History
(Please click on the picture to take a 360 degree view of the BMHS Auditorium. QuickTime is required)
The original Beloit High School building on West Grand Avenue had no theatre or auditorium, so in the early years, "class plays" were performed at the Goodwin (later called the Wilson) Opera House north of the corner of State and Grand in downtown Beloit. The Opera House was connected to a hotel and used as a vaudeville house and the site for many touring performers and productions from 1895 until the building was torn down in 1929. After that, the sporadic high school productions were occasionally performed on the stages of Lincoln and Roosevelt Junior High Schools. These auditoriums were also used by the local community theatre since its founding in 1933.
The current high
school building opened in 1952, and the Beloit Civic Theatre moved into the 200
seat "Little Theatre" - now known as
the Elizabeth Reinholz Theatre, in honor of the woman who directed the shows at
Beloit Memorial High School from 1952 to 1974. The high school shows were
performed in the new, fully rigged 1468 seat proscenium theatre. English
teacher Evelyn Wehrle also directed a few shows during this time period.
In 1976, Loren Sass transferred to the high school after teaching eight years at Lincoln Junior High and began teaching the theatre classes and directing the shows. The traditional season included a fall comedy or drama and a spring musical. Other performances in the spring included student-directed one-act plays. For a number of years, these were held in conjunction with the Foods Service classes, and the main stage was converted into a dinner theatre. Sass retired from teaching in the spring of 2002, and Greg Wallendal was hired as the new theatre teacher and director.
The theatrešs first renovation occurred in 1965 when the
first set of front-of-house lighting slots and side wall lighting trees were
added. Prior to this time, the only stage lighting possible was done with
freestanding poles in the first row, a set of lights on the balcony rail, and
three rows of colored border lights on stage. This was all operated with an
auto transformer dimmer board located stage right. There was no sound system,
other that a public address speaker and one microphone. In 1978, the theatre was
painted and a new light board and sound system was added, placing the control
booth in the back of the balcony. A more intensive redesign and renovation took
place in 1996. The original wooden theatre seats were replaced with upholstered
ones, the stage was extended, covering a newly deepened orchestra pit, and new
lighting and sound systems were installed. Three additional front-of-house
lighting slots were also added, and the control booth was moved down to the main
floor of the theatre. Also addressed were ADA accessibility concerns for theatergoers.
Seating was reduced to an 1159 capacity.
*Special thanks to Loren Sass for that information*