Orpheum Theater
Orpheum Theater is the name of the theaters in the United States and Canada that were operated by the operator Orpheum Circuit from 1919 and by his successor Keith-Albee-Orpheum from 1928 . Similar to the Shubert Theaters , this was a ramified chain of theaters. They were mainly devoted to American vaudeville . Often these are buildings that were converted into cinemas at the beginning of the sound film era or that for a while showed a mixture of film and theater programs. Many artists like Charlie Chaplin switched from their theater appearances to film production between around 1915 and 1925.
The company merged with the Radio Corporation of America , when the theaters had to be equipped with a sound system to show sound films, to form the film production company Radio-Keith-Orpheum Pictures ( RKO Pictures ). Like the other American film production companies, RKO had to part with its theaters as a result of the Hollywood Antitrust Case of 1948. There are now around 15 theaters of this name still in operation. Some of the buildings are listed.
Examples
- Orpheum Theater (Champaign, Illinois) , also New Orpheum , in Champaign , Illinois, United States
- Orpheum Theater (Los Angeles) , on Broadway, Los Angeles , California, United States
- Orpheum Theater (New Orleans) , in New Orleans , Louisiana, United States
- Orpheum Theater (Sioux City) , also New Orpheum or Orpheum Electric , in Sioux City , Iowa, United States
- Orpheum Theater (Vancouver) , in Vancouver , British Columbia, Canada
literature
- Arthur Frank Wertheim: Vaudeville Wars: How the Keith-Albee and Orpheum Circuits Controlled the Big-time and Its Performers. Palgrave Macmillan, New York 2008.
Map with all linked sites: