www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com 29
WBM
AMUSEMENTS
Construction took more than two years, and early in 1858, with
scaffolding still surrounding the building, Thalian hosted its first
performance: a recital by Mr. Frensley’s Dancing School. The official
opening was six months later,
in October of that year, when
Marchant’s Stock Company
of Charleston performed two
popular plays of the era.
Marchant’s company
remained in Wilmington into
November 1858, perform-ing
a different play almost
nightly. In December, the
Thalian Association (whose
name is still attached to a
local community theater),
presented two popular plays,
including Box and Cox, a
farce that had its most recent
revival in 2008 as part of
the Hall’s sesquicentennial. Thalian Hall’s first season saw further
amateur productions, more stock performances, operas presented by
the New Orleans English Opera Company, and appearances by the
Martinetti and Blondin Troupe, which offered comic pantomimes
and dances and featured
Charles Blondin, a tight-rope
walker who became
famous after crossing the
gorge below Niagara Falls.
Thalian’s second season
opened with a minstrel
show, followed by another
stock company and a
40-member troupe that
presented a week of plays
and spectacles.
Inset: A Nov. 30, 1858,
newspaper advertisement
for Invisible Prince and the
Box and Cox. Admission
was 50 cents for adults.
25 cents for children. Top
right: One of the many
acts to perform on the
Thalian stage was stunt-man
Charles Blondin, who
carried his manager, Harry
Colcord, across Niagara
Falls on August 17, 1859.
NEW HANOVER COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
NEW HANOVER COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
Innes Academy