For three summer seasons, Broadway musicals under a ‘big top’ tent structure, put Toronto Township and Dixie Plaza into the North American theatrical mainstream.
On Monday, June 23, 1958, Music Fair premiered with Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun, based on sharp-shooter Annie Oakley of the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show in the 1890’s.
It was an amazing coincidence that just north and a little west (Cawthra and Q.E.W.) of the Music Fair site, was the homestead where the father of Buffalo Bill Cody, Issac Cody, was born.
Theatrical productions under tents quickly became a major North American industry. It was all started in 1949 by St. John Terrell in Lambertville, New Jersey. By 1957, there were 25 tent theatres spread across North America with box office revenues exceeding five million dollars. Nearly all reportedly made a profit.
As a teenager, St. John Terrell was a fire-eater in a carnival. His love for show business and his penchant for taking risks stayed with him throughout his career in show business.
He realized that, when plays in major centres ended because of the hot summer months, production crews headed for rural areas to earn their ‘bread and butter money’ until rehearsals began back in the big cities in the late fall.
Most of the summer theatres, however, were inadequate venues. The majority were merely converted barns or, at best, high school auditoriums. Decent stage facilities were out of the question and air conditioning wasn’t any more than a dream. Audiences were crammed into these theatres and seated on hard-backed chairs. He had an idea that he felt would appeal not only to the patrons but also to the actors.
He raised enough funds to build a huge tent with a circular stage at its centre and surrounded the stage with tiers of seats.
The first theatre in the round under a tent was the brainchild of St. John Terrell and was originally called the Lambertville Music Circus. Photo: Lambertville Beacon.