One-hundred years of applause and standing ovations are firmly embedded inside the walls of the Mother Lode Theatre.
Its century of history includes a potpourri of performers, everyone from twotime Academy Award-winning actress Luise Rainer to renowned conductor Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops to popular 1980s band America. All wowed their audiences.
Built as an addition to the Masonic Temple, the Mother Lode opened as the Temple Theatre on Sept. 6, 1924. Butte residents, though, were already well-versed when it came to first-class entertainment. Truth be told, residents had come to expect it.
After all, impressing early-day Butte crowds at varied venues included such entertainers as showman Buffalo Bill, performer Fred Astaire, humorist Will Rogers, star of stage and screen Billie Burke, who portrayed Glinda the Good Witch in the classic “The Wizard of Oz,” film heartthrob Clark Gable, and “Funny Lady” Fannie Brice.
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The popular vaudevillian and silent film star Charlie Chaplin was a Butte fan. Known as “The Little Tramp,” Chaplin performed several times in the early to mid-1910s and it made a lasting impression as he would later write about the mining town in his 1964 autobiography simply titled “My Autobiography.”
He was probably more enamored with Butte’s “ladies of the evening” than the town itself. In his book Chaplin wrote that “Butte boasted of having the prettiest women of any red-light district in the West, and it was true.”
Fast-forward to 1992 and “Chaplin” starring Robert Downey Jr. is on the big screen. The director of the bio film elected to go with a fictional depiction as a Butte scene showed Chaplin walking inside a makeshift theater that was a tent with a dirt floor.
That clip was entirely inaccurate.
The dawn of the 20th century brought more and more people to Butte, and the number of theaters grew as well. By 1910, an estimated 74,000 people lived in Silver Bow County. As the population grew, theaters multiplied, each one unique, each one ornate.
During the Chaplin era, on Park Street alone, there was the Ansonia, the American, the Orpheum and the Princess, and the “neon lights were bright” on Broadway Street with the Empress and Sutton’s Broadway could be found at the corner of Broadway and Montana streets. North Main Street was where the Imperial was located. Meanwhile, on Montana Street, residents could be entertained at the Empire or the Family Theatre.
Needless to say, Butte was not lacking in theaters because its residents worked hard and during their off-time, craved a myriad of diversions. Frequently they filled these playhouses. From vaudeville productions to films, from circuses to boxing and wrestling exhibitions, and beyond, entertainment, in all its forms, was an escape from reality and residents took full advantage.
By 1924, Chaplin had long quit the vaudeville circuit and could be solely found on the silver screen, and once again, Butte was boasting a new theater, this one also on Park Street, also unique, also ornate.
Described as a “first run picture palace,” the newly built Temple, owned by the Masons, opened its doors at 316 W. Park St., with an appropriate film choice, the comedy-drama “Welcome Stranger.”
In the past 100 years, the name has changed a few times. The theater would later be called the Parkway, then the Bow, later the Fox, to its present name, the Mother Lode. What didn’t change, for the most part, was the commitment to keeping its patrons entertained.
When Pantages Indoor Circus came to town in November 1926, people packed the Temple to watch miniature pachyderms perform on stage. Adele Nelson’s baby elephants were paraded across the stage, all part of her acrobatic show.
It was still the Temple when residents were introduced to the controversial film “The Street of Forgotten Women.” The film had a four-day run, beginning April 27, 1927. Children were not allowed to see it, and it was not considered a “co-ed” type of movie. Therefore, dates and times were set aside for just women to view, the other showings were for men only.
“The film gives a true version of the pitfalls that can face a young woman today,” reported The Anaconda Standard.
The 1928 World Series featured the New York Yankees against the St. Louis Cardinals. Thanks to Butte’s newest newspaper, The Montana Standard, baseball fans could flock to the Parkway to “watch every play” on the theater’s magnetic player board.
