The following essay written by Eric Flom is reprinted here with permission from HistoryLink.org.
"Seattle's Orpheum Theatre opens at 3rd Avenue and Madison Street on May 15, 1911."
HistoryLink.org Essay 4247
By Eric Flom Posted 9/30/2003
On May 15, 1911, the Orpheum Theatre at 3rd Avenue and Madison Street opens to the public with an evening gala that’s the toast of Seattle society. With business and political leaders past and present on hand, manager John W. Considine (1868-1943) formally opens what is billed as a “made in Washington” structure, an entertainment venue lauded for its extensive use of Northwest materials and Northwest craftsmanship.
Opulence In and Out
The official groundbreaking for the Orpheum project occurred over a year prior to the opening, on April 9, 1910, when John Considine turned the first spade in the company of numerous business and political luminaries, including Chamber of Commerce President J. D. Lowman. At that point, Seattle’s home for Orpheum circuit vaudeville was the Coliseum, a former rollerskating rink at 7th Avenue and Union Street that had been renovated in 1908 to support theatrical entertainment. Following the groundbreaking ceremonies for the new Orpheum, Considine and his party headed up 2nd Avenue to a special luncheon at the New Washington Hotel.
Designed by architect William Kingsley, the Orpheum cost roughly $500,000 to construct. Unique was the fact that the theater was touted as being “made in Washington” -- virtually all the materials and services obtained to construct the building came directly from Washington state, to the extent possible. “When materials were required which were not produced within the state,” The Seattle Times reported, “they were obtained through houses or agents having their headquarters in Seattle” (“Newest Orpheum Showiest House America Affords”). Up to 87 percent of the materials and craftsmanship came directly from Washington suppliers, according to estimates.
A decorative wrought-iron canopy extended from the Orpheum box office to the curb out front, a detail that would become a fixture of the 3rd Avenue landscape for years. The interior was no less impressive. Pulling from classical Greek and Italian architecture, the lavishly decorated theater (and particularly its main foyer) was awash in marble, onyx, and glass.
The actual auditorium of the Orpheum was as lavish as the foyer, with murals depicting classical or mythological themes decorating the walls and ceilings. Selections included scenes from The Iliad and The Odyssey, Aesop telling his fables, and the 12 Muses. The main floor of the auditorium had 1,000 seats, yet the venue could have easily been equipped with more -- John Considine boasted that fewer seats were installed to provide wider aisles and more legroom for patrons. Six individual boxes (with six seats each) lined the sides of the auditorium.
The overall effect of the new house would be deemed pretentious by today’s standards, but not so at the time. The Post-Intelligencer, showing no little bit of civic pride, openly claimed that the Orpheum had usurped the title of America’s most luxurious theater from the New Amsterdam in New York City.
And Up Goes the Curtain
An impressive cross-section of Seattle society gathered for the May 15, 1911, opening of the Orpheum. Everyone in attendance that evening received an opening night souvenir booklet featuring illustrations of the new house on decorative stationery.
Seattle Mayor George W. Dilling (1869-1951) spoke at the opening: “The building of a theater like this is of interest to the people of Seattle, not only because $150,000 has been lavished upon this magnificent structure, not because $300,000 has been expended on the purchase of this site ... more vitally than all this is the fact that each week 25,000 of our citizens will pass through these doors. Each year a great portion of our present population will sit within these walls and will laugh and perhaps weep. They will take out of its presence a little less of care and a little more of joy; a little less of criticism and a little more sympathy for human kindness.”
Judge Thomas Burke (1849-1925) also spoke, lauding the decision to feature the work of local artisans and contractors in the Orpheum’s construction.
Gone, and Nearly Forgotten
The Orpheum at 3rd Avenue and Madison Street stood as the city’s most impressive vaudeville house until 1916, when Considine rival Alexander Pantages (1876-1936) opened a brand-new vaudeville theater several blocks north at 3rd Avenue and University Street. Shortly thereafter, vaudeville shows at the Orpheum were transferred to the Moore Theatre, a larger venue, after which the Orpheum alternated between showing live entertainment and motion pictures.
By the time the Mission Building, which housed the Orpheum, was torn down in 1949, the venue had spent many of its final years as nothing more than a storage facility.
Sources: Database (www.historylink.org); “Earth is Turned for New Theater,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 10, 1910, p. 11; Edgar H. Thomas, “Orpheum Opens to Brilliant Audience,” Seattle Daily Times, May 16, 1911, pp. 7-8.