Annual Report FY 2007 - The Music Hall, Portsmouth

AN AMERICAN TREASURE FOR THE ARTS
Between the World Wars The Music Hall remained the home of community events and High
School graduations, but fewer traveling shows were presented. Moving pictures became the
primary entertainment draw for residents of Portsmouth. Though adapted for film showing, the
theater could not compete with the three venues created in the teens expressly for that purpose,
and went through a period of partial closings that lasted until a Kittery man purchased the building
in 1945 at auction and renamed the hall “The Civic.”
For almost four decades audiences watched the stars of the silver screen ranging from John
Wayne to John Barrymore and were able to catch up on the latest newsreels or episodes of their
favorite serial. By the mid-1960s, the Hall had been leased to movie palace mogul E.M. Loew and
operated in tandem with his other theatre, The Colonial, in Market Square.
After another brief period of closure and trip to the auction block, The Music Hall was once again
re-opened. Thanks to the generosity, hard work and foresight of a group of concerned residents
known as The Friends of The Music Hall, who followed in the footsteps of the Peirce Family of more
than a century before, the theater emerged as nonprofit center for the performing arts in 1988.
Now the only remaining venue of its kind in Portsmouth, The Music Hall operates as it did in 1878,
bringing the region world class entertainment, both live and on film, and providing a meeting
place for members of the community to laugh and cry, learn about the world around them and
teach their children. In recent years the theater has welcomed such bright stars as Wynton Marsalis,
Alan Alda, Patti LuPone, John Updike and Crosby & Nash. Grammy, Tony and Pulitzer Prize winners
have graced the stage in performances unique to the region. As it has for five generations, The
Music Hall continues to serve the greatest variety of audiences, cultural and not-profit partners.
The Music Hall opens it doors for historical tours, providing backstage access and facilitating
historical discussions with local schools, groups, tourists and individual historians. The staff
works closely with Portsmouth’s many historical associations and museums to promote a
further understanding of Portsmouth’s unique history.
34