Kerr Opera House

The Kerr Opera House in Hastings, considered the finest performance hall between Omaha and Denver, was admired for its ornate grandeur. William Kerr, a wealthy Hastings businessman and Scottish immigrant, funded its construction in 1884 at a cost of $61,000, and C.C. Rittenhouse of Hastings designed it. Its interior featured brown and ivory decoration with accents of gold and silver, brass railing around the orchestra pit between the parquet and dress circle, and imported Austrian chairs in the grand boxes. It opened on December 23, 1884, with Grau's Traveling Repertory Company performing the light operas "The Queen's Lace Handkerchief," "The Little Duke" and "Oliver." In 1916 the San Carlos Opera Company brought grand opera to the Kerr with Rigoletto, Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci. The opera house also hosted political figures including William Jennings Bryan, President William H. Taft and Theodore Roosevelt. As Hastings' motion picture theatres drew audiences by 1928, the Kerr could not compete, and during the 1930s it was converted into office space and small shops. In 1949 it was demolished to make room for the J.M. McDonald Company department store.

Hastings, Nebraska · United States