What are the opening hours?

Monday 8:30am - 5pm Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm Thursday 8:30am - 5pm Friday 8:30am - 5pm Saturday 10am - 5pm

The Abbeville Opera House

Name: The Abbeville Opera House
Address: 100 Court Square, Abbeville, SC, 29620, US
Telephone: +18643669673
Price range: $

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The Abbeville Opera House

The Abbeville Opera House is a Performing Arts Venue which hosts concerts, comedy, theater, and more!

04/29/2025

Thank you for an AWESOME April! We are always thrilled to host camp. Check out https://thebaillieplayers.com/abbeville/ for more information on upcoming events.

04/27/2025

Here's a reminder about road closures this week for City of Abbeville's Spring Festival! Keep this in mind if you'd like to visit the Opera House Wednesday-Friday.

From the City's Notice:

Road closures for Spring Festival will begin on Wednesday, April 30th at 6:00 AM. The interior of the Square will be closed to traffic. All side streets entering downtown will remain open.
Beginning on Wednesday, April 30th at 6:00 PM, road closures will include side streets like South Main, Pickens, and Washington. Traffic can still flow down North Main to Trinity.
On Thursday, May 1st at 6:00 AM, final road closures will include the Square and all side streets until Sunday morning.

04/26/2025

We were so happy to welcome Ten at the Top to our historic Opera House! Have you visited us yet? Come see all that our theater has to offer!

04/24/2025

Tickets are still available for Peachtree Players production of Southern Crossed: The Musical. Join the Garden Club of Natchez, Mississippi as they kick off their annual Tour of Homes. Hilarity ensues in this brand-new show you won't want to miss!

Get your tickets at: aftontickets.com/peachtreeplayers

04/23/2025

We're unveiling our new office hours! Come see us during the week Monday - Thursday from 8AM - 5PM or Friday from 8AM - 12PM.

Be sure to follow our lineup at https://www.abbevillecitysc.com/564/The-Abbeville-Opera-House and here on Facebook to see our weekend hours.

04/21/2025

Our elevator is undergoing renovation for the next 2-3 weeks. We apologize for any inconvenience, but we are so excited to keep our historic building accessible for all!

The Opera House Elevator Renovation is underway this morning! This project will help to ensure the Opera House remains not only a thriving entertainment venue but also serves as an a Municipal Administrative Building with ADA Access.

Please note that the Opera House Elevator will be down for the next 2-3 weeks while renovations are underway. The City does apologize for any inconvenience.

04/20/2025

Happy Easter to all our Peeps out there! 🐰

04/17/2025

We will reopen Monday, April 21st. Have a safe and happy Easter weekend!

04/15/2025

The acoustic stage lineup is here for the 2025 Spring Festival! Enjoy this incredible talent on Trinity Street on Saturday, May 3rd.

Introducing the 2025 Spring Festival acoustic stage lineup! Be sure to check out these amazing artists on Trinity Street on Saturday, May 3rd and go to the link below for more festival information.

https://www.abbevillecitysc.com/170/Spring-Festival

04/14/2025

🚨 We have a new promotion for you! Tickets for Comedy, Magic, and Mind Reading are now $10 for seniors and children 12 & under! Just use promo code TEN at checkout to take advantage of this awesome deal.

Get your tickets at: aftontickets.com/abbevillemagic

04/10/2025

It's National Sibling Day! Celebrate your favorite relatives by taking them to a show here at the Opera House. Whether it's your sister, or your sister from another mister, we have something the whole family will enjoy!

See our season lineup at: https://www.abbevillecitysc.com/564/The-Abbeville-Opera-House

04/08/2025

Stand your ground and come on down to the Abbeville Opera House on Saturday, August 9th to see The Mad Hatters: A Tribute to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Comprised of rock veterans from the Georgia Satellites and other national and regional touring acts, The Mad Hatters deliver a pulse pounding sound and stage show that could only be matched by Tom Petty himself.

Get your tickets at: aftontickets.com/themadhatters

04/07/2025

It's time for another The Baillie Players after-school drama camp! Get the details at: www.thebaillieplayers.com/abbeville

04/04/2025

Looking for your dose of Southern comedy? Check out this new musical from Peachtree Players. Southern Crossed: The Musical premieres Friday, May 16th at 7:30 P.M.