The Standard had acquired a top-notch wire service to bring the game to Butte “in as lifelike and accurate manner as anywhere in the United States.” By the way, the Yankees beat the Cardinals in a four-game sweep.
Wrestling was usually a crowd favorite and the Parkway capitalized on its popularity on March 9, 1929. Several bouts were on tap, including Anaconda’s Mike Miller taking on Sailor Jack Burns, but only 100 tickets were sold.
That may have been because, for that particular era, tickets were a bit pricey and the Great Depression was looming. Ringside seats were $3, and semi-ringside seats were $2.
One week before Thanksgiving 1933, residents packed the Fox — not for any sporting event and not for a musical revue. Instead, residents came to listen to a priest, a rabbi, and a minister.
The Fox was at capacity. So much so, the people overflowed into the nearby Knights of Columbus Hall.
A Montana Standard reporter wrote that those who attended “listened last night to earnest appeals by eloquent clergymen for tolerance toward the groups that constitute the people of the nation — tolerance for religious, political and other differences.”
A completely different scenario occurred Nov. 18, 1935. Again, it was a packed house at the Fox as boxing fans watched five different bouts.
The main event was a matchup between featherweight fighters Tony Chavez of Los Angeles and Everett Rightmire of Minneapolis. According to The Butte Daily Post the following day, Chavez won with “a short right to the solar plexus” in the seventh round.
Oscar-nominated actress Sylvia Sidney took to the stage on New Year’s Eve 1943. She and her husband, Luther Adler, had the leading roles in the play “Jane Eyre.”
“Settings, beautiful costumes and superb action all go to make the presentation outstanding,” reported The Butte Daily Post.
Referred to as the “First Lady of the American Theatre,” Ethel Barrymore starred in the stage production of “The Corn is Green” on Jan. 6, 1944 at what was then the Fox Theatre.
The Butte Daily Post described Barrymore’s performance as “compelling and matchless.” The Butte audience apparently agreed, giving her a standing ovation.
When in the mood to hear some swing, the blues or jazz, several popular bands worked their magic on the Butte stage.
Bandleader Spike Jones, along with his City Slickers bandmates, descended on Butte on June 2, 1950.
A product of the Big Band era, Jones had an outlandish sense of humor and his music reflected his quirky personality. Called the new Musical Depreciation Revue, Jones and his band hit the Fox Theatre stage to play their favorite silly and satirical hits including “Der Fuehrer’s Face” and “Pass the Biscuits, Mirandy.”
The following year, the great jazz musician Louis Armstrong brought his trumpet and His “All-Stars” to play at the Fox on a Thursday night in June. Tickets ranged in price from $2.40 to $3.
By September 1953, the Fox ceased to exist and after some renovations, was renamed the Bow Theatre. Its grand opening included an appearance by up-and-coming Hollywood actress, Mala Powers, who would later earn a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The Montana Standard reported that “throughout the night, a huge searchlight pierced the evening gloom and flashed back and forth above the Mining City, in conjunction with the opening.”
One-time leading man Melvyn Douglas appeared on the Bow stage Oct. 29, 1954, in the comedic production, “Time Out for Ginger.”
Ten years later, the seasoned veteran would win his first Academy Award as best supporting actor in “Hud.” His second came 16 years later for his supporting role in “Being There.”
On July 12, 1956, “America’s most beloved cowboy” Tex Ritter, country music singer and actor, brought his seven-piece band to the Bow. It wasn’t just for a concert, but to promote his newest film, “The Devil’s Trail.” Adults got in for $1, while a child’s ticket was 35 cents.
School was in session on Oct. 3, 1962, when advice columnist Ann Landers shared her “words of wisdom” at the Bow to the students of Boys Central and Girls Central.
Landers took it upon herself to give the teens some unsolicited advice about sex.
“Couples should never park just to talk,” said Landers, “because when the moon is bright and stars are twinkling you can run out of conversation mighty fast.”
More renovations were in the works by the summer of 1964, including removing 163 seats, and adding new carpets and drapes, along with a new concession area.
