When the Curtain Rose in Tombstone
Discover the performers, personalities and remarkable history behind the Bird Cage Theater—and the book that brings their stories back to life.
Imagine arriving in Tombstone in the 1880s. Beyond the mining claims and dusty streets, an evening’s entertainment awaits: orchestra music, singers, dancers, comedy and acts extraordinary enough to make you wonder how they found their way to this Arizona boomtown.
Welcome to the Bird Cage Theater.
Opened in 1881, the Bird Cage offered the kind of entertainment that drew audiences to variety theaters across the country and around the world. Its stage welcomed a striking range of talent, from actors and musicians to acrobats, illusionists and performers whose unusual abilities were their ticket to a traveling life. (kjzz.org)
That lively world takes shape in Michael Paul Mihaljevich’s The Bird Cage Theater: The Curtain Rises on Tombstone, Arizona’s National Treasure, published by the University of North Texas Press. Drawing on historical documents and newly uncovered material, Mihaljevich follows the building’s beginnings, its owners and the people who made it an entertainment landmark. Across a ten-year performance run, more than 250 world-traveling entertainers brought their acts to Tombstone. (untpress.unt.edu)
Their individual stories are part of the fascination. In an interview with Arizona’s KJZZ, Mihaljevich described Millie de Granville, a Pennsylvania-born strongwoman who could lift chairs with her teeth. Recruited from San Francisco to perform in Tombstone, she also traveled through South America and the Caribbean. Her career offers a glimpse of the ambition, skill and restless movement behind frontier entertainment. These performers carried their livelihoods in their travel trunks. (kjzz.org)
Mihaljevich brings both a researcher’s curiosity and an artist’s eye to the subject. Alongside his writing about southeastern Arizona history, his work includes art photography exploring the American West. That combination makes him a fitting guide to a building whose atmosphere continues to capture the imagination. (untpress.unt.edu)
Published reviews recognize the depth of his work. True West describes the book as “enlightening in its conclusions, entertaining in its style,” while the Journal of Arizona History calls it a “meticulously researched, vibrantly written history.” Those brief excerpts point to the book’s appeal: careful scholarship with a story worth following. (tamupress.com)
The story continues beyond the performances. As mining declined, the Bird Cage helped anchor Tombstone’s twentieth-century revival as a visitor destination. A building that once brought people together for an evening’s entertainment became a reason to return to the town itself. (untpress.unt.edu)
Make time for the Bird Cage when you visit Tombstone. Stand inside, look toward the stage and imagine the anticipation before a performance began. Then find Mihaljevich’s book and take some of that history home. The visit gives you the setting; the book introduces you to the lives that filled it.
