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Traveling Companies
Vermont's rugged terrain and frequently forbidding climate accounted, to a significant degree, for the rare appearances by itinerant theatrical troupes throughout the isolated regions of Western Vermont. More importantly, this cultural paucity was a result of the impact of religious revivalism in the area, which reinforced in the public mind the dangers of succumbing to frivolity. "Every Christian ought to abstain from theaters," warned the National Standard in 1821. "However innocent he may imagine himself to be, in bringing from those places an untainted heart, it is sullied by being there; since by his presence alone, he has participated in the works of the devil." In 1824, Vermont imposed a tax on all traveling shows that kept their appearances to a minimum. Nevertheless, some unusual spectacles visited the region. One of the earliest on record was the exhibition of an African Lion in 1807. Occasional appearances by small menageries, side shows and other "curiosities" constituted the chief form of outside entertainment. In the long hiatuses between visits from traveling shows, the relative isolation of Vermont communities called out for some form of self-sufficient diversion. In addition to the annual Middlebury College Commencement and exhibitions, Addison County churches, schools and community sponsored presentations of local talent in vocal and instrumental music concerts and "entertainments." The arrival of the railroad opened the doors for an eventual deluge of traveling theatrical companies, road shows, exhibitions, demonstrations, and lecturers to the region. Vermonters were eager to fill their leisure hours with an amazing range of entertainments. From 1850 on, Addison County residents attended circuses, dog & pony shows, concerts by vocal and instrumental musical artists and groups, minstrel shows, Wild West shows, Lilliputian opera companies, Irish (Hibernica) shows, Uncle Tom's Cabin companies, General and Mrs. Tom Thumb, and a elaborately bizarre theatrical melodramas. Entertainment was not restricted to the performing arts. The subconscious need of Vermonters to feel that leisure time was spent engaging in some form of education and self-improvement made lecturers extremely popular, with topics ranging from politics, religion and social issues, to humor and illustrated talks on foreign lands. Large crowds attended exhibitions of the famous Vermont Panther, hot-air balloons; demonstrations by magicians, spiritualists, and Bohemian Glass Blowers, or new inventions including vapor stoves, gigantic clocks, the stereopticon, phonograph, magic lantern shows and, in 1900, moving pictures. While many in today's audiences might be offended by much of the humor and racist material of minstrel, Irish, Lilliputian and Wild West shows, as well as stereotyped individual performers and groups within other shows, nineteenth century audiences were not socially conditioned to view them as objectionable. On the other hand, distinguished artists and speakers of color who visited the region drew large and appreciative crowds. In 1875, for example, the Hyers Sisters, acclaimed African-American singers appeared locally in their musical production Out of Bondage, and Wong Chin Foo, one of the first activists for Chinese citizenship and voting rights, lectured on "Domestic Life in China." In the post-Civil war years, most significant events including performances by traveling companies and visiting artists took place at Academy Hall, an auditorium on the third floor of the Middlebury Graded School. By the early 1880s, it was clear that Academy Hall, after only twenty years of service, "is not a proper place to hold entertainments, being not only hard to reach, but dangerous on account of the liability to a panic in case of fire." (Middlebury Register, February 16, 1883). Middlebury town fathers saw the construction of a new town hall as the solution. In February 1883, a special town meeting confirmed that "it is now assured that Middlebury will before many months have a building that has long been needed for town purposes and for public entertainments." One year later, the 11th Annual Masquerade Ball opened Middlebury's new Town Hall Theater, designed as Middlebury's entertainment showcase.
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