ikissdhimbck: (Wild Wild West)
Katherine "Kissin' Kate" Barlow ([personal profile] ikissdhimbck) wrote2013-10-12 06:07 pm

OOM: The Tremont, Galveston, TX -- 1888 -- for Captain J. Kirk

[following this:]


The Tremont Opera House* may in fact be the most notable playhouse ever built in Texas. Standing on the corner of Tremont and Market Streets, the Tremont Theatre replicates the famous Booth Theatre in Manhattan (whose owner, Edwin Booth, comes to perform often). Its Italianate details, Corinthian columns, and beaux-art cast iron facades on the north and west sides of the building, set the opera house apart from the other theaters peppered across Galveston.

Designed by architect T.H. Adams and built by Galveston News editor and senior proprietor Willard Richardson, the Tremont — originally known simply as The Galveston Opera House — helped triple the population of Galveston. Richardson fulfilled his passion for theater by building the Tremont on the site of his newspaper offices, which the Galveston fire of 1869 destroyed along with more than one hundred other downtown buildings. It lifted the cultural life of the city during the boom after the Civil War, and has become a cultural mecca in the Southwest, drawing international stars of stage and opera.


Kate's door leads out of the hotel she's currently staying in, three blocks from the theater. However, it's a nice night for a respectable pair to take a stroll, and there's no more respectable a pair than Kate and Jim in their current attire, respectively. They link arms, and make their way to the grand Market Street entrance.

Jim, knowing his history as he does, may be aware that Victorian burlesque and vaudevillian comedies are the vogue at the moment; however, with such a distinguished orchestra and players, not to mention Kate's repeated insistence he'll love what she has in store for him, who knows what he might see tonight?


*Links to a .pdf, THE TREMONT OPERA HOUSE OF GALVESTON: THE FIRST YEARS, for additional history and information on the building, the players, and city.
works_in_space: (in thought)

[personal profile] works_in_space 2013-11-10 12:16 am (UTC)(link)
The first thing Jim notices is the sea air. He wasn't expecting that. Even though he should have. But that would explain how a captain of a naval vessel would go about unremarked.

Hard not to notice the architecture, either, or the clothes, or the overall feel of the town. It reminds him of the photos he's seen often of San Francisco before the '06 quake. And for a moment, he remembers that Galveston, too, will suffer devastation at the hands of nature, in the form of a 1900 hurricane that even in his own day would be the worst killer in American weather history.

But that is not a topic for today. "It's all so stunning, Kate. And alive."
works_in_space: (Default)

[personal profile] works_in_space 2013-11-11 11:16 pm (UTC)(link)
"Of course not, Miss Barlow. But the pictures I've seen of this era are all in black and white. Or sepia. Take it from an old hand at time travel...seeing an era for the first time is very different than hearing about it." Especially when it's the old west, and every representation is nothing like the reality.
works_in_space: (In Charge)

[personal profile] works_in_space 2013-11-12 11:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"You will have to tell me about New York some other time." Funny how that isn't a city he's ever come to know, even in his own time. "Today belongs to...today."
works_in_space: (Default)

[personal profile] works_in_space 2014-01-29 11:07 pm (UTC)(link)
He smiles, and (as he often does) ponders what it could have been like had he met her when he was younger. But that thought passes quickly, as usual. Kate is too dear a friend for such things now.

"I haven't seen anything like this on Earth. The closest I ever came was a colony that felt like the best way to start a new world was to start in the past." Though that meant a 19th century theater standing next to a smaller version of the Transamerica Pyramid. It was a mess.
works_in_space: (The winning smile)

[personal profile] works_in_space 2014-01-30 01:55 am (UTC)(link)
"I like it very much. I think I would miss home if I had to be here more than two weeks, but I like it." Two weeks in the 30s waiting for McCoy to surface all those years ago was his limit then, and would be now.

