Recollections: Sprague Theater kindles fond memories for many Elkhornites

By Frank Eames

Contributor

The Sprague Theatre, current home of the Lakeland Players, revives many fond memories for anyone who grew up in Elkhorn from the late 1920s to the 1970s. Those were different times, particularly before the 1950s when television came on the scene and “light years” of difference from today with computers, multi-screen movie houses, video games, i-phones and the social networking that provide instant communication worldwide, most of which young people think have always been around.

A little history is probably in order about movies in Elkhorn. The first movie house in Elkhorn was the Family Theatre opened by Harry Wright in 1909 at 18 S. Wisconsin St. in the building now occupied by Stacey’s Stylin Dogs pet grooming shop. Mabel Hare played the piano and George Mitchell played the drums and devised many exciting sound effects for the silent movies. Mitchell was the father of George Jr. who was a second generation drummer who entertained many with a number of local bands and an occasional solo performance with his drum sticks on the bottles behind some of the local bars.

Back to the Family Theatre, serials were very popular and the “Perils of Pauline” was one of the favorites and every Friday night the heroine was left tied to the railroad track or hanging from a cliff until the next week’s performance. George Minette and Percy Webster bought the Family Theatre and in 1915 moved it to a new building at 9 W. Walworth St. (next to the old Elkhorn Independent building) and renamed it the Princess Theatre.  There was another owner named Hotchkiss in between but in 1922 the Princess was sold to Dan Kelliher who remained in the movie business in Elkhorn for 46 years.

The first improvement Kelliher made was the installation of a pipe organ which could be played manually or from rolls that were controlled by the ticket-taker near the entrance to the theatre. In 1927 Kelliher branched out and within months had possession of the Majestic Theatre in Lake Geneva, the Grand in East Troy, the Plaza in Burlington and the Pastime in Delavan. He later sold his interests and leases in these theatres to Community Theatres, Inc. of West Allis.

Not content with the location of the Princess, Kelliher built the present Sprague Theatre building three doors west and it was opened in May 1928 with a gala dedication program that attracted 1300 people. Charles Jahr Sr., superintendent of the Elkhorn schools, was master of ceremonies, Yonk’s Burlington orchestra was in the pit, Mayor E. T. Ridgway and Atty. E. H. Sprague addressed the packed house. Sprague had built the opera house on the corner where the Municipal Building now stands but it was destroyed by fire in 1925 after serving as the community’s entertainment center for many years. Also on the program was the Princess Quartet, a vocal group composed of Kelliher, Ken Goodrich, Victor Johnson and Paul Hughes, all familiar names to Elkhorn old timers.

The feature movie was Mack Sennett’s (still silent) “Good-Bye Kiss” in its premier showing. The installation of  “talking pictures” came to the Sprague a few months later and the first sound picture was “Broadway Melody” shown in May 1929. The sound for that first “talkie” came from phonograph records and a turntable in the projection booth, the forerunner of the sound track on the film which was installed later that year.

Perhaps the high spot of Kelliher’s operation of the Sprague came on August 6, 1941 when the world premier of the “Tillie the Toiler” series of movie comedies featuring Kay Harris of Elkhorn was held at the theatre. A packed house resulted for all three nights.

The Sprague took on many of the offerings of the old opera house, such as high school plays and commencement exercises until the Municipal Building was built a couple of years later, traveling vaudeville acts, appearances by radio and movie personalities, and service club fund raisers.

Before the days of television, the local movie theatre was a kind of community social center. Dan Kelliher and his wife, Luella, ran a quality operation and for their 46 years in the business adhered to their 1928 pledge that, “We will never permit anything shoddy or cheap within these walls.” I was one of the regular customers during my growing up years and the worst I ever heard coming off the screen was Clark Gable’s comment to Vivien Leigh in “Gone with the Wind” of, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn!” What a dramatic change in the language coming off the screens today that would make a boatswain blush.

Parents had no problems giving their children money and sending them off to the movie alone and if they had been good they might have gotten extra for a bag of popcorn at Johnny’s stand on the Masonic Temple corner. You had to finish the popcorn either before or after the movie as Kelliher did not allow popcorn in the theatre as it attracted rats from the alley in the rear. If you did show up with popcorn, Dan would politely store it on the mantle of the fireplace in the lobby for you to pick up on the way out. A few years later, Kelliher recognized the revenue he was missing and installed a huge popper in the lobby with the rats being dealt with in another way.

I’ve forgotten the pricing schedule but I think it was normally a dime for kids but there were often 9-cent specials on weekends. There were usually three or four changes of the movie during a week with two showings every day at 7 and 9 p.m. The big feature always started on Sunday and ran two or three days and you could always depend on there being a western movie on Saturday night. Depending on the feature, there was often a lineup on the sidewalk outside waiting for the second show at 9.

I don’t know how many adults took advantage of this, but kids who had paid admission the night before could relay this information to Arlene Wilkinson at the ticket counter and get in free to see the same film again. The usual schedule started with a few advertising slides from local businesses, followed by Movietone News, possibly a cartoon and/or a short subject like the “March of Time” or the 3 Stooges followed by the feature.

One of my favorite memories of the Sprague was an in-person appearance on stage of one of the cowboy heros of the day (I think it was Ken Maynard) who then left via the emergency exit doors at the southwest corner and returned with his beloved horse. I don’t think he was on the horse coming through the door but the horse was definitely in the theatre.

The Kellihers always recognized that the theatre was a focal point for young people in the community and staged many free events throughout the year. Ones that I remember were a free showing during the Christmas holidays that included a bag of candy, a special show on Halloween designed to keep the kids occupied instead of soaping windows and a free show after the “snake dance” that was a parade of high school students through the downtown area after the bonfire that was always held the night before the homecoming football game.

If they’ve gotten this far in this “Recollection,” I’m sure old-time Elkhornites will have even better (or more accurate) recollections but after 75 or so years I’m surprised I remembered as much as I did.

When the Kellihers left the business, another owner tried unsuccessfully to make a go of it and after a few years of neglect the Lakeland Players purchased the building in 1990 for their permanent home. The Lakeland Players have already made some “unforgetable memories” in the building which could be the subject of someone else’s recollection down the line.