Photo by Michael Pool Bandstand at Lutcher Theater Friday, November 8, 2019 – 7:30 p.m.
FRANCES ANN LUTCHER THEATER
CELEBRATES 40 YEARS
F
Frances Ann Lutcher, with her love of arts and culture, inspired the construction of a new theater in Orange.
life and community affairs. They enjoyed traveling to Chicago, New York, and Europe. One of Frances Ann’s passions was the theater. She frequently patronized Orange’s early theaters. After one of Orange’s opera houses burned in 1914, Frances contributed over $8,000 to its replacement. Drawings by Jean H. Duffy of New Orleans for an interior design of the opera house remain among her papers.
The same theater, which opened on February 7, 1980 to a sold-out performance by Liberace, is celebrating 40 years of world-class performing arts in Orange. Frances Ann Robinson was born to a Philadelphia tailor in 1840. Her family moved to Williamsport, Pennsylvania in 1857 where she met Henry Jacob Lutcher. The two eloped in January of 1858 when she was just seventeen years old. Their family quickly grew to include two daughters, Miriam and Carrie. Henry, Frances and the girls all worked in a family butcher shop. A profitable deal selling cattle to fellow butchers allowed Henry to invest in a lumber venture and the family left the butcher business behind. The lumber industry grew and eventually the Lutcher & Moore Lumber Company needed a new source of timber. Seeking new strands of pine trees, they found them in East Texas along the Sabine River. The river lead to the Gulf and a worldwide market for their products. The company relocated to Orange.
Frances Ann attended a variety of performances over the years. Her ticket purchases included shows like Happy Hooligan, Jewel of Asia, and Taming of the Shrew among others. She also enjoyed shows while on holiday and abroad. In 1924 at the age of 84, Frances Ann Lutcher passed away while in New York City. Photo by Dawn Burleigh Lutcher Theater Inc. Managing Director Lynae Sanford holds the first ticket torn from the first event at the Frances Ann Lutcher Theater in 1980.
Frances Ann joined her husband in Texas in 1877. While she no longer worked in the family business, she often gave advice to her husband. Henry once said “she has steered me clear of many a dangerous snag.” Frances and her daughters became active in Orange social
The Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation began building a new theater in the 1970s, and knew that few would have enjoyed it like Frances Ann. A special Ribbon Cutting hosted by the Greater Orange Area Chamber of Commerce will be held at the theater at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 707 Main Street in Orange, to celebrate the beginning of the 40th season for the Frances Ann Lutcher Theater.
October 2019 | 16 m
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