![]() ![]() ![]() For more than 75 years, until the 1980s and 90s when other halls opened in an adjoining complex, the Auditorium hosted almost all visiting opera companies and opera concerts, as well as local opera productions. The Auditorium became the de facto opera house for Denver, and the most enduring. In 1921, a company of Denver musicians performed Flotow's Martha in May of special historical significance was the fact that the two performances were broadcast by radio station 9ZAF, the first time ever that a full-length opera was broadcast. An opera or operetta was commonly included in the offerings. Various communities of the state presented musical programs and most of the performances were in the Auditorium. ![]() In the 1920s and 30s, Music Week was an annual event in Denver for several years. ![]() When the proscenium was raised, increasing the seating capacity to 12,000, the stage and backstage area became large enough to hold circuses and rodeos. When the proscenium was in place, the building was a 3,326 seat theatre with an extraordinarily large back stage area. The proscenium of the original building was designed to be portable so as to create different-sized spaces for different events. Originally, the building was a multi-purpose structure: it accommodated concerts, operas, theatrical shows, conventions, basketball, auto shows and even circuses, with flags flying from its domes and light bulbs outlining its pediments, cornice, and corners. Mayor Speer and the Chamber of Commerce raised $100,000 to celebrate the July 7 grand opening of the Auditorium with Denver's first national political convention, when William Jennings Bryan was nominated the third time for President. The Municipal Auditorium, the largest in America except for Madison Square Garden in New York, was completed in time to host the Democratic National Convention in 1908. ![]()
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