Academy of Music

About

The Academy of Music was both a theatre and a school for the performing arts in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, located at 1371 Bank St. (now West 6th St.) a bit north of Superior Avenue in the section of downtown now known as the Warehouse District. Built in 1852, it opened as National Hall in 1853. It operated with little success under the name Foster's Varieties when it was leased by the actor and playwright Charles Foster in 1854–1855. It was taken over by John A. Ellsler who transformed the venue into one of America's better theaters during the 1850s and 1860s. It operated as the Cleveland Theater from 1855 until 1859 when it was renamed the Academy of Music.

A successful dramatic school associated with the academy, one of the first in the United States, opened in 1854. The theatre declined in the 1870s as Cleveland's business demographics shifted. Ellsler led the theatre until he left to open the Euclid Avenue Opera House in 1875. It was briefly known as the Theater Comique in 1888 before once again being known as the Academy of Music. The theatre was active until 1889 when it was partially destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt and operated briefly as a venue for vaudeville until a second fire destroyed the theater in 1892.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.