"So what are we getting to see?"
works_in_space: (Let me ask you something)

[personal profile] works_in_space 2014-01-30 12:12 pm (UTC)(link)
"And Gilbert? I like their works. Almost auditioned for a production of Pinafore in the academy." Before he came to his senses. He can't sing a whit.
works_in_space: (in thought)

[personal profile] works_in_space 2014-02-03 09:59 am (UTC)(link)
Jim notes the variety of posters, and thus of shows. In his time, theaters tend to stick with more limited options. At least as far as he knows. San Francisco is not known for its live performances, and he doesn't travel to find them.

"The Mikado is always worth a visit. Though in my time, some people with a knowledge of history and anthropology wince a little at some of it."
works_in_space: (Default)

[personal profile] works_in_space 2014-02-05 11:44 pm (UTC)(link)
"I try not to judge the ways of the past entirely on the ways of my own time. I'm sure my day will be looked upon with the same sort of scrutiny, after all."

The seats are surely better than most in the vast assembly halls at the academy, where the student plays had a way of echoing even with advanced sound equipment.
works_in_space: (The winning smile)

[personal profile] works_in_space 2014-02-06 10:19 am (UTC)(link)
"Try to make sense of non-human senses of humor some time." He doesn't elaborate, mainly because he can't make sense of such things.
works_in_space: (Default)

[personal profile] works_in_space 2014-02-07 01:26 am (UTC)(link)
"Once, I think." But Jim goes quiet, knowing it's time for the show.
works_in_space: (in thought)

[personal profile] works_in_space 2014-02-08 11:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Jim turns off his usual mindset. He will not think about the racism in the play. Or the flaws. He will just enjoy it. See it through the eyes of the time.
works_in_space: (Let me ask you something)

[personal profile] works_in_space 2014-02-12 09:46 am (UTC)(link)
It's not how audiences behave in his day. But audiences in his day are so much more diverse. Not just in terms of color of skin, but also in terms of species, planet of birth, and culture. A native of AlphaCent applauds in a very different way than a native of Scotland. And laughter from some species is very strange. What's here is rather tame and homogeneous.
works_in_space: (The winning smile)

[personal profile] works_in_space 2014-02-13 10:18 am (UTC)(link)
"Lead on, Miss Barlow."

The crowd's goodwill and enjoyment fills the atmosphere. Jim feels utterly relaxed. So much so that he realizes how tense he's been of late. This getaway is clearly for the good.
works_in_space: (in thought)

[personal profile] works_in_space 2014-02-14 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
"Captain James Kirk. And this is Miss Katherine Barlow." Or does Mr. Clayton already know this?
hell2houston: (Gentleman)

[personal profile] hell2houston 2014-02-14 02:29 am (UTC)(link)
He bows, and Kate curtsies. This is the first time they've been introduced.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance ma'am, Captain. I served as a yeoman in the Navy back in the sixties, and felt compelled to introduce myself."

He smiles, and Kate tips her head to murmur in Jim's ear.

"Mr. Clayton is quite a successful architect. He practically built Galveston with his bare hands."
works_in_space: (Default)

[personal profile] works_in_space 2014-02-14 02:32 am (UTC)(link)
"A pleasure to meet you then, Mr. Clayton. It's a beautiful city.

"Oh. and always nice to meet a fellow Navy man." Jim assumes that someone who served in the 60s in these parts served with the CSA, but that hardly matters at this time, does it?
hell2houston: (Gentleman)

[personal profile] hell2houston 2014-02-17 01:08 am (UTC)(link)
Mr. Clayton chuckles just under his breath, holding up a hand to ward off their compliments.

"You're too kind, I assure you. Galveston was well established by the time I found my way here, and much that I've built has already been destroyed."

"To no fault of your own," Kate interjects. "An' you're no less busy buildin' anew."

"Certainly," he smiles. "How long have you been here in Galveston?"
works_in_space: (Default)

[personal profile] works_in_space 2014-02-18 01:07 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm a late arrival. And not very familiar with it yet." Or anything else in this time, with the possible exception of parts of London and Paris that endure.