Submitted by Rich Amole, Blogfinger reporter and staff historian. ©
This post is from August 4, 2014 on Blogfinger:
Paul:
So many voices over the years have performed at the Great Auditorium. On August 12, 1908, Ocean Grove welcomed a performance of an American operatic contralto star named Louise Homer. She had an active international career in concert halls and opera houses from 1895 until her retirement in 1932. She was also a member of the Metropolitan Opera in the years 1900-1919. I put together the attachment above that has a photo of her plus various priced tickets.
Wonder if she sung a short tune at Days afterwards?
From Rich Amole, Blogfinger staff.
Editor’s note: During the years of Ocean Grove’s famed music director Tali Esen Morgan, many great names appeared in the Great Auditorium. He built a grand house on Abbott Avenue in 1906, and around 1910, he entertained Enrico Caruso who put on a bit of a concert in Morgan’s front parlor. We wrote about that house and about that impromptu concert. Here is the link:
It’s interesting that Rich Amole sent us these tickets which provide for seating in the gallery and the main floor. Curiously, the brochure above refers to the “Grand Auditorium.” That must have been a goofy misunderstanding, because the Auditorium, which was built in 1894, was just called the “Auditorium” at first and for many years. Then a big sign on the roof said “Ocean Grove Auditorium,” and it remained up there until it was falling apart and was removed, but not replaced, in 1979.
According to Wayne T. Bell, Jr, Cindy L. Bell, and Darrell A. Dufresne, authors of The Great Auditorium—Ocean Grove’s Architectural Treasure (2012,) “It took awhile” for the name “Great Auditorium” to take hold. The authors reviewed many sources dating back over 100 years to find out that it was in recent times, perhaps the 1970’s, that the name “Great Auditorium” became official, especially after the PR people got hold of it.
As for Louise Homer, she was a huge star in the opera world, making her debut at the Met. in 1900, performing in Aida. For 19 consecutive seasons she played the “Met” opposite Caruso and other greats of the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Here is an old recording of Louise Homer singing with Enrico Caruso and Marcel Journet in the opera Samson et Dalila. The year was around 1920. They are singing in French about celebrating a victory. I hope it’s not the scene where she cuts off his hair—–so sad; I hate that part. Rich Amole owns these tickets now, having acquired them on Ebay from some Grovers, but if he thinks he can go to the concert, sorry Rich, but you are a little late. —-Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger.
I donated those tickets to the OG Historical Association. I did acquire them on Ebay and in a mint state for $5.00 from a couple who at the timed were living in Ocean Grove and getting things in order to sell their property.
The shown page is now part of the Shawmont Hotel / Ocean Grove project.
beezee: Thank you for researching this. Great comment! Paul @Blogfinger
So many tickets for this concert, in mint condition, are easily available that I often wondered if this show ever actually happened at all. My 75 cent ticket is for Section UU, way up in the far northeast quadrant of the balcony. Not exactly a prime seat, and maybe not worth $20 in 2014 money.
But the show DID take place and was a screaming success. How do I know? Thanks to the OG Historical Society, you can read all about it on page 1 of the August 15, 1908 edition of the Ocean Grove Times (on their website, hit collections/digital newspapers/Ocean Grove Times, then navigate to 1908). Sorry to say that I missed it, and missed it entirely by about 43 years….