Crystal Ward Kent by Dan Gair/Blind Dog Photo, Inc.

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The Music Hall, which has been nominated to the National Historic Register, pumps more than four million dollars into the local economy through show- and visitor-related spending.

History can reveal itself in the peeling back of a small strip of paint. Sometimes that history is so glorious and breathtaking that it leaves even the experts astounded. Such is the case at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, N.H., where renovators recently discovered artwork of magnificent quality underneath the bland white paint of the Hall’s dome. This glimpse of past opulence was completely unexpected.

The 1878 facility has a unique past, having hosted such legendary artists as Mark Twain, Buffalo Bill, Harry Houdini and John Philips Sousa. With a 900-seat capacity, the theater is the oldest in New Hampshire, the second oldest in New England, and the fourteenth oldest working theater in the United States.

In 1900, Portsmouth brewery magnate, and cultural philanthropist, Frank Jones purchased the theater and added opera boxes, fluted columns, the proscenium arch, and dozens of aesthetic touches. He expanded the stage by 40 feet and heightened the ceiling. The arch was actually added to echo the beauty of the dome, but that fact would lay undiscovered for decades.

In 2003, The Music Hall was named one of America’s Treasures by the U.S. Senate. Thanks to the designation, the Hall received federal grant money for preservation and restoration. The first steps made the building structurally sound and weather tight. Once this was done, restoration began, based on careful research by The Music Hall staff and experts from EverGreene Painting Studio of New York, N.Y. EverGreene’s team includes painters and researchers from around the world; they have executed restorations at the U.S. Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, the American Museum of Natural History, the Art Institute of Chicago, and many landmark theaters throughout the United States.

It was during EverGreene’s work, that “the lady began to reveal herself,” says Patricia Lynch, executive director of The Music Hall.

The ceiling had sustained water damage, so repairs came first. Artists then began carefully removing larger and larger sections of paint. Finally, the original was revealed to be a terrifically bold, Victorian-style design in rich autumnal colors typical of the period, originally created by the Concord- based W. S. Henay and Son.

“We believed there was a stenciled design underneath the paint,” says Elena Maltese, special projects manager at The Music Hall, “and we would have been thrilled to find that. Paint had peeled in several sections and we glimpsed hidden artwork. We had also heard rumors of a zodiac design that was painted on the ceiling sometime after the Frank Jones era and before the Hall’s auction in 1945. But none of our initial research prepared us for a find of this magnitude.”

Unveiled was one of the finest examples of high Victorian art. Four teardrop designs in blues, sea greens, golds, and a deep peachy rose radiate out from the center of the dome where a chandelier once hung. Along the teardrop designs are delicate patterns, meant to evoke a silk fabric behind latticework. At the end of each teardrop is a central cartouche, which features the head of a Greek god or goddess, such as Apollo or Athena. In between the central cartouches are secondary cartouches, which lead the eye to the next panel.

“This is the largest and most flamboyant decorative element I’ve ever had the pleasure of uncovering—and I’ve been doing this for seventeen years,” says Bryon Roesselet, architectural conservator with EverGreene Painting Studio. Bryon, along with colleague Kumiko Hisano, executed much of the discovery work on the dome.
The pair were especially impressed by the shadow techniques featured in the trompe l’oeil work, citing it as extremely sophisticated not only in terms of required skill, but also in the level of detail and color scheme.

“The use of the Greco theme is appropriate to the time period. During the early nineteen hundreds, Greek ideals were considered the highest to aspire to,” explains Elena. “The Greek celebration of art, community and culture was much revered. Hence the inclusion of the head of Apollo, god of music, poetry and art, and Athena, goddess of wisdom, in the dome design.”

A vivid blue fills the open spaces between the teardrop designs. According to Elena, this does not represent the sky; instead, it alludes to height, hope, heaven—those bright and beautiful intangibles. “It is not meant to be the sky itself but an allusion,” she says.

Once they saw the first hint of a pattern, the EverGreene artists had an idea of where to continue looking based on their extensive knowledge of patterns of the time. When the stripping was finished, they took comprehensive measurements and color notes, then returned to their studios. There, they created detailed, life-size prototypes. While this was going on, thorough preparation was done on the plaster surfaces of the dome. When the prototypes were complete, the artists returned to the dome to begin the next phase. Placement sketches had been done first, followed by color roughs, then the final art and gilding. A protective seal was ultimately applied to the dome art, which will be maintained and retouched over time as needed.

The entire project was completed in a record time of three months in order to allow The Music Hall to maintain as much of its normal performance schedule as possible. The Hall closed for the month of August during the most intense painting, then reopened on cue in September with the dome’s glory revealed.

“No one anticipated finding anything this spectacular,” says Jeff Greene, president and owner of EverGreene Painting Studios. “I’ve worked on hundreds of theaters and this is one of the most exciting archaeological finds I’ve ever come across. We had heard anecdotes, and seen historical newspaper accounts that hinted that such art might be there, but you never know how much of this is true. This painting was beyond our expectations. In twenty years, I’ve never had a surprise on this level. People will be stunned by the transformation.”

A Colorful History

• When the stairs at The Music Hall were restored, a window into pop culture was opened. Inside the stairs were candy wrappers, jujubes, M&Ms, cigarette packs and other items from the 1890s, early 1900s and 1950s. An exhibit for this mini time capsule is planned.

• The first film seen in Portsmouth, listed only as “Edison’s Moving Pictures,” showed at The Music Hall in 1898, seven years before the first cinema, or theater built for film, opened in the United States.

• The Music Hall is the only remaining downtown theater built specifically for live events. Some of Broadway’s top talent came to this theater, including John and Sydney Drew (uncles to the Barrymore clan), Amelia Bingham (the original Nancy in “Oliver!”), Arnold Daly, who brought George Bernard Shaw’s plays to American audiences for the first time, and Robert Mantel and Marie Booth Russell, a husband and wife team who performed in more than fifty Broadway productions of Shakespeare’s plays.

• Buffalo Bill Cody, Wild Bill Hickock, and Texas Jack Omohundro performed on The Music Hall stage, complete with live riding acts, sharp shooting and other frontier skills. Elephants and other animals have appeared on stage during various circus performances.

Go behind the scenes...
and through history on a guided tour of the celebrated 1878 theater. Tours take place on the third Wednesday of each month through April 2008 at noon, originating in the lobby of the theater at 28 Chestnut Street, Portsmouth. Tickets are $6 ($5 for member). 603 436-2400, themusichall.org