Norman's New Orleans and Environs / Containing a Brief Historical Sketch of the Territory and State of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time

by Benjamin Moore Norman

THE NEW ST. CHARLES THEATRE

Like the phœnix, literally arose from the ashes of its predecessor. The first house was erected by the sole exertions of James H. Caldwell, Esq., in 1835, at the cost of $250,000, exclusive of the ground. It occupied one hundred and twenty-nine feet front by one hundred and eighty-six deep, and was seventy-six high. It held four thousand people, and was the fourth in size in the world—one at St. Petersburg, in Russia, another at Pescala, in Milan, and the third at San Carlos, in Naples, were those only which excelled it in size. It was destroyed by fire in 1842. That structure was styled "the Temple of the Drama," and the city had good reason to be proud of such an ornament.

The present building has a front of seventy-nine feet on St. Charles street, extends back one hundred and forty-nine, and is fifty-three high. The main entrance and front wall are remains of the former establishment; which, from the substantial workmanship, resisted the conflagration so effectually as to be made available the second time. Passing this memento, the spectator finds himself in the vestibule, thirty-four by twenty-three feet, from which a double flight of geometrically formed stairs ascend to the first tier. Here the pit is seen in a semi-circular shape. The centre box is but fifty-one feet from the foot lights, which brings the audience within a convenient distance of the stage. The depth of the front boxes to the rear is twenty-one feet. The proscenium presents an elevation of thirty-nine feet in the clear, by fifty in width. The upper circles of boxes possess the like advantage of the first, in respect to a distinct view of the performances.

The fronts of the boxes consist of an open balustrade, producing a novel, and agreeable effect. The dome is ornamented with sunken panels, suitably embellished with emblematic devices. A golden-fringed national drapery falls from the proscenium, displaying an ingeniously contrived allegory in the centre. Four columns sustain an ornamented entablature above, composed of a mixed style of architecture, and copied after those of the celebrated temple of Benares.