Lawrence Welk Opera House

Lawrence Welk Opera House

This is the Lawrence Welk Opera House, which originated from Oldham, SD.  It was built in commemoration of the Socialist Party, first called the Socialist Hall.  It was constructed through donations by area citizens and party locals.  Later the "-ist" from the building name was dropped, and it became the Social Hall.  
     
When the building made its permanent home at Prairie Village, in Madison, S.D., the Social Hall was given the honor of being renamed, "Lawrence Welk Opera House." 

opera house sign.jpg (45611 bytes)

 The Lawrence Welk  Opera House sign is outside of the building, displaying the renaming of the opera house.

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 This is the box office to the Opera House.  The prices to get into the events are current prices, not the prices of the past.

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 This is a letter Lawrence Welk sent to the Opera House.  He made his debut in singing at the Opera House, which helped the House gain popularity.

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 This is the crown molding of the foyer.  It is beautiful inside the building, and the detail is grand.  If you could only see the real thing...

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 This is the sight of the stage when you first enter the auditorium.  There are rows of seats and the balcony stretches on the sides and in the back. 

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 This is the right side of the balcony, each holding rows of chairs.

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 This is the left side of the auditorium, with the balcony above, and windows and a door to the outside.

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 A chandelier hangs from the ceiling in the auditorium.  There are several that are hanging inside.

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 This is an outside picture of the left side of the building,  The other sides look very similar to this.

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 A picture of the future star of the LWOH, Joleene W.  She is going into acting.

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 Another picture of future stars of the LWOH, but these two ladies, Kim M. and Amanda B. will devote their lives to their operatic voices.