BoxOffice® Pro - December 2010

MARQUEE AWARD
A
FOUNTAIN
IN THE
DESERT
Century-old theater
is cultural oasis
by Cole Hornaday
Carved by the heavy spring flooding of the Rio Grande, the Mesilla
Valley stretches from the northwestern edge of New Mexico
to the horn of Texas. The swath of terrain is best known for its rich
agricultural resources, and locals admit that art is at a premium.
Luckily for them, the Fountain Theatre has quenched the community’s
thirst for culture and entertainment for over 100 years.
Built in 1905, the old adobe structure was initially erected as
a playhouse for live theater. Founder Albert Fountain, Jr. grew up
with a hunger for a good tale. His father was the famous Col. Albert
Jennings Fountain, an historical figure who fought in the Civil War
and later served as legal counsel for Billy the Kid—his life rivals the
plotline of an HBO mini-series.
In his day, Colonel Fountain’s brother Edward was a Shakespearean
actor on par with Edwin Thomas Booth (not to mention his
infamous younger brother, John Wilkes). The Colonel hoped his
son would establish a permanent playhouse for his gifted sibling
and bring culture to the dry valley. Then known as the Mesilla Valley
Opera House, audiences regularly attended performances by the
Fountain family and other local artists with scenic designs painted
by Albert Jr. himself. On the auditorium walls, you can still see
murals traced by Albert Jr. that told the story of his father’s journey
through the Southwest by pack mule and covered wagon.
There is a tragic sidebar to the early history of the Fountain
Theatre, as Colonel Albert J. Fountain met a mysterious end around
February 1, 1886 near White Sands, NM. The rough and ready frontiersman
and politician was with traveling his 8 year old son Henry
when both disappeared. Folks worried that the Fountains ran afoul
of outlaw “Black Jack” Ketchum, but though a suspect was appre-
34 BOXOFFICE DECEMBER 2010