Woodward Opera House Tours
Saturday, August 9, 2:00 - 7:00 pm
Sunday, August 10, 2:00 - 4:00 pm

The Woodward Opera House occupies the third and fourth floor of the historic Woodward building, what may be the oldest unaltered theater block in the country.  This venue once hosted the finest entertainers of its day, including stage legends Minnie Maddern Fiske and Frank Currier, comic monologist Bob Burdette, and minstrel man Dan Emmett. Although the Woodward has remained essentially closed for nearly 100 years, the historic value of the theater has sparked interest in restoring it to the original showplace it was in 1884 the year it re-opened, after a remodeling changed the 1851 original theater configuration.

One of the Woodward’s most famous entertainers was Mount Vernon’s own Dan Emmett.  Emmett made his first public performance at the age of 15 when a traveling show was in need of a fiddler. Performing his own composition of ‘Ol Dan Tucker,’ Emmett impressed the crowds and planted the seeds of his passion for theater. Throughout his life, Emmett traveled all over the United States as well as England performing and writing songs, including the anthem of the south, ‘Dixie.’ It was on this stage at the Woodward Opera House that Emmett would make his final performance for the annual Elks’ minstrel show on June 22, 1902.

Now that the Woodward building’s exterior restoration is complete, the Woodward Development Corporation, the nonprofit organization that owns it, is moving forward with plans for the next phase of the project - the complete interior restoration and necessary annex construction to support re-opening of the Woodward as a 500 seat multipurpose performing arts venue.  The restored Woodward Opera House is a part of the largest historic redevelopment project undertaken in this community.  When completed the project will consist of nearly 60,000 square feet of restored, renovated, and new construction.   

          See the theater and learn more about the project.  The Woodward Opera House will be open to the public two days during the Dan Emmett Music & Arts Festival:  Saturday, August 9 from 12:00 noon to 7:00 pm. and Sunday, August 10 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm.

For more information visit the Woodward Opera House web site at www.TheWoodward.org or call (740) 392-6142.

Note: All schedules and events are subject to change without notice. Please continue to check our website for all the latest updates.

For more information, call 740-392-FEST (3378) or e-mail: festival@danemmettfestival.org
or visit the Knox County Convention & Visitors Bureau at www.VisitKnoxOhio.org