The Al Ringling Theatre: A Palace on the Prairie
Near Baraboo, Wisconsin
Just off the courthouse square in downtown Baraboo stands a movie palace that looks as though it wandered out of Paris. The Al Ringling Theatre opened its doors in November of nineteen fifteen, a gift to the town from Albert Ringling, the eldest of the five circus brothers. He hired the celebrated Chicago architectural firm of Rapp and Rapp and spent roughly one hundred thousand dollars, an enormous sum in that day, to build in the ornate French Renaissance style.
The interior was modeled in part on the opera house at the Palace of Versailles, dripping with gilded plasterwork, painted frescoes, glittering mosaics, and antique tapestries. Many admirers call it America's prettiest playhouse, and it is often described as one of the first theaters in the nation built expressly to show motion pictures. Opening night featured a live comic opera, and silent films soon followed, accompanied by a mighty pipe organ.
Over the decades its stage hosted vaudeville acts, grand opera, and stars of the era. Sadly, Al Ringling lived only a few weeks after his theater opened, dying at the beginning of nineteen sixteen. More than a century later, lovingly restored, the theater still glows for audiences on this small Wisconsin square.
