Waterville Opera House - (207) 873-7000

Theatrical Productions, Ballet Performances, Concerts, Comedy Acts, Touring Shows & More. www.operahouse.org/

The Waterville Opera House has hosted cultural events in Central Maine for more than a century, as the venue of choice for theater, concerts, dance, comedy, and other performing arts. An 810-seat, municipally-owned architectural treasure, the Opera House is currently being restored and renovated, so that it may continue to present the performing arts for the next 100 years and beyond.

Imagine yourself living in the small town of Waterville, Maine around the turn of the 20th century. Business is booming and the mills are in full swing. It is an exciting time to be alive. The R. B. Hall Band plays every Saturday night and everyone comes out to dance. Main Street is bustling with carriages and people. Castonguay Square has a beautiful fountain and is the site of many weekend festivals. Just over the hill, at what is now Head of Falls, sits a tightly compacted residential area that houses Main Street’s customers and the mills’ laborers.

Into town strolls a man named George Adams from Lawrence, Massachusetts. George meets with the City Council and declares that he has a design for an Opera House and asks, “How big would you like it?” The City Council members ponder for a while (as counselors are prone to do), and they respond by telling George they don’t need an Opera House; they need a new City Hall. George, being a most resourceful man, makes a deal with the Council. “I’ll build you a City Hall, and put an Opera House on top!”

And so construction began. It took almost ten years with many worrying it wouldn't be done in time for the Centennial of the City of Waterville. Meanwhile, George had moved on to similar projects, and sisters of the Waterville Opera House cropped up in Lebanon, New Hampshire, Rutland, Vermont and other locations throughout New England. In the years following the dedications of several of these new City Halls, the same craftsmen built copies of the structure in many towns in the Northeast including Skowhegan, Maine. Today, only three of the original George Adams-designed Opera Houses are still in active use.

Waterville Opera HouseThe municipally-owned 925-seat Waterville Opera House was, and still is, the largest and most active facility of its kind in central Maine. Over the years the Waterville Opera House has hosted the finest touring performances available. It was also the site for first-run movies. In 1973 the Waterville Opera House Improvement Association was founded. Since then more than $1 million has been raised locally to renovate and upgrade the historic facility. The Waterville Opera House now produces some of the finest regional theater in Maine.

Become a part of history as we continue the legacy of the Waterville Opera House, over one hundred years old and still going strong!

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