Get your tickets at: aftontickets.com/peachtreeplayers

Address

100 Court Square
Abbeville, SC
29620

Opening Hours

Monday	8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday	8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday	8:30am - 5pm
Thursday	8:30am - 5pm
Friday	8:30am - 5pm
Saturday	10am - 5pm

Telephone

+18643669673

Website

http://www.abbevillecitysc.com/310/The-Abbeville-Opera-House

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The Abbeville Opera House

The Opera House plays host to Stand-Up Comedians, Live Musicians, Live Theatre, Movies and more! Performing in the George Settles auditorium on the Michael Genevie Mainstage. Performance information is available by contacting the Opera House at (864) 366-9673.

History of the Opera House

Since 1908 ...

At the turn of the last century there were many "road companies" producing shows in New York City. Once the production was assembled, the show traveled throughout the country. One of the more popular tours went from New York to Richmond to Atlanta. For a number of years, Abbeville was an overnight stop for the entire touring company. Several members of the community decided that if this area had a facility, since the traveling theatre companies were coming through here anyway, Abbeville could sponsor some of these touring productions. At that time, Abbeville was a center of activity for western South Carolina. Many "road companies" began touring from New York to Atlanta, with the Opera House as an overnight stop. Between 1908 and 1913, Abbeville audiences enjoyed approximately 260 live performances on the magnificent 7500 square foot Opera House stage. The theater offered a rich variety of Vaudeville,Minstrel and Burlesque shows - along with touring productions of many of Broadways most popular musicals and plays. From The Great Divide (which opened the theatre on October 10, 1908), and Fagg's Famous Lady Minstrels to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and a musical version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the Abbeville Opera House offered an incredible variety of entertainment. Locals attest appearances by legendary performers F***y Brice and Jimmy Durante - as well as, George White's Scandals and the Ziegfeld Follies graced the Opera House stage during its heyday. Beginning with the appearance of moving pictures as early as 1910, Opera House audiences enjoyed a unique companionship between live theater and motion pictures. A partial listing indicates that over 3,250 moving pictures played in the theater from 1914 to 1930. During this time, articles in the local press showed public concern over whether or not these silent films were wholesome and over the manners exhibited by theatre audiences. The local weekly newspaper, The Abbeville Press and Banner, printed several specific suggestions for the theater-goers of the era, such as:

With musicians and full sound effects, silent movies still had some of the glamour of live theater. But beginning with The Jazz Singer, the "talkies" replaced live entertainment with sound track recording, and the magic of show business became the routine of canned entertainment. The Jazz Singer played the historic Abbeville Opera House in 1927 and the road shows began to fade. Vaudeville, Minstrel and Burlesque shows became a thing of the past and as the theater declined, Abbeville's influence as a cultural center also began to fade. The Opera House remained a movie theater until the late fifties, when it joined many other grand "movie houses" that were losing money and were forced to close.

The Revival...

Also in the late 1950's, a group of supporters formed under the leadership of George W. Settles for the purpose of preserving live theater in upstate South Carolina. Organized in 1958 as the Abbeville Community Theater, the group dedicated itself to preserving legitimate theater for Abbeville and the surrounding region, and staged productions in the old Chestnut Street School for the next decade. Ten years later, A.C.T. visualized the potential of the abandoned Opera House and mounted a community-wide campaign as the first step in restoring this grand old theater. To celebrate the return of The Opera House to its original purpose, Thornton Wilder's Our Town was presented on stage in May, 1968.

Soon after its restoration the Opera House once again began to draw attention to Abbeville. In 1970-'71 both the American Community Theatre Association and the American College Theatre Association held the south eastern competitions in the Opera House. These events brought the best of the college and community theaters to perform on Abbeville's stage, as well as famous theatre personages to act as judges and reviewers. Sponsors of the events included such famous names as American Airlines, American Express, and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

With the increase in tourism in this region, the Opera House began a Summer Theater Season in 1978. In 1979, a professional touring theater company led by Michael Genevie, established residence at the Opera House - the first since 1917. Michael Genevie has gone on to become the Executive Director of the historic Abbeville Opera House. Under his leadership, the theatre has twice been awarded the South Carolina Governor's Travel Award for Tourism and was designated as the Official State Theatre of South Carolina. Genevie has received numerous awards through the years and continues to direct the majority of the winter and summer theatre season productions on the turn of the century stage.

Today the Opera House is fully restored to its turn-of-the-century condition with two exceptions - the addition of air conditioning and rocking chair seats. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the theater uses the same rope pulled rigging systems as in 1908, and is the only "h**p house" remaining in South Carolina. Once again, this "Grand Old Theater" is being used for its original purpose - to present live theater as the cultural hub of Abbeville and the Upstate Region of South Carolina.

Gifts to the Opera House are tax exempt and are vital to keep it flourishing. Wouldn't you like to help keep a Grand Old Theater active?

The Abbeville Opera House

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The Abbeville Opera House

The Revival...