Whitney Opera Theater

The Bijou Theater of Whitney Block, more commonly known by the name Whitney Opera House, was a Whitney Family property run by Andrew Whitney in the 1900s. Andrew opened the Opera house in 1881 due to a love of music and the theater ingrained in him at a young age. This was imbued into Andrew in part by the Whitney family's involvement in the manufacturing of pianos and organs in the Fitchburg area. On October 20th of 1881, the halls of the Whitney Opera house opened their doors to the public with their first show “The Mascot.” From 1906 until the closure of the theater in 1916, the theater began to go by its new name, the Bijou Theater.

Andrew Whitney was born in Ashby Massachusetts, to his father Jonas Prescott Whitney and his mother Rebecca Piper. They were a very religious Christian family, and Whitney was the 5th of 10 children. Andrew Whitney's father was a carpenter by trade, and when Whitney was just a young lad, he purchased and restored an organ. After this, Whitney’s father had a newfound love for organs and decided to open a small shop that constructed organ cases and repaired damaged organs.

Many of the Whitney children, including Andrew, spent a considerable amount of time in the shop with their father, working while also accruing interest in these organs and music. Whitney's father also showed him how to play the organ and violin at a very young age.

The family moved to Springfield in 1844. Andrew clearly had a love for music, especially due to his father's organ shop. He went to singing school in Hampden Hall after he got out of normal school, and also took private lessons with a man named Mr. Buxton, the organist at the Episcopal Church. Whitney went on to play the organs at the Pynchon Street Methodist Episcopal Church and the Freer Church.

A cool little fact is that the Whitneys also made the organs used at these churches. During this time, Andrew also began teaching music, specifically in regard to the organ. After living in Springfield for about 3 years, the Whitney family moved to Fitchburg, as Jonas wanted to return to Worcester County, moving his family and organ business once again. Whitney still continued his love for music after the move, he still worked in his father's shop, and was known for being the best at tuning the instruments that came in.

Andrew Whitney married Didama Hudson in 1872. She passed away in 1886, after having three children. Whitney then married again in 1899 to Jennie Moriarty. 

Whitney's father passed away in 1879 and was buried in Ashby with a monument made by one of his sons, Milo. While Whitney did enjoy his time working in his father's shop, he was more interested in the study of music, wanting to become a teacher in the future. He was also very interested in real estate, which is how he eventually bought the plot of land on which the Whitney Opera House now sits on today.

Whitney actually ended up buying many plots of land in Fitchburg, too many to list here, and he worked to remodel the buildings and sell them for his real estate ventures. The Whitney Opera House was built on a plot of land on which sat a large wooden house. Apparently, it was used as a hotel, and it sat on the corner of Prichard Street, owned by a man named “Kidder'' Marshall.

Whitney bought the land in 1869 and it truly allowed him to combine his love for music and real estate. The opera house was opened to the public in 1880 and was the first ever readily-equipped theater in Fitchburg. The detail of the building itself was incredible - having a white marble front with pointed pinnacles and a red rooftop. It was quite literally a piece of art, designed by Whitney himself to stand out. Whitney also managed the opera house himself for the first three years, only leaving after this time period because his other responsibilities required him to take a step back and hire a manager for the theater, F.C Currier.

The plays that were put on at the theater ranged from Shakespeare’s plays to light opera and even comedy. Lectures were held there, as well as concerts and even meetings. On the third and fourth floors of the building, there was also a Music Hall, mainly used for concert events and balls. The first real show put on in this theater was “The Mascot” in 1880, performed by the Theodore Thomas Orchestra.

The Whitney Opera House itself was renamed to the Bijou Theatre in 1906. While the exact reason this happened is seemingly unknown, it seems like the main determining factor of the name change was that "Bijou" (the French word for jewel) was a common and more generalized name for theatres of this era. Generally, Bijou is synonymous with the terms small and elegant, especially when it comes to buildings and architecture such as this theatre. In other words, the new name labeled the theatre as a "small" and "elegant" place, which gave the name a more appealing ring to it in hopes of attracting a target audience better than the original name did. One might think of it like a rebranding of a company in today's day and age to better fit its demographic.

The Bijou Theatre, unfortunately, closed down in 1916, nearly 50 years after Whitney had originally bought the land. It remained vacant until the 2010s when an insurance company moved in and took the building over (as seen on the map above). The address is 5 Prichard Street. Luckily, some of the building's beautiful architecture is still preserved, and not all is lost. It still makes for a beautiful site to see, even to this day.

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