RICH HISTORY
CROWN JEWEL The Sheridan Opera House is an ornate, beautiful example of living history BY MARTINIQUE DAVIS
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alking across the threshold of the historic Sheridan Opera House is like stepping into Telluride’s fascinating past. A sweeping grand staircase ushers eventgoers to a regal-yet-intimate 238-person venue, replete with two levels of burgundy velour and cast-iron seats set before a rich wood-wrapped stage. Ornate floral stencil paintings adorning the walls offer a rare example of the transitional period between the late 1800s Art Nouveau style and the Craftsman tradition of the 1920s, casting a fanciful feel over a space that has welcomed an incredible range of artists from early 1900s performers Lillian Gish and Sarah Bernhardt to late-20th century icons Smokey Robinson and John Prine to today’s big names, like Mumford and Sons and the String Cheese Incident. Here, in the quiet of a place that has been called the “living room of Telluride”, you can almost hear
the echo of 110 years of patrons’ feet dancing across the original, beautifully restored maple-wood floors. Located on Colorado Avenue, the opera house is one of the community’s most palpable examples of living history, embodying Telluride’s transition from rough-and-tumble mining town to a certified Colorado Creative District with a vibrant and diverse arts scene. Today, the building isn’t an exact replica of the stately opera house J. A. Segerberg, manager of the adjacent New Sheridan Hotel, first envisioned in 1912, says the opera house’s PR and marketing director, Maggie Stevens. “Things have changed,” she says, explaining that the vestibule, offices and staircase aren’t original. “But we’ve done our best to restore it to what it looked like 110 years ago, so that when you walk in here, you’re transported to a different time in Telluride’s history.” The opera house, which is also sometimes referred to as the “crown jewel of Telluride”, was
