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Wertheim, Arthur Frank. Vaudeville Wars: How the Keith-Albee and Orpheum Circuits Controlled the Big-time and Its Performers. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. Print.

The Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles

The Orpheum Circuit was a chain of vaudeville and movie theaters. It was founded in 1886 and operated through 1927 when it was merged with the Keith-Albee theater chain, ultimately becoming part of the Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) corporation.

History[edit]

Early history (1886-1893)[edit]

The Orpheum Circuit was started by the vaudeville impresario Gustav Walter, who opened the Orpheum Opera House in San Francisco in 1886. This first Orpheum seated 3500 and quickly became one of the most popular theaters in San Francisco attracting a wide variety of people.[1] The Orpheum's tickets were scaled to draw a mixed audience. Customers bought tickets to the Orpheum because of its diverse program that ranged from knockabout comedy to opera. It drew a late-night crowd since it was the only theater open late with performances lasting until two in the morning. [2] The Orpheum's shows were advertised to appeal to "elite audiences" and were "suitable for refined young ladies. One reporter noted that upon seeing a show at the Orpheum, he saw just as many female attendees as male. [3]

Despite his success, Walter was in debt, and in 1891, faced with bankruptcy, he leased his theater and its management to John Cort. Cort took over the operations of the Orpheum for two years until his own bankruptcy led to Walter being rehired as manager. This time, Walter had the financial backing of Morris Meyerfeld. Meyerfeld became Walter's business partner, investing $50,000 as his share. As co-owner, Meyerfeld managed the business and financial aspects of the Orpheum while Walter managed the talent and booking for the theater. As partners they re-opened the theater is 1893 and made the Orpheum the place to go for a night on the town. It was regularly sold out, including the standing room.[2]

The circuit's beginnings (1893-1900)[edit]

Following their success in San Francisco, Meyerfeld encouraged Walter to open more theaters. Meyerfeld argued that in order to entice more performers to make the journey to perform at their theater, they needed to make their journey worthwhile. San Francisco was so far removed geographically from the rest of the nation that continuing to attract quality acts was difficult and expensive. By offering more opportunities to perform, Meyerfeld persuaded Walter that they would entice more performers to come to their theater from the east coast and Europe. The next logical city to Meyerfeld was Los Angeles. [2]The pair leased the Grand Opera House and opened the Los Angeles Orpheum to a sold out house in 1894. It was now customary for performers to stop in Los Angeles after playing in San Francisco. [4][2]

Walter and Meyerfeld continued to expand their operations by opening more theaters on the road between the Midwestern United States and their Pacific Coast theaters. Due it its railroad connections and thriving economy, Kansas City, Missouri was chosen as their next location. The pair leased the Ninth Street Theatre and renamed it the Orpheum. It opened in 1898 to a sold out house. Three months after the Kansas City opening, Walter died due to an appendicitis attack. Business for the theaters continue as usual and all contracts held. Meyerfeld was elected as the circuit's new president.[2]

In 1899 Meyerfeld persuaded Martin Lehman, owner of the Los Angeles theater, to officially fold his theater into the Orpheum's operation and join him in a partnership. [5] With Lehman as a partner, the two continued to expand the Orpheum Circuit throughout the Midwest. They leased the Creighton Theater in Omaha, Nebraska and built the Denver Orpheum at a cost of $350,000. [2] With these five theaters, Meyerfeld now ran the "The Great Orpheum Circuit".[2] Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). Beck's goals became to "make the Orpheum circuit bring the highest forms of art within reach of the people with the slimmest purses". [2] This alliance now allowed vaudevillians twenty to forty weeks of performing from Chicago to the Pacific Coast. [2]

In 1900 the circuit was incorporated in order to better finance and organize it's five theaters. The Orpheum theaters now dominated the big-time circuit west of Chicago.[2] In May 1901, Meyerfeld and Beck, along with other big-time Vaudeville theater owners such as Benjamin Franklin Keith and Edward Franklin Albee II who dominated the Eastern Vaudeville Circuit, met to discuss uniting vaudeville theaters nationwide. On May 29th, the bylaws and constitution of the Vaudeville Managers Association (VMA) was signed. This organization was created to eliminate harmful competition. [6] The creation of the VMA centralized the vaudeville empire. Performers were organized and toured along a prearranged route. [7] Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).With this transaction the Keith-Albee circuit was now in control of 51 percent of the Palace’s stock. Beck maintained his 25 percent interest and consented to be the chief booker for the theater. [2]

