Orpheum Theatre

Be certain to visit the Friends of the Orpheum Theatre (FOTOT) website for history and photos. FOTOT offers free historic tours throughout the year on alternating Tuesdays. Go to https://www.fototphx.org/ for more information.

This page at the Phoenix Opera web site says that the Orpheum has 1,364 seats, 1,062 on the orchestra floor and 302 in the balcony. There’s a link for downloading a seating chart in PDF format.

January 5th, 1929 grand opening ad in photo section.

I saw Bwana Devil here in 1952 in 3S. Great theatre. Terrible movie.

The Orpheum is a “Must-See” for anyone visiting Phoenix… it’s a gorgeous masterpiece of architecture. Go on one of the free tours, catch a show, and experience an old silent movie accompanied by the theatre organ.
Two other things I don’t think anyone has mentioned so far: I understand there was a search light at the top of the tower which used to revolve when there was a show going on. Also, from the downstairs lounge area, there was a glass ceiling on the one side which allowed you to look up to the street level above and see the people walking by.

There are great photos of Orpheum- here as well: I wish I knew what areas Duncan was responsible for, it is some fantastic work throughout!

http://www.cinematour.com/tour.php?db=us&id=9605

I know. It was just a way to start my comment about what was described as the 1st world premiere in a long time in Phoenix.

That’s Haas, not Bass. www.FriendsOfTheBoyd.org for the Boyd. Here, the Orpheum:

View link
if link doesn’t work, google search exactly Boxoffice April 3, 1948
insert 102 in page box

World Premiere in Phoenix of Fort Apache at two theaters: downtown Orpheum and neighborhood Palms.

Laurie M: The comment by CT member BarrySGoodkin on Dec 11, 2001, says that the Fox Phoenix opened on January 5, 1929. This date is corroborated by the websites Silent Sundays and Ron Heberlee’s Orpheum Theatre Phoenix page.

As for your Grandfather’s plaster work, I’m not sure if any of the interior photos of the Orpheum at Ron Heberlee’s page show the original work, or some sort of modern recreations. In any case, it was common in building theatres in that era for the architects to order many of the big plaster decorations pre-made from a company specializing in decorative plasterwork, and then a local contractor would install them, making sure they fit together seamlessly, and doing all the plain plasterwork such as wall surfaces (which were often not all that plain, since many styles of architecture required finish coats of special textures.)

So, many or all of the big pieces of ornamental plaster (almost all the decorative pieces in such a theatre would probably have been plaster, though in some buildings quite a bit of interior terra cotta was used) in the Orpheum might have been made by your Grandfather’s company, or some of them might have been ordered from another company. Someone would have to see the contracts or work orders from the time of construction to be sure. Maybe that’s where Mr. Driggs got his information. Maybe you could track him down.

Not too sure if Gary Driggs got his dates right. We know the Orpheum showed I’m No Angel — there are pictures of Mae West in a convertible, in front of the theatre, making a promotional appearance. However, the film was released in 1933, not 1929 and her male lead was Cary Grant, not Clark Gable.

More information here-
http://www.ci.phoenix.az.us/STAGES/orpheum.html

Tours here-
http://www.friendsoftheorpheumtheatre.org/about

HowardBHaas: These theatre photos are fabulous! Thanks for posting!