As the 1970s progressed, so did the popularity of X-rated films. Apparently, there were patrons who liked their movies a bit raunchy and the Fox grudgingly provided.
Some residents, however, were critical of the film choices made by the Fox manager, Theodore Conley. Unfortunately, he had some interesting statistics to back his decision.
According to Conley, the X-rated film “Fanny Hill” played at the Fox for four days and was followed up by a three-day double feature run of a children’s movie, “Pufnstuf” and the John Wayne film, “War Wagon.”
It all had to do with economics, according to the Fox manager, who told the Standard that “Fanny Hill’s last night gross was nearly seven times greater than the opening night gross on the double feature.”
There was one 1971 film that most Butte people were clamoring to see and it wasn’t rated X. Partially filmed in the Mining City, “Evel Knievel,” starring George Hamilton and Sue Lyons premiered at the Fox on July 21, 1971.
The somewhat biographical account of the daredevil’s life did not win any major acting awards, nor accolades for its cinematography, but nevertheless, the Standard’s editorial editor Jeff Gibson was happy to report that “Evel Knievel” packed ’em in.
Damning with faint praise, his co-worker Marcia Lee said the film had “very little plot and very little seriousness” but was “worth seeing because it’s a good comedy, although it’s not billed as one, and because it’s unusual to see your hometown and people on the screen.”
In an ironic twist of fate, X-rated movies replaced the stage production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” on May 11, 1972.
Potential legal repercussions against a traveling company of actors and musicians were the reason it was abruptly canceled. Because of the short notice, the only route the Fox manager could take was to present a couple of porn flicks.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, while the Fox didn’t exactly thrive, it didn’t do too bad, either.
Young and old continued to go to the Fox to watch such movies on the big screen as “Fantasia,” “Rocky,” “Blazing Saddles,” “The Sting,” “Back to the Future,” “Kindergarten Cop,” “Star Trek,” “A River Runs Through It,” and dozens more.
The Butte Community Concert Series, local stage plays and musical productions were still enjoyed by the crowds and The Montana Power continued to hold its annual shareholders’ meetings at the Fox. Butte Central High School utilized it as well for plays and pep rallies, along with Montana Tech’s graduation ceremonies.
In January 1988, demolition work had begun on the historic Montana Theatre and soon its walls would come tumbling down, leaving Butte with just one theatre. It was a wakeup call for the newly formed nonprofit, Butte Center for the Performing Arts.
It had become obvious that the Fox needed some repairs and improvements, preferably sooner rather than later. For many years, the movie house was leased to the Hansen family but that contract was terminated effective Sept. 1, 1993, and the theater was closed for the foreseeable future. There was work to be done.
The Masons had already deeded the Fox to the nonprofit, who in turn transferred the title to Butte-Silver Bow County. The nonprofit continues to lease the theater from the county.
The nonprofit continued to work on its “Restore the Fox” project. Led by Bob and Pauline Poore, along with Gus Miller, the organization, in a few short years, was able to raise more than $3 million.
That money went toward numerous projects, including a new roof, rewiring, exterior and interior painting, replacing antiquated ventilation and heating systems, renovating bathrooms, and much more.
So, the theater had a new look but needed a new name, too. Aptly described as “a part of Butte’s past, present and future,” the Mother Lode was ultimately chosen in celebration of Butte’s mining heritage.
“That heritage is the real core of Butte,” Bob Poore told The Montana Standard on Sept. 11, 1995. “In mining terms, the mother lode is the source of all good things.”
Skip ahead nearly 20 years and the Mother Lode remains a source of all good things.
For members of the Butte Center for the Performing Arts, the plan is to keep it that way.
Jocelyn Dodge, president of the center’s board of directors, believes the theater’s longevity speaks volumes in terms of Butte’s history and the role it played in arts and culture.
“Our goal is to continue the grandeur of live theater,” she said.
Dodge said more improvements are coming to the Mother Lode,
