Editing Santa Fe Opera (section)

===Original theatre, 1957 to 1967===
[[File:Igor Stravinsky at Santa Fe Opera.jpg|thumb|Bust of [[Stravinsky]] on the Stravinsky Terrace]]

The totally open-air theatre was designed to seat 480 and was built for $115,000 on a site carefully selected by Crosby and an acoustician friend, who fired off a series of rifle shots until they found the perfect natural location for an outdoor theatre. It was "the only outdoor theatre in America exclusively designed for opera".<ref name="Scott"/> Audience members sat on benches. The Santa Fe firm of McHugh, Hooker, Bradley P. Kidder and Associates were architects for the original theatre; lead architects John W. McHugh and [[Van Dorn Hooker]] worked with the acoustical engineer Jack Purcell of Bolt, Beranek and Newman (Boston and Los Angeles).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/NM-01-049-0084 |title = Santa Fe Opera {{!}} SAH ARCHIPEDIA}}</ref> The structural design calculations were performed by Sergio Acosta, a structural engineer and immigrant from Panama who graduated from the University of Texas and was a resident of Albuquerque, NM from 1948 until his death at age 78.

This was the location of the inaugural performance on opening night, 3 July 1957. ''[[Madama Butterfly]]'' played to a sold-out crowd. By the end of the eight-week season, the 12,000 people who attended accounted for sales at 90% of capacity.

A mezzanine was added in 1965 but, on 27 July 1967, four weeks into the season, a fire destroyed the theatre, causing the company to move to a local downtown high school for the remainder of the season. From the Sweeney Gymnasium, they created the "Sweeney Opera House", and completed the season, albeit without most of the original costumes or sets. A huge fund-raising operation took place, backed by Igor Stravinsky, and $2.4 million was raised to rebuild the theatre in time for the following season.