The Grand Opera House

The Grand Opera House is a performing arts center in Wilmington, Delaware, with a history stretching back to 1871. Designed by Delaware architect Thomas Dixon in the Second Empire style, the original building served as the headquarters of the Grand Lodge of the Masons and opened with over seventy performances its first season. After a period of decline, a community restoration effort returned the theater to life in 1973 — described at the time as "the most spectacularly successful preservation effort in Wilmington's history." Today the organization operates three distinct performance venues: the historic Copeland Hall (1,140 seats), The Baby Grand (305 seats), and The Playhouse on Rodney Square (1,252 seats), the oldest continuously operating legitimate theater in the country. Together they present more than 80 shows annually and welcome over 120,000 visitors to downtown Wilmington each year, hosting resident companies including the Delaware Symphony, Opera Delaware, and First State Ballet Theatre. For private events and corporate gatherings, the organization offers eight rental spaces ranging from the intimate Ninth Muse (60 standing) to the grand Copeland Hall stage and lobby. The team brings the same focus on professionalism and precise planning to private events as it does to its public programming.