The Young Collector By Kim Tibbs As I walked up the grand staircase and glanced at the glittering chandelier above my head in the Lathrope & Ruffing Opera House, I was enchanted with what this partially deteriorating building had once been during its heyday and with the idea of what it could become once it’s given the opportunity again after a proper, lengthy restoration. As I perused the aisles of empty seats, peered down at the stage below from the balcony that was rapidly falling apart and stole the occasional glimpse up at the ceiling that was worn and torn from many years of neglect, it wasn’t hard for a lover of history to see what it was about this building that had captivated those audiences years ago and what it was about it that had drawn others such as my host, Anita Werling, president of the Delphi Preservation Society, to crusade its cause in the present. There was a certain romantic indefinable quality to the very air I breathed – albeit it was partially stale – as I allowed my mind to transport itself through all the performances and traveling troupes of actors who must have graced the stage throughout its glory days. As I stood on its very stage and looked all around me, I felt it, and I’m pretty certain my host must have felt it, too. For that is the phantom associated with restoring an old opera house. As I listened to my tour guide’s details about the building’s colorful past, images of chattering ladies and gentlemen strolling up the staircase elegantly dressed in their fancy dresses and suits complete with top hats, gloves and canes were conjured in my mind. How the music must have played and a sense of wonderment must have filled the premises. Suddenly, the date was once more April 7, 1882, and a brand new opera house was opening in Delphi, Ind., a small-sized town north of Indianapolis. “From the first, there has been an unusual interest manifested in the improvement and remodeling necessary for the completion and perfection of the new opera house,” proclaimed an issue of the Delphi Journal dated March 29, 1882. “Everywhere on the street might have been heard for the last two weeks, ‘We’ll all go to the opening,’ for everyone felt confident that Manager Lathrope would have something good, for he never does anything halfway.” It doesn’t take much to visualize the excited buzz that must have been stirring throughout the town – and entire county for that matter – on that history-making night. An acclaimed soprano named Marie Litta, who had made her debut in Paris in 1878, was scheduled to appear onstage. The Delphi Journal article went on to state, “When it was announced last week that he had secured the young prima donna Marie Litta to open the beautiful house with a grand operatic performance, the whole city threatened to go en masse. Litta is one of the finest singers in the world, and Delphi appreciates fine music, and especially is she manifesting such an interest at present. … We predict there will be standing room only in 20 minutes after the doors are open. Our citizens will no doubt be very grateful, not only for so beautiful a place of entertainment, but for so rich and rare a musical treat.” The daughter of a German violinist who lived in Cleveland, Ohio, Litta was frequently compared to Jenny Lind for the quality of her voice, and she quickly won acclaim from the music world and the hearts of her audiences alike. Her career was short-lived when she fell ill while touring in 1883, returning to her home in Bloomington, Ill., where she died at the age of 27. However, on that eve in 1882 Litta was at the top of her game. “Litta has come and gone,” proclaimed the April 12, 1882, issue of the Delphi Journal . “The grand entertainment looked forward to with such pleasant anticipation by our citizens has taken place, and is a thing of the past. … The duet by Litta and the cornet player was the finest music ever given in Delphi. Litta demonstrated her ability to execute difficult music with her voice, as rapidly as it could be played on the piano, cornet or any instrument. After all, there is no instrument like the human voice. “… Delphi is proud of her new house, and will patronize it liberally, and see to it that no one loses anything in our midst by such commendable enterprise.” Joseph Assion and John Ruffing began construction on the building in 1864. They contracted with someone from Lafayette for the stonework for the new three-story business house on the east side of the courthouse square containing three store rooms on the lower floor, residences on the second and a large concert hall on the third. Subsequently, balls were held there beginning in 1865. A local businessman named John Lathrope Jr., who had a noteworthy musical background of his own, began renovating it in 1881 and by 1882, it was ready to be a fully functioning opera house. Throughout the next three decades, performances of Uncle Tom’s Cabin , The Girl I Love , Camille and Foggs Ferry , among others, as well as the occasional reading by famed Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley and the annual commencement exercises of the Delphi Public Schools, were all presented onsite. However, in 1914, the building was condemned by the local fire inspector and it remained closed and practically forgotten about until recently. Werling said the society is currently trying to raise enough funds to give the building the grand scale renovation they feel it deserves based upon its historic merit. The society’s goal is to eventually reopen the opera house to the public. “We’re looking at an at least five-year time frame,” said Werling. “The society has appointed one specific group focused on just this one task. We see this building as an anchor for downtown Delphi and we’re hoping once it’s reopened, it will help stimulate business, as well as make this a tourist Mecca for Indiana. We have a strong feeling for this diamond in the rough and its many facets. The raw beauty of the thing itself is pretty inspiring.” Perhaps there is hope that the music of the night will once again fill the air in Delphi, for the phantom of its opera house has never completely faded away. |