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Atlanta has always had a sordid love affair with opera. The first shows performed in Atlanta pre-date the Civil War primarily in makeshift facilities modified for operatic performance. According to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, Reconstruction saw the formation of the Atlanta Opera House and Building Association. The association obtained the southwest corner of Marietta Street and Forsyth Street and began to construct a five-story opera house. By 1868, they were out of money. Instead of hosting great operas, Atlanta's first opera house, the Kimball Opera House as it was later known, was sold and it then served as Georgia's state capitol from January 1869 to July 1889. In 1870, Laurent DeGive, Atlanta's Belgian consul, built DeGive's Opera House on Marietta Street. The cheap seats were $0.25. DeGive struggled with presenting touring companies because of the inflated cost of train travel through the incompletely reconstructed South. In 1893 DeGive built a second, larger theater, DeGive's Grand Opera House at 157 Peachtree Street , which in 1916 was leased to the Loew family. Later renamed Loew's Grand Theatre , it subsequently became famous for the 1939 premiere of the movie, Gone With The Wind . Margaret Mitchell , the author of the story was an Atlanta native. By 1910, the Metropolitan Opera began touring through Atlanta and the South began a 76 year love affair with its Yankee brethren. The summer Met tours became an annual week-long event that drew many of Dixie's wealthiest citizens and even more socialites. It was so popular that it began to attract an international celebrity crowd. It is reported that during Atlanta's golden age of opera, the majority of the social elite would attend the first act and then leave at intermission for drinks and an evening of party-going. It was better to be seen than to hear. Eager young students would often crowd outside the theater in hopes of gaining partially used tickets and catch the remainder of the show. As the yearly event outgrew all of Atlanta's existing theaters - even the Fabulous Fox , city aristoctrats lobbied and construction began on the Atlanta Civic Center , a cavernous and acoustically inferior building that is slated to be razed by the city in the near future. Currently, the building holds the title as the world's largest opera house. The yearly Met shows thrived there until the Met disbanded its touring program in 1986. Along the way, many local Atlanta artists attempted to create a company solely for Atlanta. There was even an ill-fated push to spark the interest of legendary chorister and conductor Robert Shaw to head a regional company. Some of these companies that were founded and have since vanished are the Atlanta Chamber Opera (1960’s), Georgia Opera (1970’s), Atlanta Lyric Opera (1976), Atlanta Civic Opera (1979), and Opera Onyx (1980s). All are defunct. However, in the 1980’s, the current incarnation of the Atlanta Opera - a regional company, was formed. The 1990's saw the addition of the community-based Americolor Opera Alliance and Capitol City Opera, most often accompanied by piano. A couple of new additions to metro Atlanta came with the regional and touring company, OperaSouth in 2006 and The New Opera in 2007. REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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