In 1901 The Music Hall's new owner, the politician-brewer-railroad baron Frank Jones, envisioned and executed its first renovation. Groups such as the Masons, the Portsmouth Athletic Club, and The Chase Home for Children produced local benefits to raise money for their various causes. As is true today, The Music Hall was also dedicated to providing support for local organizations to raise money and awareness through the arts. Buffalo Bill Cody and his Wild West Show performed their smaller indoor show numerous times, and Portsmouth saw its very first moving pictures on Edison's Graphophone here in 1898.Д«roadway was well represented, with performances of Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz and No, No, Nanette among many other shows that came to the theater within the first weeks of leaving вЂњ The Great White WayвЂќ in New York City. The famed D'Oyly Carte Opera Company ( Gilbert and Sullivan) performed The Pirates of Penzance within weeks of its US premiere, and countless Shakespearean actors known around the world graced The Music Hall stage, including Margaret Mather, Thomas W. The opening celebration on January 30, 1878, was followed by the sold-out performance of two well-known British farces, Caste and John Wopps, brought up from Boston.ДЇor the next few decades, The Music Hall brought the community opera, drama, dance, and traditional vaudeville fare from as far away as Europe and as close as Portsmouth's own community players. The land surrounding the charred lot was owned by the family.ДЇollowing the fire on Christmas Eve of 1876, the Peirces knew what we still hold to be true, вЂњa community is known to some extent by the character and place of its amusements,вЂќ a sentiment echoed on the opening night in a speech by Sen. вЂњThe Temple,вЂќ as the theater was called, had once been a Baptist meetinghouse and, before that, the site of the country's first almshouse, as well as a prison. In 1878 a group of Seacoast residents, including a banker, a railroad executive, a lawyer, a housewife, and a clergyman, all members of the prominent Peirce family, joined together to rebuild Portsmouth's only venue for entertainment, which had burned to the ground the year before. ( May 2009) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources.

Movie s at portsmouth music hall