About Us

Mission

To nourish the soul. To indulge the human spirit. To be the destination for distinctive, quality arts and entertainment for middle New Hampshire.

History

In the 1890's the Franklin, NH town leaders focused their attention on quality of life issues for their vibrant, vital, successful community. By 1892 they had planned and started construction of a new town and Soldier's Memorial Hall. Designed by William Butterfield in the Romanesque Revival style, the red granite and brick building included Town offices, the police and water departments, the city court, a theatre and function hall.

It was dedicated and opened to the public on September 5th, 1893. The total cost was about $45,000, including the furnishings. The Hall provided 504 flexible seats on the main floor and 288 fixed seats on its second level or balcony.

It was soon affectionately referred to as "The Opera House." The term "Opera", in the late 1890's was commonly used to refer to many forms of musical and theatrical entertainment. Small "Opera" Houses like the Franklin Opera House, although not large enough to host a full-scale Opera Company, accommodated many smaller performances as well as individual Opera singers.

Immediately after its opening and for the next 50 years, the Franklin Opera House became a venue for balls, dances, lectures, plays, musicals, vaudeville shows, concerts, school productions and graduation ceremonies.

During the Depression, the Opera House provided social programs for the community and was a place for unemployed men to gather for games activities. In the basement, there was even a miniature golf course from 1930-1931.

During World War II, programs of the Red Cross were offered there, as were other special, inventive programs. The auditorium was transformed into a basketball court for exhibition games, and utilized as a venue for wrestling.

After World War II, as the country began to tune into television and respond to commercial cinema, use of the Opera House declined. At the same time, the needs of city government grew. The police department expanded throughout the lower level, and district court offices were constructed on the stage. By 1970 administrative offices encroached into the auditorium until the balcony and stage were no longer visible to those attending meetings in what was to become City Council Chambers. The Franklin "Opera House," once an important and vital social center of the community, ceased to provide the entertainment for which it was designed.

In 1999, however, with the vision of residents like Norma Schofield and Steve Foley, the City Hall began the transformation back into the Opera House once again. The drop ceiling was removed, the partitions which formed offices on stage were torn down, and myriad other aesthetic and technical improvements were made to enable the Opera House to be reborn.

What started as the Franklin Opera House Restoration Committee evolved by 2000 to become a nonprofit corporation, Franklin Opera House, Inc. By 2001, the first shows in 30 years lit up the proscenium and breathed life into this grand old building.

While the Opera House operated successfully as a mostly volunteer-driven start-up nonprofit for several years, providing a wonderful venue for arts and other functions for the local community, the Board of Directors recognized that in order for it to grow and become a stable, mature, and thriving business, it needed to think beyond the Opera House serving the local community; sights were set on the Opera House becoming a regional destination, and a major attraction in central New Hampshire.

Reflecting the broader geography it intended to serve, as well as aiming to infuse more brand recognition for the distinctive arts and entertainment it seeks to provide, in 2009 the name of the organization was changed to Middle New Hampshire Arts & Entertainment Center, or "The Middle" for short.

The fine historic building that the Franklin Opera House is will always be the "Opera House" to the locals, and likely even to many of our newer patrons. We celebrate the history and legacy of that tradition as part of what makes The Middle such a special place.