickel more

The Whiting Call wrote “This new venture will be watched with considerable interest as Whiting has been under the eyes for several managers as a possible gold mine for some time.”

In addition to the vaudeville acts, GOH introduced Saturday and Tuesday roller skating for ten cents. You could even rent your skates there for a quarter in 1908.

And just like the Towle and Memorial Opera Houses, Goebel’s heard the death knell ring for vaudevillians with the advent of silent movies. But Goebel’s moved on with the times once again. By 1911 headlines read “New Moving Picture Show” and announced that the Goebel Opera House is now the Orpheum Theatre” and an evening of moving pictures would cost you only a nickel.

The building had again been renovated but was advertised as the largest, best ventilated and most comfortable theatre in Whiting.

Eventually there were enough other movie houses running in the city that GOH was no longer needed. In the 1920’s it was home to the Oddfellows Club who must have bought the building and rented it out themselves for weekends.

Later the Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen Union Local no. 6 of Indiana held their union meetings there.

While a member of the union told a member of the Historical Society that there was nothing in the building but old chairs and that there hadn’t been any kind of stage.

But this man evidently never had the privilege of sitting in one of those old chairs when they were brand new over 100 years ago, watching Kitty dance the reel, hearing Cecilia sing, or character actors making him cry or laugh at the famous Goebel’s Opera House that brought class to the masses and entertained grateful residents for many years.