Late circuit (1919-1928)[edit]

In 1919, twenty-seven small-time Vaudeville theaters located in middle-sized cities in the Midwest joined the Orpheum Circuit. These theaters were operated by Marcus Heiman and Joseph Finn. Meyerfeld retired as the Orpheum’s president in 1920 and Beck was appointed as the new president with Heimanas appointed as the new vice president. The circuit now included forty-five vaudeville theaters in thirty-six cities. Heiman and Beck continuously differed in their opinions over questions of theater building and programing. Beck preferred the big-time traditional model of live vaudeville acts while Heiman wanted smaller theaters that favored the new trend of a vaude-film combination. [2]

Beck eventually resigned form the Orpheum in 1923 to become involved with a theater in New York. After his departure Heiman was elected president. Heiman realized that movies were capturing a larger audience and began to give more priority and top billing to featured films rather than live acts in the Orpheum theaters. It cost him less money to rent the feature films and they gave him the opportunity to cut the seven to fifteen act bill to an average of five acts which also saved money. But the Orpheum found it difficult to obtain first-run films since it was not allied with a major motion picture studio. [2]

By 1927, the circuits box office revenue fell and profits stagnated due to competition from movie palaces and production houses. In the east, the Keith-Albee circuit was having the same issues. These similar problems spurred discussions between the two regarding a merger. It was clear that a merger of the circuits would bolster their financial footing and allow them to continue to compete in the changing entertainment industry. [2] In December 1927 an agreement was reached to merge the two circuits into the the Keith-Albee-Orpheum circuit (KAO) which was officially incorporated on June 28th, 1928.[8] [2]Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).[9]Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).[2]

Artists[edit]

Management[edit]

Theatres still operating[edit]

Closed theaters[edit]

Demolished theaters[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ The Papers of Will Rogers. Vol. 3. University of Oklahoma Press. 2001. pp. 53–54. ISBN 978-0-8061-3315-7.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Wertheim, Arthur Frank (2006). Vaudeville Wars: How the Keith-Albee and Orpheum Circuits Controlled the Big-time and Its Performers. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  3. ^ Cohan, George M. (1924). Twenty Years on Broadway and the Years It Took to Get There: The True Story of a Trouper's Life from the Cradle to the "Closed Shop". New York and London: Harper and Brothers.
  4. ^ Grau, Robert (1910). The Business Man in the Amusement World: A Volume of Progress in the Field of the Theatre. New York: Broadway Pub.
  5. ^ Cullen, Frank; Hackman, Florence; McNeilly, Donald (2007). Vaudeville old & new: an encyclopedia of variety performances in America, Volume 1. New York: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
  6. ^ S.D., Trav (2005). No Applause-Just Throw Money: The Book that made Vaudeville Famouse. New York: Faber and Faber, Inc.
  7. ^ Snyder, Robert W. (1989). The Voice of the City: Vaudeville and Popular Culture in New York. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee.
  8. ^ "700 Theatres Merged In Vaudeville Circuit. Keith-Albee and Orpheum Now Largest in Country. Final Papers Signed". New York Times. January 27, 1928. Retrieved 2015-02-10. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. ^ "Orpheum Circuit". Encyclopedia of the Chicago Literary Renaissance. 2004. p. 249. ISBN 978-0-8160-4898-4.
  10. ^ http://oregondigital.org/u?/archpnw,10114
  11. ^ http://oregondigital.org/u?/archpnw,10115
  12. ^ [1] University of Oregon Digital Library (Image Description describes the Theater was Demolished in 1978)
  13. ^ Paul Dorpat (March 13, 2010). "The Orpheum Theatre". Seattle Now & Then. Retrieved 2013-12-30.

See Also[edit]

Alexander Pantages Vaudeville Managers Association

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Category:Vaudeville Category:Movie theatre chains in the United States

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