Historic Theater Curtain Inventory Yields Surprising Results
Chris Hadsel of Burlington, Vt., has visited places in New Hampshire that she'd never even heard of before she agreed to try to replicate her success with the Vermont Historic Theater Curtain project here in the Granite State.  Curtains Without Borders, Hadsel's not-for-profit venture, worked with the Preservation Alliance this year to track down vaudeville-era painted scenery that once graced the stages of grange halls, town buildings, and opera houses throughout the state.

The colorful, flat pieces of hand-painted artwork most often depict lake and mountain scenery, street scenes with advertising, or a combination of the two.  The "grand drape" was the showiest of these scenery pieces - a center scene surrounded by an illusion of heavy drapery, often ornamented with gold fringe and tassels-even though the whole composition was two-dimensional and composed of inexpensive canvas and paint.

 
Landaff Town Hall theater curtain, restored. Signed:  Anderson Scenic Co., Buffalo, NY

To date, 113 historic painted theater curtains have been located at 73 sites across New Hampshire.  They range from the large and elegant grand drape from the former Woodsville Opera House, now hanging at the Haverhill Alumni Center, to very modest Grange hall curtains in Colebrook and Meriden.  Some are in good condition; others are very worn or damaged.  Some are on good clean stages with active programming, while others are in dusty storage in attics or below stages.  The buildings that house the curtains, with few exceptions, are generally strong candidates for preservation attention too.  In Vermont, curtain restoration often served as a catalyst for building restoration, bringing considerable social capital back to village centers.

One of the surprising discoveries was more of the work of Marion Frasher, of Wentworth (Frasher Studios), the only female scenic artist known to Hadsel, active during the 1920s and '30s.  Hadsel found at least six curtains by her, including one in Dorchester.  Her work is characterized by large pots of flowers, frequent use of classical pillars, and billowing drapery.

Curtains Without Borders developed a data base of contacts including town clerks, historical societies, theaters, opera houses, state-wide arts and historical groups, and the Grange, then surveyed these people to determine the existence and general condition of historic scenery.  Site visits typically included meeting with several people who then assisted Hadsel in unrolling a curtain, photographing it, and documenting its condition.  As a result of the survey and site visits, the NH Preservation Alliance now has a list of venues with painted scenery that also includes information about the potential for historic preservation or renovation.

An interactive map and photographs of every New Hampshire curtain located through this project is now posted on the Web site www.curtainswithoutborders.org, along with information about some of the artists and painted scenery conservation.  Additions will be made as more curtains are found or conserved.  Two new commitments for curtain conservation have been made, in addition to more than a dozen already stabilized, and several more sites have received full treatment proposals and are committed to raising funds for conservation.

The project will continue until December 31, 2009, and is funded by the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the N.H. Charitable Foundation.  Other partners in this effort are the New Hampshire State Grange and the New Hampshire Department of Cultural Resources.