As large as life, a lovely lady drapes herself above the Rochester Opera House stage. Restored after decades of neglect and disrepair, she's as beautiful now as the day she was born nearly a century ago.

She's the centerpiece of one of two newly reproduced murals, approximately nine feet by six feet, hanging above the proscenium at the Rochester Opera House, unveiled at a gala event last Saturday night during a blizzard.

"We had about 100 to 125 people. The atmosphere was very social and festive. Unfortunately, the weather minimized the attendance-we were hoping for 400 people-but we couldn't have had a better night with the people there," said Matt Gianino, Opera House executive director.

Last year, Artstream Studios hosted the art auction. They again partnered with the Opera House for the second annual auction of over 50 works of art and combined it with the unveiling for a gala event. Billed as a "celebration of the five senses," the evening celebrated the work and talents of local artists and artisans, including wine tastings from local vineyards to hors d'ouevres from local restaurants and jazz with the George Westbay band.

"We had a good turnout, sold some art, wallowed in the chocolate fountain-not to be believed," jokes Susan Schwake-Larochelle, trustee of the Opera House and owner of Artstream Studios.

The atmosphere is certainly irresistible.

"As you look around the Rochester Opera House, you can't help but be amazed by all the craftsmanship, creativity and ingenuity that creates this special space," Larochelle says. Still in place are original handcrafted chairs, intricate stenciling, the one-of-a-kind movable floor, the woodwork and the suspended horseshoe balcony. "Every one of these delicate details is either an original or a contemporary reproduction of the original. These historically accurate reproductions are the culmination of thousands of volunteer hours spent researching archives, balancing on ladders and scaffolding and refurbishing each surface inch by inch. What's left is an almost exact representation of what theatergoers would have experienced back in 1908."

In 1996, those volunteers uncovered the murals under eight layers of paint. The reproductions, which took several months to complete, were commissioned with a grant of $10,000 from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts with funds from the state Conservation License Plate Trust Fund, or "moose" plates. The Rochester Opera House hired Nicholas Isaak, a noted mural restorer from Keene, to work on the paintings. Isaak had restored oil on canvas paintings for the State Library in Concord, including one of Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States (1804-1869).

"He was working on it up to last week," says Gianino. "It's on canvas, it actually hangs over the original murals." Gianino explains that it would have been too time consuming and costly to restore the murals on the wall itself. The cost would have been between $50,000 and $100,000, and scaffolding would have had to have been erected for several months.

"The beauty of this project is that despite how wonderful it is, and how accurate it is, it can easily be removed and a full-scale restoration can take place in the future when funds and time are available," Gianino says.

The Rochester Opera House is unique among opera houses in that the floor can be level, or raked to its theatrical position, rising to three feet at the back of the hall. It's been like that since Rochester resident George Gilman Adams designed the nearly 800-seat theater and it opened in 1908. He designed seven others similarly, but "from our understanding and our research, it's the only one like it in the country, if not the world, of its era (still standing)," says Gianino. The floor is still powered by its original electric motor, restored by University of New Hampshire students in the mid 1990s.

Asked about the next big project, Gianino laughs.

"The Opera House is an ongoing restoration. The next big project I have slated, once the financial support is in place, is the actual refurbishment of the floor itself, which is all original 1908 hardwood floors. Following that would be the seats themselves, to be brought to 21st century standards for comfort. ... These are very large, expensive projects we're talking about," he says.

The next performers to grace the historic stage speak to the venue's audience diversity. First is Maine comedian Tim Sample on Friday, Feb. 4; followed by Frank Sinatra performer Lee Griffin, backed by the 18-piece Freese Brothers band; and then Pink Voyd, Pink Floyd performers on March 5.