Royal Theatre

421 N. Superior Street,
Toledo, OH 43605

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Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on May 16, 2014 at 9:30 am

In 1919, 2501 Lagrange Street was the location of a 733-seat house called the Savoy Theatre. Later, the name Savoy was moved to a smaller house on Lagrange. I don’t know what then became of the Orpheum/Savoy. Richard Abel says the Orpheum on Lagrange opened in 1910.

According to John Phelan’s Motion Pictures As a Phase of Commercial Amusement in Toledo, Ohio, in 1919 the Superior Street Orpheum had 664 seats and twenty employees, eight male and twelve female. That was not only a fairly high employee-to-seat ratio, but a very high female-to-male ratio. It makes me wonder if the Orpheum could have been a burlesque house at the time.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on February 1, 2014 at 8:47 pm

In a 1921 Toledo city directory, 421 N. Superior Street is listed as the location of the Orpheum Theatre. The Orpheum Theatre, with 634 seats, was also at that address on a list of Toledo theaters published in 1919. An Orpheum Theatre was in operation in Toledo at least as early as 1912.

andmsmi
andmsmi on May 28, 2012 at 6:16 am

The Royal was operated for many years by the North Side Amusement Company owned by Martin G. Smith.

EvanJChase
EvanJChase on May 25, 2010 at 6:40 pm

Both Royal and the Loop were demolished in the 1960s thanks to urban renewal.

Silicon Sam
Silicon Sam on April 27, 2009 at 1:00 pm

Comparing the American Classic image, and the Google Street View, I’d change the function of the Royal and Loop theaters to Parking Lot. Closed / Demolished….