Biddeford, Maine, was known for its strong theater scene and was the second stop on the summer stock route out of Boston. The opera house shown was the third theater on this site. The first, Beethoven Hall, was built in 1850, seated 1,500 people, and was destroyed by fire in 1858. The second, the Biddeford Opera House, was built in 1860 and was lost to fire in 1894. The city built a new hall in 1896. Architect John Calvin Stevens designed it with a floor sloping to the rear of the building to provide emergency exits on the ground floor. Its auditorium was richly stenciled, and the new stage had high rigging. Nearly all the great stage names of the 19th century appeared in Biddeford, including Artemis Ward and the Booth family, and the theater was also known for its vaudeville shows.