In the Wild West days, anything having to do with Shakespeare had to mean class. So when John Elitch decided to build a world-class theater on his 32-acre farm in northwest Denver, he used the Bard's Globe Theater as his model. The original painted linen curtain depicted a cottage owned by Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare's wife.

The theater, and that curtain, are being restored. Groundbreaking takes place Monday on a $14.2 million renovation that will include the creation of the new Center for American Theatre at the Historic Elitch Gardens.

For decades, America's oldest summer-stock company was the Elitch Theatre, where some of the biggest stars in the world came to perform not just in one play but as members of an ensemble that would put on as many as 10 plays in a 10-week season.

Sources: "Denver's Elitch Gardens: Spinning a Century of Dreams," by Betty Lynne Hull;
"The Elitch Garden Story: Memories of Jack Gurtler," by Corinne Hunt

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ROLL CALL OF STARS, 1891-1991
 

Steve Allen, 1974 Morey Amsterdam, 1968 George Arliss, 1905-06, '13 John Astin, 1973-74 Sarah Bernhardt, 1906 Helen Bonfils, 1934-47 Raymond Burr, 1944 Sid Caesar, 1971, '74 Kitty Carlisle, 1965, '70 Cecil B. DeMille, 1905 Patty Duke, 1973-74 Douglas Fairbanks, 1905 Douglas Fairbanks Jr., 1971-73 Jose Ferrer, 1973 Arlene Francis, 1964-65, '69 Barbara Bel Geddes, 1964

George Gobel, 1971 Julie Harris, 1978 Kim Hunter, 1975 Gabe Kaplan, 1982-83 Grace Kelly, 1951 Cloris Leachman, 1982-83 Harold Lloyd, 1914 Myrna Loy, 1969 Fredric March, 1926-28 Jayne Meadows, 1974 Patricia Neal, 1947 Maureen O'Sullivan, 1972, '82-83 Walter Pidgeon, 1964 Antoinette Perry, 1904-05 Vincent Price, 1979 John Raitt, 1977, '79

Lynn Redgrave, 1975 Robert Redford, 1955 Edward G. Robinson, 1922 Ginger Rogers, 1975 Cesar Romero, 1964 Mickey Rooney, 1972-74 William Shatner, 1975 Gloria Swanson, 1967 Lana Turner, 1977 Joan Van Ark, 1960 Dick Van Patten, 1968 Nancy Walker, 1987 Shelley Winters, 1973, '83 Jane Wyatt, 1939

ELITCH THEATRE KEY DATES

1880: John and Mary Elitch arrive from San Francisco seeking their fortune. They buy a 32-acre farm owned by William Chilcott in the Highland area of northwest Denver, complete with a small lake and apple orchard.

1890: John Elitch opens Elitch's Zoological Gardens with animals offered by P.T. Barnum. The circus magnate wintered some of his animals near Sloan's Lake and offered his surplus to Mary Elitch. After a wildly profitable initial summer, John Elitch dies of a heart attack.

1891: "The Playhouse in the Gardens" opens as a vaudeville and light-opera house.

1897: The theater goes legit with the creation of a summer-stock acting company, which would offer 10 plays in 10 weeks. The initial production is "Helene."

1916: John Mulvihill buys Elitch's from Mary Elitch with the following conditions: She could live there until her death, the name of the park could never change, and two lower boxes containing 14 seats would always be reserved in her name.

1930: Mulvihill dies, and his son-in-law Arnold Gurtler takes over.

1936: Mary Elitch dies.

1963: The Elitch Theatre stops operating as a summer-stock company and switches to single, star-centered performances.

1991: The Elitch Theatre closes. A plan to move the historic structure to Auraria is scuttled, and theater alum Debbie Reynolds openly discusses purchasing it.

1994: The amusement park moves to the Central Platte Valley and later takes on the Six Flags name.

1996: The original Elitch property is sold to Perry Affordable Housing with the condition that the theater never be demolished.

2006: Groundbreaking on a two-year, $14 million renovation of the Elitch Theatre and creation of the Center for American Theatre at Historic Elitch Gardens.

Sources: "Denver's Elitch Gardens: Spinning a Century of Dreams," by Betty Lynne Hull; "The Elitch Garden Story: Memories of Jack Gurtler," by Corinne Hunt

Compiled by John Moore