Orpheum Theatre
1900 5th Avenue,
Seattle,
WA
98101
1900 5th Avenue,
Seattle,
WA
98101
4 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Evergreen State Amusement Corp., Orpheum Circuit
Architects: Benjamin Marcus Priteca
Styles: Italian Renaissance
Nearby Theaters
Seattle’s 5th Orpheum Theatre was built in 1927, opening on August 28, 1927 with headline Orpheum vaudeville and on screen Rod La Rocque in “The Fighting Eagle”. It had a large neon rooftop sign. It was a project of the Orpheum Circuit and was equipped with a Wurlitzer organ, 3 manual, 13 ranks Style 335 ‘Special’ Opus 1674. It was closed for almost a year during the Depression, and was reopened by John Hamrick as a movie house under his Evergreen State Amusement Co. During the 1940’s and into the 1950’s it was home to the Seattle Symphony orchestra. In the early-1960’s the stage was bricked off from the main house and it became a movie theatre once again. Sterling purchased the Orpheum Theatre in 1964. It closed May 9, 1967 with a triple-bill program “Mondo Cane”, “Bad Girls Do Cry” and “Mau Mau”.
On June 27, 1967 the contents of the theatre, including the Wurlitzer organ, were auctioned off and on August 6, 1967 demolition began. It took 10 weeks to raze the building.
A Westin Hotel now occupies this site.
Contributed by
William Gabel
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Recent comments (view all 23 comments)
By chance, I did a walk-through of the Orpheum just as it was being parted out before demolition. Jaw-dropping.
There were couch-like seats on the main floor. The elevator was marble-lined. The doors into the auditorium at the top balcony level were folding, like telephone kiosk doors.
I mourned the loss of the Orpheum for years.
Across the street (5th Ave), the Orpheum Garage for parking survived into the 1990s, I think. It had a brick facade that echoed the theatre’s facade.
A photo from the Early 1960s:
View link
View link
Pretty large, but adds for some great examination of details.
Thanks for the view, neeb. I remember it well, especially the similar view from the nearby Vance Hotel. Trader Vic’s was in the Ben Franklin bldg (frontage on 5th Ave.). The hotel blended nicely with the theatre, from the monorail side.
I remember seeing the sign on the fire escape side, ‘John Hamrick’s Orpheum Theatre’ and thinking how lucky this guy was to OWN the Orpheum!
In the 1980s I knew Red Roberts, a vaudevillian hoofer, who’d played at the Orpheum with Bob Hope in the 20s. Great stories.
I also knew a woman who’d had an all-girl band in the 30s. She fell into the Orpheum’s orchestra pit and broke her leg, but she didn’t miss the performance that night, leading the band on crutches.
August 28th, 1967 grand opening ad has been posted here.
A very elaborate and beautiful theatre that was a mediteranian fantasy. Large and dramatic. Should have been restored and saved.
I saw my very first concert there in the early 60’s. A “Twist Festival” with Chubby Checker and many others. Crazy twisters kept the ushers very busy
There’s a great 1928 photo of the Seattle Orpheum on the Historic-Memphis.com website’s Theatre page. Here’s a link to the page.
1962 poster image added courtesy of Ted Okuda.
The Orpheum Theatre appears briefly in the 1963 movie “It Happened at the World’s Fair” starring Elvis Presley. It can be spotted at about 0:26:45 as the monorail train passes the theatre on the way to the fair. Filming in Seattle took place in September, 1962. Interestingly, “It Happened at the World’s Fair” would later show on the Orpheum’s screen when it was released in April, 1963.
Here’s a link to an article on the opening of the Orpheum Theatre:
https://www.historylink.org/File/4260