User:LBourne/Richmond Theater Fire Construction Page

Brief summary of the facts of the fire and its historical significance. Dabney: Fire "shook Virginia and the nation."

Background

Very brief summary of the early theater in Richmond, and some facts about this particular theater. Mention the fact that Edgar Allen Poe's mother played here just weeks before the fire.

Manager: Alexander Placide, patriarch of a famous theater family. (theater history web page)

The Fire

On the evening of December 26, 1811, about 600 patrons, including Virginia Governor George W. Smith and U.S. Senator Abraham B. Venable, gathered at the Shockoe Hill Theater for a holiday performance. ^[1] The evening was a benefit for Alexander Placide and his daughter, and the program was a double billing: first, a play entitled The Father, or Family Feuds, and after it, a pantomime entitled Raymond and Agness, or The Bleeding Nun. The benefit had originally been scheduled for December 23, but was postponed due to the death of Mrs. Poe, Placide's own illness, and foul weather.^[2]

The Memorial

This might be a subsection under "Aftermath". Brief information about the building of Memorial Church, linking to main Wikipedia article. Include information that church was desanctified in 1965 and now belongs to ___________?

References

^ Dabney, Virginius (1990). Richmond: The Story of a City. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia. p. 90. ISBN 0813912741. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
^ Richmond Then and Now. "Newspaper Article: Richmond Theater Fire, December 26, 1811". Retrieved 12 January 2009. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)