136 4th Avenue
Baraboo, Wisconsin
..AMERICA'S PRETTIEST PLAYHOUSE..
The Al. Ringling Theatre opened its doors in November 1915. Designed by architectural firm Rapp and Rapp, it was built by Albert Ringling, one of the circus Ringling Brothers for $100,000. Through the years, it has featured performances from vaudeville, motion pictures and more. Such notables as Lionel Barrymore and Mary Pickford have performed at the theatre bringing arts and culture to Baraboo and the greater South-Central Wisconsin region.
The design of the theatre is based on the Orpheum Theatre, built by Rapp and Rapp in Champaign, Illinois in 1914.
Originally, the theatre had a Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ. Later a Barton with a "circus wagon" style console replaced the Wurlitzer.
The Al. Ringling Theatre was gifted to the Wisconsin Historical Society. After working with the Al. Ringling Theatre Friends to secure $3.07 million from community donors, the transition ensures the long-term future of the belove regional theatre.
The 700-seat theatre was built by Al Ringling and designed in the opulent style of grand French opera houses. Ringling built the theatre for the Baraboo community in a show of appreciation for the town the Ringling Brothers called home and the original site of the Ringling Bros. Circus winter quarters.
In 1912, Al Ringling announced he would build a new theatre for Baraboo after a fire had destroyed Baraboo's only opera house some years earlier. Three years later the Al. Ringling Theatre was built at a cost of $100,000. The theatre would be his final project and a gift to the community. Al Ringling passed on January 1, 1916 just six weeks after the theatre opened.
The Ringling Brothers Circus left Baraboo in the spring of 1918. Al. Ringling had been the major anchor in keep in the circus winter quarters in Baraboo.
The legacy of Al. Ringling and the circus can still be seen and felt in places like the original winter quarters which are now a part of the Circus World Museum, the Al. Ringling Mansion and the Al. Ringling Theatre.
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