The “Save an American Treasure” Project concludes…
Welcome to the newly restored, late 19th Century interior of The Music Hall. What you see all around is the return of extraordinary decorative artistry that had been covered over and forgotten for decades – the work of original owners of The Music Hall and artisans from 1878 to 1901.
A few short years ago The Music Hall’s interior finishes were white, gummed with layers of paint and plaster. Since 1987 the Seacoast community has made heroic, successful efforts to save the theater as a not-for-profit presenting house, yet, until recently, little study had been made of its architectural past.
Then in 2006 the Music Hall commissioned EverGreene Painting Studios of New York to conduct a historic finishes analysis which revealed the existence of a flamboyant decorative scheme from the theater’s earliest days. Work began on the ornate proscenium arch and, in summer 2006, a surprise discovery was made of a mural high above the stage. The gilded arch and its mural, featuring ribbon-bearing cherubs and an arrow-pierced moon, was restored to its full, fanciful appearance and revealed to the community in September, 2006.
Months later, in February 2007, the architectural conservators were surprised again. In the process of removing layer-by-layer four coats of paint, they exposed ceiling artwork from the turn of the century. Originally created by W.S. Henay and Son of Concord, the design features grisaille Neo-classical imagery of the Greek goddess of wisdom, music, and war, Athena, within the trompe l’oeil quatrefoil panelization executed in an autumnal, Victorian color palette.
“We’ve worked in over 200 theaters, and this artwork was more exuberant than anything we’ve uncovered before,” said EverGreene’s President Jeff Greene. “In projects such as The Music Hall, sometimes the discovery is so dramatic it takes your breath away.”
Through the summer of 2007, EverGreene combined traditional artistry with modern technology to recreate the Music Hall’s decorative scheme that so beautifully reclaims the lost artistry and recaptures the fantastical ambience original to the space. The restored artwork, along with the coordinated work of stenciling, gilding, glazing and polychroming throughout the auditorium, brings the entire room back in harmony with itself, as originally intended.
In September 2007, audiences celebrated the restored theater interior in a gala opening night. With such significant and exciting work behind us, we’re on our way to restoring this treasured space for generations to come.
With this interior restoration completed the “Save an American Treasure” Project concludes…
In 2003 our treasured theater earned the honor of being named an American Treasure and received a $400,000 grant from the National Park Service and The National Trust for Historic Preservation in the federal “Save America’s Treasures Program.” The historic 900-seat theater built in 1878 is the oldest theater in New Hampshire, second oldest in New England and one of only fifteen theaters built in the 1800’s that are still operating in the U.S.
This season we celebrate the conclusion of our Save America's Treasure project as part of The Music Hall’s restoration. Since the theater was federally designated an “American Treasure” in 2003, great things have been accomplished. We gained a new roof and reinforced stair systems. The proscenium arch and historic 1878 decorative finishes of the theater’s interior have been restored, including the glorious ceiling dome.
READ More about the February 2007 discovery of the decorative paintings in the auditorium
