El Paso Scottish Rite - 2017

Designated in the original blue prints as the "Degree Room", for decades the El Paso Scottish Rite Theater was the unknown gem of El Paso theaters. Designed specifically for the conferral of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite degrees, the theater has always managed to attract a wider audience. One story has it that in the 1930's, a man tuning his car radio received a weak broadcast from an amateur orchestra and was impressed enough to stop and listen. From the announcers dedication, he heard the group was performing in at the Scottish Rite Temple's theater, so he turned his car around, headed there, and recruited those musicians to play under his direction. Thus was founded the El Paso Symphony Orchestra. Predating the renowned El Paso Plaza Theater by seven years, The El Paso Scottish Rite Theater is among the oldest active theaters in the region and hosts a wide variety of events from the performing arts to weddings and conferences. The Theaters Fly Gallery contains 80 drops capable of portraying 152 different scenes. The drops we have hanging today where installed in August of 1947 and are hand-painted. These drops are lowered and raised manually by rope from a catwalk above and to the left side of the stage. http://www.elpasoscottishrite.org/theater.html

Area: Central / Downtown

Source: EPMH

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History