In Vancouver’s earliest days, performance groups passed the city by. Portland dominated the mid-1800s theater and concert scene. Lacking a suitable theater, Vancouver residents seeking culture crossed the Columbia River.
Starting about 1865, touring musicians found a demand on the Columbia’s north bank and performed in Vancouver despite its theater shortage, although rarely did a troupe return. In 1867, residents saw their first operas. The Italian Opera Troupe staged four in full costume. After performing in Portland they ferried to Vancouver. The Vancouver Independent noted the audience showed respect and appreciation.
Two years later, on Feb. 16, an African American vocalist, Octavia Mercier, gave one of the city’s first concerts. According to advertisements, it was a benefit performance, and her first. The ads promised songs by Mercier and her sisters, Corrine and Blanche, “along with some of the best performers in the state.” They performed at the Oro Fina Hall on Second Street between Main and Broadway. (The Vancouver Register noted the place as “new” in 1868.) Tickets ran $1 and reserved seats $1.25. (Adjusted for inflation, that’s about twice the cost of the average movie ticket today.)
Mercier’s performances charmed her Vancouver audience. None more so than the Vancouver Independent editor who called her singing a “triumph of genius over race and caste. No sweeter, better voice has greeted the ears.” Continuing, he named her “the Black Swan of the Willamette.”
