Non-whites were only allowed in the fourth tier of seating. The third tier held seats that provided cheap tickets for white patrons.

The first two tiers had stalls and boxes. Four tiers of seating curved along the walls of the auditorium. Boxes lined the side of the parquette as well as the pit. There was an orchestra pit followed by curved parquette (orchestra) seating. The elliptical auditorium had a proscenium stage thrusting forward with a curved apron. This was extended by a gallery projecting over the street. This arcade protected theatre-goers in bad weather. The central portion of the Bourbon Street façade projected onto the sidewalk. The Greek Revival building measured 166 feet on Bourbon Street and 187 feet on Toulouse Street. The French Opera House was built in the style of European grand operas. Construction workers used bonfires to illuminate the construction site in the evenings, allowing the structures rapid construction. The French Opera House’s construction began in 1859 on the corner of Bourbon and Toulouse Streets. and Richard Easterbrook to build the opera house. Ĭharles Boudousquie, the head of a stock company and later manager and commissioner of the French Opera House, approached James Gallier Jr. A 1913 souvenir album proclaimed that the city of New Orleans as “America’s Musical Capital” because of the prominent presence of opera.

New Orleans was the first American city to support an opera company. The French Opera House was closed during the Civil War and ultimately destroyed by a fire in 1919. Operas were held in the city as early as 1791, but the opening of the French Opera House heralded a new era of grand opera in New Orleans. The French Opera House opened on December 2, 1859. and erected in 1859, the Opera House became the cultural centerpiece of New Orleans both for hosting musical performances and later for its role in the annual carnival celebration.

The fabulous French Opera House dominated a vastly different Bourbon Street than the gaudy strip of today.

Opera house hotel new orleans