Some of you may be interested in this book review which appeared on the
H-SOUTHERN-MUSIC list, amongst others..
Keith Ramsey
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H-Net Book Review: Condee, "Coal and Culture: Opera Houses in Appalachia"
(H-Appalachia)
> William Faricy Condee. "Coal and Culture: Opera Houses in Appalachia".
> Athens Ohio University Press, 2004. 224 pp. $34.95 (cloth), ISBN
> 978-0-8214-1588-7.
>
> Reviewed by Julie Yates
> Published on H-Appalachia (November, 2008)
> Commissioned by Brian D. McKnight
>
> Where Is the Opera?
>
> The Appalachian coal mining boom often brings to mind the raw effects of
> industrialization: the destruction of land, loss of that land by its
> native people, and paternalistic devices used by coal barons to wield
> control over the land and population. Coal mining became a force that
> consumed the region in a flurry of activity with the laying of railroad
> tracks, immigration of laborers, and building of towns to entice workers
> and their families to make coal mining a way of life. Along with this
> industrialization came the development of cultural entities that
> solidified the communities. William Faricy Condee, professor of theater
> at Ohio University, explores the vital role that opera houses played in
> these communities during the rapid industrialization of the Appalachian
> region from the 1860s through the 1930s.
>
> This work, a unique combination of entertainment history and Appalachian
> history, focuses on the medium of the opera house as a "crossroads of the
> community" (p. 5). The expansion of the coal mining and railroad
> industries along with an increase in immigration converged at the same
> time to create the perfect environment for the growth of opera houses. In
> the preface, Condee states that the "goal of this book is to lay a
> historical foundation for the restoration of opera houses in Appalachia"
> (p. xi). Condee proceeds to accomplish this feat by illustrating the
> symbiotic relationship between the formation of industrialized Appalachian
> towns and the presence of opera houses. To show this linkage, the author
> uses a wide array of primary and secondary sources, including research on
> more than 125 opera houses in small to mid-size towns across Pennsylvania,
> West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio.
>
> "Coal and Culture" begins with an overview of various opera houses, which
> offers detailed descriptions of their basic designs and architecture and
> includes intriguing photographs and illustrations. The first chapter also
> supplies background information about the inner working and key design
> elements essential to the operation of opera houses. The design was
> important not only for the individual opera house but also for the entire
> town. The author employs cultural landscape studies as a methodology to
> analyze the significance of these opera houses. This interesting approach
> focuses on studying the opera house not individually but as part of the
> entire landscape. In numerous examples, the centrality of the opera
> houses within the overall organization of towns verifies their importance
> within these communities.
>
> Ironically, opera was rarely performed in the "opera houses." The name
> "opera house" was purposefully deceptive because of the desire to distance
> it from the scandalous reputation of the "theater." In turn, this
> distinction granted opera houses respect and legitimacy within towns.
> Opera houses thrived because they were deemed an acceptable part of
> society through their promotion of a larger nineteenth-century movement
> referred to by Lawrence Levine as "the cult of etiquette," which changed
> the nature of performances and audience behavior. According to Condee,
> this "feminization" of opera houses made it acceptable for women to attend
> opera house performances along with their families (p. 33).
> In Harlan, Kentucky, for example, the goal of the opera house was to
> "not only be entertaining but [also] instructional and educational" (pp.
> 25-26). Additionally, the legitimacy supplied by opera houses helped
> attract and maintain a solid labor source. For the most part, opera
> houses promoted morality and provided an air of civility within
> Appalachian towns. However, not all opera houses in smaller coal camps
> were focused on morality; some promoted entertainment, such as scantily
> clad dancing girls, that would draw the largest crowd.
>
> Condee's detailed description about the various types of events that
> occurred in opera houses is informative. The author chronologically
> traces the progression of entertainment from the inception of opera houses
> until their demise, while exploring the distinctions between high and low
> culture and how these became more important as the population became more
> class conscious. This book highlights the different types of
> entertainment available at opera houses, including blackface minstrelsy,
> variety acts, comedy acts, Shakespearean plays, and such popular dramas as
> "Uncle Tom's Cabin". Most consistently, however, the book emphasizes the
> importance of the opera house to the community; it was used for various
> events, such as graduations, political debates, and religious functions.
>
> One of the most significant contributions of this work is Condee's
> emphasis on the exposure that opera houses brought to the communities.
> The Appalachian region has often been unfairly noted for its isolation in
> comparison to the rest of the Unites States. In 1899, for instance, Berea
> College president, William Goodell Frost, described Appalachian people as
> "'our contemporary ancestors'" (p. 57). However, Condee demonstrates that
> the region was not as isolated as often thought and that opera houses
> increased the region's exposure to various cultural aspects. For example,
> the Croatian Club in Lynch, a coal camp in Harlan County, Kentucky,
> arranged a performance by an internationally known opera singer with the
> only other performance in the United States being held in Louisville.
> Overall, Condee illustrates how opera houses positively affected the
> inhabitants of Appalachia by expanding their experiences and increasing
> their quality of life.
>
> The debate over the boundaries of Appalachia continues in this analysis
> with the addition of Ohio. To clarify his decision to include Ohio,
> perhaps Condee should have examined the controversy surrounding the
> definition of Appalachia and offered an overview of the region in the
> beginning chapter to help lay the foundation for his work. At certain
> points, the book reads as if the focus is on opera houses in larger
> industrial towns rather than in coal camps, which may be a result of more
> readily available sources. However, more information gleaned from coal
> company records might have been a nice addition to this work that would
> further have helped in defining the scope of the region.
>
> Overall, Condee effectively illustrates the cultural value of opera houses
> by demonstrating how one type of building in industrialized Appalachian
> towns provided so many invaluable functions as the "nexus of the
> community" (p. xi). The final chapter summarizes the fates suffered by
> many opera houses, which ended up as ashes or were flattened. The purpose
> of the book is realized in the final pages with accounts of the
> restoration and revitalization of numerous opera houses that currently
> host community theater productions, movies, and dance recitals. Condee
> advocates that the "role the opera house can play in the future is found
> in the past," which inspires communities to preserve their own historic
> treasures (p. 173). The interesting angle of this work, provided in part
> by Condee's unique perspective as a theater professor, is undoubtedly an
> important contribution to the cultural history of the Appalachian region.
>
> This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
> Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
>
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