Photos: Stoughton Opera House celebrates 125 years
Stoughton Opera House is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year.
Bill Brehm, director of the Stoughton Opera House, gives a tour of the historic theater in downtown Stoughton. The venue on East Main Street is celebrating 125 years.
Visitors leave the Stoughton Opera House. The venue has 34 performing acts scheduled for this spring.
The Stoughton Opera House once shared a building with city officials before a lengthy renovation that restored much of the classic Victorian venue.
Bill Brehm, director of the Stoughton Opera House, gives a tour. The original seats in the theater were furnished with period-appropriate cushions.
Bill Brehm, director of the Stoughton Opera House, shows a lounge area with a bar made of old pianos. The pianos don’t actually play, but the keys are rigged up with fishing wire so they can be pressed like a working piano.
Bill Brehm, director of the Stoughton Opera House, shows where a horse drawn elevator was located in the historic building in Stoughton.
Brehm walks through a space for performers in Stoughton. Artists have praised the venue for its accommodations, including bountiful snacks and drinks.
Bill Brehm, director of the Stoughton Opera House, gives a tour of the historic building in Stoughton, Wis. Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Bill Brehm, director of the Stoughton Opera House, shows a lounge area with a small stage in the historic building in Stoughton, Wis. Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Bill Brehm, director of the Stoughton Opera House, talks about artists who have performed at the historic venue in Stoughton, Wis. Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Bill Brehm, director of the Stoughton Opera House, gives a tour of the lounge area at the historic venue in Stoughton, Wis. Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Artists sign the walls in a back hallway that leads from the dressing room to the historic theater.
“Keeping it Cool with Fred” can coolers sold at the Stoughton Opera House in Stoughton, Wis. Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
A framed display of the Stoughton Ukulele Eight, from 1925-1928, is displayed at the Stoughton Opera House in Stoughton, Wis. Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
STOUGHTON — The Stoughton Opera House is the type of place that leaves a mark on you. So it only makes sense that some who have performed at the venue have returned the favor. As the opera house reaches its 125th anniversary, it’s bringing the hundreds of immortal names, dates and show titles scrawled along its backstage walls with it.
